The Oklahoma State Capital

On Tuesday, May 9, the voters of Guthrie will be asked by the Guthrie City Council to make two changes to the city charter.

These two changes will take the form of three ballot questions. In order to agree with the council and make the changes, citizens will need to vote yes. To disagree and keep the city charter the way it is, citizenry will need to vote no.

The first change will allow city government to extend until September 30, its FY 2001 year. This will create a 15 month fiscal year for 2001, which will last from July 1, 2000 until September 20, 2001.

Voting yes will also allow the city the luxury of having a fiscal year that runs its course from October 1 to September 30. Not only does this coincide with the federal fiscal year but it will also give newly elected city councilors more time to learn and comprehend each new budget before having to vote on it. This is the reason the change is desired.

Currently, new city councilmen take office in May and have to vote on the budget in June. Ward II Councilor Foster requested these changes in order to provide the valuable time that a September approval would give the new councils.

The second change would allow members of the community to serve on the city council who are 21 years of age or older. The current city charter states that a councilman must be at least 25 years of age in order to hold a seat. This issue came to the forefront during the 1999 elections when Ward III Councilman Grant Aguirre took office.

Aguirre had always had a desire to be a city councilman. However, because of the city charter age requirement, he was required to wait until he was 25 years of age to run. The irony of the situation was that Councilman Aguirre's only other opponent in the 1999 Ward III race was under 25. The opponent was forced to withdraw from the race, but Aguirre graciously made it his first order of business to bring about a change in this rule.

In 1977, a future council person, current Ward II Councilor Brad Morelli, ran for a seat on the city council while still a teenager. After Mr. Morelli nearly won the election, the council reacted by deciding to raise the age limit to 25.

This put the Guthrie age requirement above that of most other communities in Oklahoma. In 1999, Aguirre and council brought attention to the fact that a person can serve on the Oklahoma State Legislature at the age of 21. This raises serious questions about the practicality of the current age limit requirement at municipal level.

By unanimous vote, the council called for an election on May 9th so that citizens of Guthrie can decide these issues.

Currently new city councilmen take office in May and vote on the budget in June.