The Amended Bossier City Charter will go to the voters along with an amendment
that would add term limits for the city council and mayor. The Amended Charter and
Amendment were submitted to the Bossier City Council by the Bossier City Charter
Commission on October 8, 2024. Under the language of the existing City Charter, once
submitted, the council has no choice but to put the proposed changes to vote by the
people of Bossier City.
The Charter Commission was created by vote of the City Council on December 5, 2023. The members were appointed by the elected city council members and mayor pursuant to the existing charter. After the members were appointed and the Commission was created, under the current Bossier City Charter the Commission became an independent entity separate from the City Council and Mayor to ensure the independence of the Commission in reviewing the existing charter.
The Charter Commission was made up of various Bossier City citizens who are
community leaders and business owners all of whom serve without compensation. The
Charter Commission members represented various diverse groups of Bossier City
residents. The Commission was tasked with reviewing the existing Charter and proposing
changes to be presented to the voters for decision. This Commission considered changes
proposed by the city council and mayor, as well as from citizens of Bossier City. They
dedicated many hours to this task and held workshops, town hall meetings to elicit
comments from the public, and public meetings where they voluntarily chose to subject
themselves to Louisiana Open Meetings Law.
In the Amended Charter they presented to the City Council, the Commission
members stated that they sought to put their differences aside and reach a consensus on
the proposed Charter Amendments they felt would best serve the diverse residents of the
City of Bossier. As evidence they point to their unanimous vote for the proposed Charter
Amendments.
It is not currently clear when, exactly, Bossier City voters will have an opportunity to
vote on the proposed Amended Charter. The City Council submitted the Amended Charter
to the Bond Commission to be placed on the December 7, 2024 ballot, but Treasurer John
Fleming voted to stop this. The group calling itself the “Term Limits Coalition”, which is
interestingly led by several individuals who are not residents or voters in the City of Bossier
City, have taken credit for influencing John Fleming to stop the Amended Charter from
going to Bossier City voters on December 7, 2024. Although this group has attempted to
frame the proposed Amended Charter as being “anti-term limits”, a review of the language
reveals that by voting on the Amended Charter and Amendment voters could implement the same term limits provision that is currently effective under Louisiana Law for state legislators and for the Bossier Parish School Board. The December 7 ballot presented the last chance for term limits to be implemented prior to the March election for Bossier City
Council and Mayor.
Many people have questioned whether the term limits proposals should be
retroactive, as proposed by the “Term Limits Coalition”. The Charter Commission decided
not to include such a provision, at least in part because the version proposed by the “Term
Limits Coalition” which includes retroactivity would likely be in violation of the United
States and Louisiana Constitutions leading to further litigation and expense for the
taxpayers of Bossier City.