The Sunnyvale Charter Review Committee approved its final report Dec. 4 after a series of section-by-section votes that resolved wording, dates and dollar amounts for several proposed charter changes.

The committee’s decisions will be forwarded to the City Council as recommendations for what may appear on a future ballot and for companion ordinances. Chair Larson opened the meeting by describing the section-by-section process; Deputy City Manager Connie Rosales told the committee staff had compiled subcommittee work into a single document and tentatively planned a joint committee-council meeting in February to present the report.

Most of the evening’s work focused on four substantive reforms. First, the committee approved revised ballot language updating council and mayor compensation. Member Vickery moved to replace the 2012/2013 base-year and dollar amounts with new dates and figures; the motion, seconded by Member Davis, specified that the commission would insert 01/01/2027 as the commencement date and new salaries of $6,000 for council members and $9,000 for the mayor, with subsequent cost-of-living adjustments tied to CPI-U indexing. Committee members also agreed to clarify the CPI baseline language (the motion accepted a friendly amendment specifying the October 2027 month/year for the first CPI calculation). The committee approved the compensation language and the section summary on a 10–0 roll-call vote.

Second, on vacancies the committee simplified charter wording to limit appointments so that an appointee "shall hold office until the next general municipal election" (Sunnyvale’s even-numbered-November municipal elections). Members discussed and rejected language that would limit the council’s ability to call other elections when it chooses to fill a vacancy by a direct election; the intent is that appointive paths remain constrained to the next Sunnyvale general municipal election while council retains flexibility when it elects to fill by special election. The vacancy changes and attendant report edits were adopted 10–0.

Third, on the city manager’s authority to settle claims, staff and the subcommittee reported that the statutory $50,000 cap (from 1989) translates today to roughly $140,000–$150,000 when adjusted for inflation and comparable cities’ practice. After deliberation about whether to send council a single recommended figure or a range, the committee voted to recommend that council adopt a companion ordinance establishing a $150,000 settlement-authority limit; the motion also directed staff to prepare the ordinance language and report attachments for council consideration. That recommendation passed 10–0.

Fourth, the committee approved clarified language for public-works contracting (design-build and procurement exceptions), accepting non‑substantive phrasing edits suggested by legal‑minded committee members to put provisions in active voice, remove confusing archaic terms, and instruct council to adopt implementing regulations by ordinance. The committee asked staff to add a short explanatory note in the report to identify which edits are clarifying rather than substantive. The contracting changes and related clarifications were approved 10–0.

Votes at a glance
- Approve minutes (consent calendar): carried 9–0–1 (Member Pine abstained).
- Adopt general/report introductory sections and council meeting schedule language: carried 10–0.
- Approve compensation ballot language (dates/dollar amounts/CPI wording): carried 10–0.
- Approve compensation section and section‑2 summary: carried 10–0.
- Adopt vacancies section (limit appointee term to next general municipal election; edit "seat" to "district" where applicable): carried 10–0.
- Recommend manager settlement-authority ordinance with $150,000 limit: carried 10–0.
- Approve public-works contracting clarifications and accompanying report edits: carried 10–0.

What’s next
Staff said the committee’s final report will be finalized and scheduled for a joint presentation with City Council (staff cited a tentative target of Feb. 3). If Council chooses to place amendments on the ballot, additional public engagement, polling and ordinance drafting will follow. Staff will circulate a final draft to the chair for a last review and will clean up page numbers, cross-references and styling before filing the report for the council packet.

Representative quotes from the meeting include committee guidance about forum rules and civility, and public comment urging clarity: "This Charter Review Committee meeting is considered a limited public forum," Chair Larson said at the start of the meeting; public comment included, "I wanted to thank you all because you folks have shown not just in the charter review committee but I've seen you all over town constantly looking after the affairs of the city," (Daniel h).