First there were eight proposed changes to the Slidell City Charter, but at the City Council’s Tuesday meeting, it was whittled down to six proposed changes that will be decided on by voters on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The first proposition that failed would have provided a mechanism to fill a sudden vacancy on the council, and the second failed proposition would have created the post of Assistant Chief of Police and make that post unclassified.

The proposition for filling a council vacancy came about after the death of at-large council member Pearl Williams last year. That post went vacant for almost a year. Then, last month Councilman-at- Large Kevin Kingston died, leaving a vacancy. The council wanted a method by which it could quickly fill the post until the next election. The proposition called for the council to appoint someone to fill the post within 15 days of the vacancy, and that person would serve until the next regular election. The appointee would have the right to run for the office.

The last stipulation was a negative point for Councilman Richard Hursey, who said allowing the appointee to run for council office would give him an unfair advantage over other candidates.

“This would give the appointee the upper hand, because he is the incumbent,” Hursey told his colleagues.

But Councilman Bill Borchert said not allowing the appointee to run would make it hard to find someone who would serve the unexpired term.

Hursey disagreed, saying the council could appoint a former council member.

Hursey proposed an amendment to disallow the appointee from running, but it failed 4-3. Because of the vacancy and the absence of Councilman Warren Crockett, the council would have needed a 5-2 vote to pass the proposition.

Another amendment submitted by Borchert also failed, and in the end, the proposition failed by a vote of 3-4 with Borchert, Hursey, and council members Kim Harbison and Lionel Hicks voting against it.

Without the proposition, the council will have to wait until the election in April to fill the vacancy created by Kingston’s death.

The other proposition that failed would have created the post of Assistant Chief of Police.

This was a companion proposition to another charter change that would address the issue of a sudden vacancy of the Chief of Police office.

That proposition was passed by the council by a unanimous vote.

Currently, the Chief of Police designates an Assistant Chief of Police. The proposed change would have created a permanent position that would be unclassified so the Assistant Chief of Police could run for the office of Police Chief. Currently, a classified employee of the Slidell Police Department must either resign or retire in order to run.

Hicks, a former police officer, objected to making the new post unclassified.

“He would lose his civil service job security,” Hicks said. He added the new post does not have to be filled from the ranks of the police department. The Chief of Police could appoint anybody to fill the post.

“It could be a plumber from Arabi, for all we know,” Hicks said.

But Chief of Police Freddie Drennan said the proposition would make the new post standard, and the post would be appropriately compensated. Currently, Lt. Jesse Simon is the Assistant Chief of Police, but he only makes a lieutenant’s salary.

Borchert said the new post would give officers an opportunity to rise in the ranks.

But Hursey said the city had created too many jobs.

“We’ve created 38 new positions in six years. The chief needs help, but we’ve done enough on creating jobs,” Hursey said.

The proposition failed by a vote of 3-4 with Hicks, Hursey, and council members Landon Cusimano and Joe Fraught voting against it.

The six proposed charter changes that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot are:

The mayor will have 10 working days to either sign or veto legislation passed by the council. If no action is taken in 10 days, the ordinance will automatically become law.

In the case of a sudden vacancy in the Mayor’s office, the councilman at large with the most votes during the past election would serve as mayor. If both at large members received the same number of votes, the council will choose the appointee by a majority vote.

If the vacancy occurs with less than one year remaining in the term, the appointee will serve until the next election. If the vacancy occurs with more than one year left in the term, the council will call for a special election within 15 days of the vacancy, which will be held according to the state’s timetable and procedures. In both cases, the appointee is allowed to run for the mayor’s office and will be paid the mayor’s salary.

In the case of the sudden vacancy of the Chief of Police, the Assistant Chief of Police will serve the remaining term. If the vacancy occurs with more than a year remaining on the term, the council will call for a special election within 15 days of the vacancy, which will be held according to the state’s timetable and procedures. The acting chief of police cannot run for the office.

The council would be able to vote on bond issues that are backed by an existing revenue stream, like the sales tax, without going to the voters for approval.

If the bond issue requires a new tax, or an increase of an existing revenue stream, then the public will still have to vote on the issue.

If a referendum vote is required by the public on an ordinance, an election will be held according to the state’s timetable of elections and procedures.

This changes the charter rule that called for a referendum election 60 days after a public hearing on the ordinance.

The Slidell Board of Ethics will be dissolved, and the Code of Ethics for Slidell will be the Louisiana Code of Ethics recently passed by the Louisiana Legislature.