City of Valdez Regular Municipal Election
MAY 2, 2023 - PROPOSITION #1 - SUMMARY STATEMENT
Proposition 1 will ask the voters to consider this question: “Shall the Valdez Municipal Charter be amended to replace gender binary nouns and pronouns (including he, she, his and hers) with gender neutral terms?”
The intention of this proposed Charter amendment is to modernize the language in the Valdez Municipal Charter to reflect current best practices in legal drafting. This is primarily a technical and grammatical change, but does have the additional intent of promoting a culture of inclusivity in city government. Though non-gendered language has been the standard norm for many years with drafting of new ordinances, much of the older language in the Valdez Municipal Code and the Valdez Municipal Charter uses exclusively male pronouns.
This drafting change will most frequently replace gendered language with appropriate gender-neutral titles. Here is one example:
Section 3.5. The Mayor Pro Tempore. The mayor pro tempore shall succeed to the office of mayor when a vacancy occurs in that office. He The mayor pro tempore shall have and exercise the powers and duties of the mayor when the mayor is absent or unable to perform the duties of his the office. When a doubt exists concerning the ability of the mayor to perform the duties of his the office, the council shall, by resolution, determine whether the mayor pro tempore shall act in the place of the mayor. Such determination shall stand until the council determines that such disability or inability ceases.