OVERVIEW
Implementing the GA with Select Board model would require substantial revision of Ophir's charter. The current charter is structured around the General Assembly as the sole governing authority and does not provide for a separate elected board.
A new Select Board article would need to be created, and multiple existing articles would require amendment or replacement. All charter amendments require approval by a majority of Ophir voters under C.R.S. Section 31-2-210 and Article XX of the Colorado Constitution. Amendments may be initiated by ordinance (two-thirds GA vote) or by registered voter petition.
Because charter amendments are difficult to revise once adopted, unresolved design questions in Section 4 carry legal significance beyond ordinary policy decisions.
CHARTER ARTICLES REQUIRING AMENDMENT OR REPLACEMENT
New Article (Select Board). A new charter article would be required to establish the Select Board, including composition and election method, term length and staggering, internal officer structure, relationship to the Town Manager, reporting obligations to the General Assembly, and mechanisms for accountability and review.
The article must also define the affirmative scope of Board administrative authority, including domains such as: contracting within charter-defined thresholds; Town Manager supervision and direction; implementation of GA-adopted ordinances; budget execution within adopted appropriations; intergovernmental coordination; emergency operational response; and ongoing administrative planning between GA sessions. This list is illustrative rather than exhaustive. Board resolutions operate within GA-established frameworks and cannot create new public obligations or rules of general applicability; the GA may adjust the scope of Board authority through ordinary governance mechanisms, with charter amendment reserved for structural change.
Article II (Elections and Electorate). Would require revision to reflect the introduction of a Select Board and the resulting changes to governance structure, election sequencing, and governing body composition. Would also require review for consistency with the revised meeting structure and the interaction between GA sessions and a standing Select Board.
Article III (Ordinances and Resolutions). Would require revision to confirm GA-exclusive ordinance authority, establish the two-reading requirement with a defined minimum interval between readings, address emergency ordinance exceptions, and define the scope of Select Board administrative implementing authority within GA-established frameworks. Under the GA-exclusive legislative model, this article is substantially simpler to draft than it would have been had the Select Board retained ordinance authority.
Article IV (Officers). Would require revision to replace Ophir's current officer structure with one compatible with a board-centered governance model. This includes defining how functions currently assigned to the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Town Clerk, and Treasurer are reorganized within the Select Board framework, and whether any ceremonial or statutory functions require retention of a named officer designation independent of Board membership.
Article V (Town Manager). Would require revision to clarify the Town Manager's reporting structure and supervisory relationships under a two-body governance system, including the day-to-day operational supervision relationship with the Select Board, the policy accountability relationship with the General Assembly, and hiring, evaluation, and removal authority.
Article VI (Budget and Finance). Would require revision to establish Select Board budget preparation authority, General Assembly budget adoption authority, the boundary between Board administrative authority and GA authorization for financial decisions, and the threshold calibration mechanism.
Article IX (Amendments). No structural change is anticipated, but this article must be reviewed for compatibility with the revised governance architecture.
OPEN LEGAL QUESTIONS
Select Board resolution authority. The charter must define the scope of Select Board resolutions and distinguish them from General Assembly resolutions, which carry broader authority. Whether that distinction raises interpretive questions under Colorado home rule law requires attorney review.
December 15 compliance. Does the December 15 mill levy certification requirement impose constraints on Ophir's current or proposed budget calendar, and does the GA with Select Board schedule meet those constraints?
Special GA meeting notice requirements. What constitutes legally sufficient notice and procedural validity for special General Assembly meetings convened outside the regular schedule?
TABOR implications. Does adoption of the GA with Select Board structure introduce TABOR implications beyond those already inherent in charter amendment processes?
Emergency expenditure authority. Can emergency expenditure authority be granted at the Select Board level without statutory limitation under Colorado law, or are there external constraints on scope?
CHARTER DRAFTING DEPENDENCY MARKERS
The following charter elements cannot be finalized until corresponding Section 4 design questions are resolved.
Select Board article dependency. The Select Board article must define a standing governing body with election structure, term structure, administrative authority scope, financial thresholds, Town Manager supervisory relationship, and accountability mechanisms to the General Assembly. The precise threshold calibration and resolution authority scope depend on final resolution of Section 4 design questions. The article must also address Select Board member compensation, as compensation levels interact directly with workload expectations and meeting frequency obligations defined elsewhere in the charter.
Article II dependency. Article II must reflect the GA meeting frequency floor and any resolution mechanism by which the community may exceed that floor, as these parameters affect election sequencing, organizational meeting obligations, and the interface between GA legislative capacity and Select Board drafting output.
Article III dependency. The ordinances and resolutions article requires attorney confirmation of the minimum two-reading interval and the permissible scope of emergency ordinance exceptions before charter language can be finalized. It must also define procedural provisions for special GA meetings sufficient to function as the primary throughput mechanism when Select Board output exceeds scheduled GA meeting capacity.
Administrative coordination dependency. Charter provisions governing administrative coordination between meetings, including Town Manager authority between Board sessions and Town Clerk structural placement, cannot be finalized until the officer structure and inter-meeting operational authority questions in Section 4 are resolved.
Continuity dependency. Charter provisions governing legal and executive session continuity across Board membership changes, intergovernmental liaison assignment, and multi-meeting governance tracking cannot be finalized until the community determines whether these obligations are defined procedurally in the charter or delegated to Board operating rules.
Financial framework dependency. The financial structure must define whether decision thresholds are fixed dollar amounts or percentage-based, whether thresholds adjust over time, and whether thresholds vary by category of decision. These mechanisms depend on final community selections in Section 4 and legal permissibility under charter constraints.