At its March 18, 2026 meeting, the current Santa Clara charter review committee moved closer to presenting its recommendations to the city council. The subcommittee reports were largely about “discussing” or “refining” with little detail on specifics about the proposed changes. Eric Crutchlow and Burt Field were absent, but only Crutchlow was excused.

The most substantive discussion was about the Library Board of Trustees (Charter Sections 1012 and 1013) based on information from the current library board president, Jonathan Evans.

The board recommended removing from the board’s assignment administrative control of the library, a role they haven’t actively held for years. 

However, the trustees do want to preserve their approval rights over the library director’s appointment, input on collection policies and book removals, and the power to review and make recommendations about the library’s budget, facilities plans, and strategic master plans — described as “similar to the activities of the Parks and Recreation Commission.”

The trustees also want to continue to deliver an annual “State of the Library” report to the city council and to add a requirement for the trustees’ recommendation on substantial donations.

Who Runs the Police Department?

The lone speaker from the public asked the committee to consider replacing the elected police chief with an appointed chief conforming to civil service requirements. He was told that it’s a “level 4,” and as such, outside the purview of this committee.

What is in the purview of subcommittee 3 is determining the respective authorities of the elected police chief and the city manager vis-à-vis police department operations. However, there appears to be disagreement over who holds the power. Police Chief Cory Morgan, City Manager Jovan Grogan and police union president Jeremy Schmidt addressed the subcommittee, which included former police chief Pat Nikolai, on the matter. But with no meeting minutes or public streaming of the subcommittee meeting available or required, community members have no clue what those comments entailed.

The most recent report back to the Charter Review Committee left more questions than answers.

The city attorney will review the draft charter language for the police chief section and attempt to get the parties to agree before the subcommittee’s April meeting

“The city manager has designated authority over kind of appointment and disciplinary actions with respect to all, employees,” said City Attorney Glen Googins. “The chief of police, duties and responsibilities, even though they’re an elected official, really aren’t talked about in any meaningful detail at all.

“So part of this is this engagement,” Googins continued, “is between those individuals some understanding [will be] reached, and whatever recommendation might come out of that committee…[will] resolve those ambiguities and overlapping responsibilities, so that the next elected Chief of Police and the next appointed city manager don’t have to renegotiate every time.”

Currently, the charter states that: “The Police Department shall be under the direct supervision of the Chief of Police who shall be elected by the voters for a term of four years.”

However, after the 2022 election of Pat Nikolai as chief, then-city manager Deanna Santana appointed two assistant police chiefs reporting to her, calling it “structural changes.” The city then removed any direct reporting line between the elected chief and the rest of the police department, and prevaricated* about questions regarding who actually runs the police department.

You can watch the meeting at https://youtu.be/05HgFKFHztY?si=-AqAjxIrDjrYbg4i.

The next meeting of the charter review committees will be on April 15, 2026, 6 p.m. at city hall. https://www.santaclaraca.gov/our-city/government/city-committees/charter-review-committee-charter-project. 

The previous Charter Review Committee meetings can be found on the city’s YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=city+of+santa+clara+charter+review+2026

* In 2023, when SVVoice asked the city who was in charge of the police department, the answer was, “both.”

Previous Charter Review Committee Posts:
Charter Review Committee: Biggest Recommendation is Charter Reorganization
Charter Review Committee Digs Into Charter Details
Charter Review Subcommittees Raise Transparency Concerns
Santa Clara 2025 Charter Review Committee Gets to Work