Opinion ID: 6108565
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Construction of the Charter

Text: Section 15.03 of the Charter provides: Sec. 15.03.-Special elections. There shall be held a special metropolitan election to fill a vacancy for the unexpired term in the office of mayor and in the office of district council member whenever such vacancy shall exist more than twelve (12) months prior to the date of the next general metropolitan election. The special election shall be ordered by the county commissioners of elections and they shall give notice thereof as provided by Tennessee Code Annotated section 2-14-105. When a vacancy exists in the office of vice mayor or in the office of councilmember-at-large, said office shall remain vacant until the next general election at which time such vacancy shall be filled; however, in no event shall a special election be held to fill such vacancy. If in such special election to fill a vacancy for the unexpired term of the office of mayor or district council member, or in the general election at which time a vacancy in the office of vice mayor or councilmember-at-large, no candidate shall receive a majority of all the votes cast for such office, a runoff election shall be held five (5) weeks subsequent to the first special election to fill a vacancy in accordance with the provisions hereinbefore set forth in the case of a general metropolitan election. The provisions of section 15.01 hereof with respect to voting in general metropolitan elections and with respect to qualifying as a candidate shall apply to special elections and to general elections at which time a vacancy is filled. (Emphasis added). Section 15.01 of the Charter provides that the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmen-at-Large and District Councilmen are to be elected at a general metropolitan election, held on the first Thursday in August  of every fourth odd-numbered year, beginning in 1971. The term for each of these offices is four years and expires upon the election and qualification of a successor. See Charter, §§ 3.02, 5.02, and 5.05. It is undisputed that, in accordance with section 15.01 of the Charter, the next regularly scheduled general metropolitan election for Mayor is to be held on August 1, 2019. Mr. Wallace contends that a special election is required under section 15.03 of the Charter because August 1, 2019 is the next general metropolitan election and it is more than twelve months after the March 6, 2018 vacancy. Metro and the Commission, in contrast, contend that any municipal general election constitutes a general metropolitan election and that the municipal general election scheduled for August 2, 2018, at which a number of other municipal officers will be elected, is the next general metropolitan election. Because that general election is less than twelve months from the date of the vacancy, Metro and the Commission contend that no special election is required under section 15.03 of the Charter. We, therefore, are called upon to construe section 15.03 of the Charter, and specifically the meaning of the phrase general metropolitan election as used in that section. Article 15 of the Charter deals exclusively with elections for the offices of Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmen-at-Large, and District Councilmen. As noted, section 15.01 provides that the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmen-at-Large, and District Councilmen are elected in a particular type of municipal general election, referred to as a general metropolitan election. The general metropolitan election for these enumerated offices is held every fourth odd-numbered year beginning in 1971. Section 15.03 of the Charter, in turn, provides for elections to fill vacancies in the offices of Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmen-at-Large, and District Councilmen. This section draws a clear and critical distinction between elections to fill vacancies in the offices of Mayor and District Councilmen, on the one hand, and vacancies in the offices of Vice Mayor and Councilmen-at-Large, on the other hand. Vacancies in the offices of Mayor and District Councilmen are to be filled by special metropolitan election whenever such vacancy shall exist more than twelve (12) months prior to the date of the next general metropolitan election.  Charter, § 15.03 (emphasis added). In contrast, vacancies in the offices of Vice Mayor and Councilmen-at-Large are never to be filled by special election. Rather, these offices shall remain vacant until the next general election at which time such vacancy shall be filled. Charter, § 15.03 (emphasis added). Section 15.03 reinforces this differentiation in the use of the phrase general metropolitan election and the phrase general election in its differing treatment of the elections to fill vacancies in the different offices subject to Article 15. Section 15.03 provides, for example, that [i]f in such special election to fill a vacancy for the unexpired term of the office of mayor or district council member , or in the general election at which time a vacancy in the office of vice mayor or councilmember-at-large [is filled], no candidate shall receive a majority of all the votes cast for such office, a runoff election shall be held five (5) weeks subsequent to the first special election to fill a vacancy in accordance with the provisions hereinbefore set forth in the case of a general metropolitan election. (Emphasis added). Section 15.03 further provides: The provisions of section 15.01 hereof with respect to voting in general metropolitan elections and with respect to qualifying as a candidate shall apply to  special elections and to general elections at which time a vacancy is filled. (Emphasis added). That the intent of the drafters of the Charter was to draw a distinction between general metropolitan elections and all other general elections is evidenced by the use of these distinct phrases within section 15.03 to address different events. We do not read the use of the distinct phrases general metropolitan election and general election to be merely accidental. Rather, we view the two phrases to have been intentionally and thoughtfully employed to refer to different elections. The former phrase refers to the particular general election at which the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmen-at-Large, and District Councilmen are elected in August of each fourth odd-numbered year, beginning in 1971, as called for in section 15.01 of the Charter. In contrast, the latter phrase refers more broadly to any municipal general election, including but not limited to general metropolitan elections. In other words, general metropolitan elections are one unique type of the broader category of municipal general elections. All municipal general elections, however, are not general metropolitan elections. The distinction between the phrases general metropolitan election and general election is further evidenced by the fact that the Charter employs the former phrase only with respect to elections involving the offices of Mayor, Vice Mayor, District Councilmen, and Councilmen-at-Large. Indeed, with the exception of Article 15, the Charter utilizes the phrase general metropolitan election in only one other instance, Article 18, section 18.06. That section addresses the election of District Councilmen following re-districting. The election of District Councilmen falls under Article 15 of the Charter, so the use of the phrase general metropolitan election in section 18.06 is entirely consistent with the limited use of the phrase in Article 15 of the Charter. In contrast, other elected officials of the Metropolitan Government are elected in general elections held in different years. See, e.g. , Charter, section 14.05 (General Sessions Court Judges elected in August of every eighth even-numbered year, beginning in 1974); section 14.10 (Public Defender elected in August of every fourth even-numbered year, beginning in 1966). These other sections of the Charter governing the election of other officers of the Metropolitan Government do not use the phrase general metropolitan election. Rather, they refer simply to a general election. The same is true with respect to the filling of vacancies in these other offices. See Charter, §§ 14.10, 14.13. Based on our analysis of the language, we conclude that the phrase general metropolitan election as used in section 15.03 of the Charter is not ambiguous. As used in this section of the Charter, general metropolitan election means and is limited to the particular general election at which the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmen-at-Large, and District Councilmen are elected in August of each fourth odd-numbered year, beginning in 1971, as called for in section 15.01 of the Charter. 9  The next general metropolitan election is the August 2019 election. Because the date of that election is more than twelve months from the date of the mayoral vacancy, section 15.03 of the Charter requires that a special election be set in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 2-14-102. Under the facts of this case, the interplay between this statute and section 15.03 of the Charter does not authorize the Commission to set the election to fill the mayoral vacancy on the date of the August 2, 2018 general election. Although we have concluded that the relevant Charter language is not ambiguous, we do note that our construction of the language of section 15.03 of the Charter is consistent with the legislative history of this section. 10 The current version of section 15.03 is the result of a 2007 resolution of the Metropolitan Council, approving the amendment of the section and placing it on the ballot for the approval of the voters pursuant to section 19.01 of the Charter. Section 19.01 of the Charter requires that the ballot set forth a brief description of the amendment worded so as to convey the meaning of said amendment, said description to be set forth in the original amendatory resolution. The 2007 amendatory resolution and the ballot contained the following summary of the amendment to section 15.03: This amendment would require that a special election be held to fill a vacancy in the office of mayor and a vacancy in the office of district councilmember whenever more than twelve (12) months remain in the unexpired term. Metropolitan Council Resolution No. RS2007-1846 (Approved June 5, 2007); August 2, 2007 ballot. This Court has noted that the sufficiency of this type of ballot summary is to be judged by whether it gives a voter sufficient information to advise him of the question; that is, does it convey[ ] a reasonable certainty of meaning so that a voter could intelligently cast a vote for or against the proposal with full knowledge of the consequence of his vote. Rodgers v. White , 528 S.W.2d 810 , 813 (Tenn. 1975) ; see Pidgeon-Thomas Iron Co. v. Shelby Cnty. , 217 Tenn. 288 , 397 S.W.2d 375 , 378 (1965). The Commission, in its motion to dismiss in the trial court, asserted that [t]his summary was approved by the Metro Council and therefore the Council must have considered the summary a fair representation of the Charter Amendment. As we read the summary contained in the amendatory resolution and on the ballot, amended section 15.03 keys the requirement for a special election to fill a vacancy in the Office of Mayor to the length of the term of office remaining at the time of the vacancy. The term of office runs to the next general metropolitan election at which the Mayor is elected pursuant to section 15.01 of the Charter. Thus, the requirement of a special election is dependent on the time remaining from the date of the vacancy to the date of the next general metropolitan election at which the Mayor is elected pursuant to section 15.01, not the time remaining to the date of any other type of municipal general election. Our construction of the language of section 15.03 of the Charter also is consistent with the public policy regarding the nature  of elections for the Office of Mayor. As expressed in a 2011 resolution of the Metropolitan Council, it was the intent of the founders of the Metropolitan Government, and remains the intent of the Council, that the Office of Mayor be non-partisan and that the election for this office not be held in conjunction with partisan elections. Metropolitan Council Resolution No. RS2011-1607 (Approved April 21, 2011). As the Council expressed in its resolution, having the election for this office coincide with partisan elections would negatively impact the democratic process and destroy the purpose of having a non-partisan elected body. The August 2, 2018 election includes a general election for a number of Metropolitan offices, but also includes partisan primary elections for state and federal offices. Despite Metro's and the Commission's assertion to the contrary, we discern no logical basis for distinguishing between a partisan presidential election, as was the specific subject of the 2011 resolution, and any other partisan election. Setting the election to fill the vacancy in the Office of Mayor to coincide with these partisan primaries contravenes this express public policy of non-partisan mayoral elections. 11 Metro and the Commission also contend that we previously decided the issue in this case and reached a contrary conclusion in State ex rel. Wise v. Judd , 655 S.W.2d 952 (Tenn. 1983). We disagree. The meaning of the phrase general metropolitan election as used in section 15.03 of the Charter and whether that phrase and the phrase general election as used in the Charter have the same meaning were not before the Court in Wise . In Wise , the parties did not raise or address, nor did the Court analyze, the issue which is now before us. Rather, the issue in Wise was whether the phrase preceding general election as used in section 19.01 of the Charter is limited to a municipal general election or includes a state or federal general election. 12 Id. at 953 . There was in Wise no  dispute that both the August 1979 general metropolitan election and the August 1982 general election were municipal general elections which would qualify for purposes of section 19.01. Id. The question was whether the November 1982 state general election also would qualify. Id. Our holding in Wise was that the phrase preceding general election as used in section 19.01 of the Charter refers to municipal general elections, not to state or federal general elections. Id. We did not hold, nor did we intend to hold, that the phrases general metropolitan election and general election are synonymous for purposes of section 15.03 of the Charter.