Lone Tree is discussing restructuring their city government, including dissolving the mayor position. Currently Lone Tree has five at-large city council members who serve four years per term, and an elected mayor who is up for election every two years. Mayor Jonathan Green proposed to eliminate the traditional mayor position and add a full time city manager to work with the city council. In Green’s proposal, every two years the city council would elect one of the council members to serve in a role similar to a mayor to fill in some of the gaps a city manager isn’t responsible for. Green says the idea came when he started looking at how cities that compare to Lone Tree in size structure their government. The topic was brought to the city council for the first time Monday night. Green says there were mixed reactions within the council.

Discussions are in the early stages. Green adds that if nothing else, he wanted to present a fresh idea to the council, “This was intended to provoke a conversation, and to get folks reflecting on how we can best invest in the future in the community. I’m not wedded to this specific outcome. I just wanted to get a solid proposal out there.” For the city to restructure their government, they would have to adopt an ordinance which means the city council would have to pass three readings of the updated policy. Another option is if enough residents sign a petition, the policy could be placed on a ballot to be voted on by the people.