Charter revision discussion begins
The WRA reports on the possibility of Charter revision.
As many of you know, the Council has nine members... 5 Dems and 4 Rs. And opening the Charter requires a 6 members voting in favor... so opening the Charter would be bipartisan.
The WRA also discusses the timing of the process... "Elizabeth Esty, the chairman of the ordinance subcommittee, said that discussions likely won't begin until April, after the town has finished with its budget."
Tim White
Town Council, 4th District
6 comments:
One of the means to open the the charter is via a petition (pardon me if I do not use the precise definition) signed by 10% of the electorate.
I defy you to find 10% of the electorate that feels the the town charter is in need of review. The Cheshire Herald is right on this one, charter revision is a serious matter, and lacking any compelling reasons, there is no need to undertake this expensive and time-consuming process.
I do not support this.
The only reason to open the Charter at this point and time is to push someones political agenda. There have not been any complaints regarding the charter and therefore there is no need to revise it.
I think this blog has come down to tim writing back and forth to himself
listens?
I don't think so
What's the story on why the Dems want to open the Charter Revision.
I know that if it is opened for any reason, anything in it can be changed. After what happened on the Northend, I don't trust the Dems with anything. They have the majority and vote as a block, and therefore can pass anything they want and deny anything they are against.
E. Estey said at the meeting that she feels bad for all the independents that are shut out of serving on local commissions and such. This would be her reason for making a change.
I just don't buy her reason as I think she is as partisan as they come and since the Dems are in control they can now appoint their own people who will vote in a block according to their party line. I think her real reason is to further her politial ambitions when she runs for state office. Wouldn't it be nice to use this to convince independent voters that she really supports them.
So, now she has already made her point and even if the Charter Revision is not opened, she will be able to tell the independents that she works for them and she could blame the Republicans who vote against opening the charter.
I'm certain the Dems have a number of changes they would like to make, and I'm afraid that they would be making changes that help them stay in power or that help their special interest supporters.
If it takes 6 votes to approve the charter revision process, why are we talking about it, unless the all 5 Dems have 1 Rep already signed up. Wonder who that Republican could be....Tim?
All three members of the ordinance committee should vote this down. There is no need for this if they all read the charter. It's working fine and they should be spending more time on other important Town issues. Some of the lame reasons given to even look at this are ridiculous. Please, Mrs. Esty and Mr. Hall we don't need any more "Shenanigans".
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