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September 1955

October 1955

Calendar of Events
Membership Meeting
Board
Tips on Charters
Notes from National
United Nations
Membership Chairman Looking for New Members
Charter Committee

Tips on Charters

Dr. Rollin Posey, Northwestern University professor and former Executive Secretary of the Philadelphia Charter Commission, spoke at a recent luncheon meeting attended by members of the Board and Charter committees. He discussed the problems in drafting a charter and pointed out that education of and participation by the public were most important. He thought the League could play an important part in education and in alerting organizations about hearings that would be of interest to them and in general to get the public to attend hearings.

Dr. Posey expressed the view that our own local government should be studied carefully and that we had a simplicity here not generally found in local governments. This simplicity has value and should not he lost in a new charter.

He stressed the dangers apparent in the drafting of a charter. They are:

  1. The tendency to copy existing charters rather than to create a new charter applicable to the local situation,

  2. The danger of too much detail.

  3. Writing actual ordinances which are not actually part of a charter.

  4. The difficulty of maintaining non-partisanship.

  5. Lack of securing public participation. This defeats many charters when they are placed before the voter to approve at election time.


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