August 1991 Home   Newsletters

September 1991

October 1991

President's Message: Welcoming Public Input - Transit Style (Arlene Ellis)
Current Position on Local Government
Consensus: Position on the City Council, Adopted April 1980
Membership
Discussion Questions for Consensus Meeting
Viewpoint on KHVH
Search for Leaders
Changing the Voter Requirement for Charter Amendments
Educating the Public on Proposed Amendments
Time Restrictions on Charter Amendments
Teamsters Vote Count
Letters (Adeline Schutz)
Consensus Meeting
Letters - 2 (Barbara Kem Neff)
Community Events

Time Restrictions on Charter Amendments

In the 1990 election, League spoke out against voting for the proposed amendments to the charter for several reasons. Among our objections were the lack of publicity and information and the short period of time available for the public to study the issues and for public debate. And also, very important, the scheduled convening of the Charter Commission was only a few months away. It seemed only sensible to refer the issues to the Charter Commission for study.

At the August 13th meeting of the Charter Commission, one of the city officials was explaining the reasons he thinks the Department of Human Resources should be downgraded to the Office of Human Resources under the Office of the Managing Director. One of the commissioners said he had a problem with this suggestion since that office was only upgraded to department status in the 1990 elections. Even the Public Transit Authority which was established by Charter amendment in the 1990 elections is being recommended for review.

Should there be some time restrictions on amending of the charter? Should any proposals for charter amendment be on the ballot in the election preceding the convening of the Charter Commission except for urgent, emergency amendments? Rather than attempting to push through amendments at that late date, should they be referred to the Charter Commission to study, invite public reaction and debate, and to see how the changes relate to and affect the whole charter?

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