If ever there was a time for public outrage, last night provided it!
The Town Council took an "end-run" around democracy by proposing a series of changes to our Charter which will be placed
on the November ballot for the public's approval. Now changing the charter to keep it up to date and to provide for the changing
needs of the community is neccessary. But to publicize the changes in the morning newspaper, hold a public hearing on
all of them that evening and submit the changes to the Secretary of States office the following morning, is anything but sensible.
A Charter Review Commission is to be formed next year which would have the opportunity to review the entire charter,
gather input from all members of the public, obtain expert opinions on what the ramifications of some the of changes
might be, etc. It is a lengthy, in-depth proceedure. Our charter is like the US Constitution. It the supreme governing
document for our community. Changes are not to me made lightly or speedily. While the Council says that they have been working
hard on this for a long time, why won't they grant the same consideration to the public? As I listened to the discussion
last night among council members, it was clear that as they considered each of the proposals, new ramifications of each started
coming to mind. A change in one provision would substantially alter the meaning and intent of another proposed change,
what would be the effect of straggering the terms of office, etc. etc. If they had truly worked as diligently as a Review
Commission could have, they would have thoroughly understood the ramification of each proposal. The entire document would have
been examined as a whole entity and everyone in the community who wished to have a voice, could have been heard.
The proceedure they followed was not good public policy, manigerial policy, or good government. They should know
better!
Despite several voices, including my own, at the onset of the hearing counselling them to wait and allow a Commission
to conduct this important work, the council decided to rush ahead and put these changes on the ballot. What is more distrubing
is that the wording of some of the changes was altered as the course of their discussion allowed them to see different
aspects of their ammendments. This will only add to the confusion in November and quite possibly lead to legal challenges.
What was their motivation do you suppose???!
I've sent press releases to the Kent County Daily Times and the Providence Journal on this matter.
Help elect a Town Council that is interested in the publics interest this November!
