Judge Stephen Rideout (ret.)
swrideout@aol.com

Dear Readers:

The Charter Commission made its presentation on Charter Change recommendations this past Monday to the County Council. The presentation went well with Phil Reed doing most of the talking. All but one member of the Commission was present for the meeting. In addition about 7 members of the public appeared to present their views on the recommendations.

All of the speakers praised the Charter Commission and the work that they had done in such a short period of time. There were a few concerns about some of the recommendations; but on the whole, those members of the public who were speaking supported the issues that the Commission was trying to address.

As the report, under normal circumstances, would have been due to the County Council in May, which is about when the Commission was allowed to start, this report in mid July has put some time pressure on County Council to make any decisions on their recommendations, as any proposed charter amendment needs to be at the State Elections Board by August 5th in order for them to make final approvals as to language for the ballot question to appear on the ballot in November.

The County Council voted to place these recommendations on the agenda for the County Council meeting on August 2nd at 6:00 p.m. for final decisions. If any of the recommendations are adopted, lawyers for the county will have just a few days to prepare appropriate language unless directed otherwise in order that the ballot question can be sent to the State Board of Election by August 5th.

We were advised that future meetings of County Council will be televised and not conducted over the phone. I am not aware how they will be televised – over the Internet or on a cable channel – so you may want to check the county web site for information on that issue. You, of course, are welcome to join the public at the meeting itself.

Steve