[RP TownTalk] Town Charter Amendment Process

Mon Apr 2 13:50:57 UTC 2018

 Thank you Mr Mayor, for you TownTalk note.
The charter modification process has been used for at least two changes that raised town voter awareness, the name change and the change in structure of the council. These two issues were resolved in different ways and caused me to consider the charter amendment process anew with this proposal.

I continue to be focused on the specific draft legislation content and the process being used to enable the entire Town to look at  the issue of representation and who chooses that representation. 

Since this proposed legislation is not time critical, as compared to the structure change, I offer the following somewhat detailed suggestion in detail for consideration as a way forward.

While your explanation of the formal process per the existing charter, as I understand it too, a complex question remains:

Can the legislation be pulled in order to rework the proposal to address -
a) Develop and describe the process of the proposed separate list in detail while providing the who and how such a list would be developed and maintained. Note that the support structure for voter lists provided by the County would not be available to support this new list unless the County provided some sort of support for an extended voting list process as it does for the current voter identification process, there for, a new support structure is needed.
b) Develop a cost projection for supporting and operating this separate list in order to provide at least a cost bogie for the manpower/humanpower and IT infrastructure required to support the change.
c) Develop and describe the process of new voter registration and verification along with a manpower/humanpower and IT infrastructure required to support this activity described in the draft legislation.
d) explain why a 5 day count delay is needed while also providing a sound, enforceable, and verifiable method of protecting the ballots.

Once those items are accomplished, I would propose an enhancement to the charter mandated legislative process with the addition of at least TWO true formal, well advertised, Public hearings on the legislation. This would be a formal council session dedicated to hearing and responding to the public regarding the charter amendment, they would have a set minimum time for the session but allow the public additional time in each session as necessary, to raise questions and receive detailed explanations. While this process is not specifically called out or described in the charter as described by me, I think it would go a long way toward ensuring full opportunity for public comment and through understanding of charter changes from now on.

Respectfully,
Bob Smith
5001 Riverdale Road
sfmc68 at verizon.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan K. Thompson <akthompson at riverdaleparkmd.gov>
To: TownTalk <TownTalk at riverdale-park.org>
Sent: Sun, Apr 1, 2018 10:27 pm
Subject: [RP TownTalk] Town Charter Amendment Process

Given the discussion going on here about what may or may not happen at the April 2 (tomorrow!) Legislative Meeting, I thought I would discuss the process of amending the Town Charter.

Here is the language from the Charter on Amendment:

§ 1008: Charter Amendment
This charter may be amended in accordance with the provisions of Article 23A of the Annotated Code of Maryland, provided, however, that no amendment to this charter shall be passed at the meeting at which it is introduced. At any regular or special meeting held not fewer than six (6) nor more than sixty (60) days after the meeting at which an amendment to this charter is introduced, it shall be passed, or passed as amended, or rejected, or have its consideration deferred. The amendment or a fair summary thereof shall be published at least once in a newspaper having general circulation in the town before it is acted upon by the council.

In my Town Crier article for April 2018 (at http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info/Crier/9673-April%202018%20Crier.pdf) I discussed the "provisions of Article 23A of the Annotated Code of Maryland," which say the amendment either by resolution of the Town Council or by petition of the voters.  A petition of the voters is required for the amendment to go to referendum (read my article for more details, or read a plain-language description of the process required by the state at https://www.mdmunicipal.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/13).

Because of the provisions of § 1008, the Council cannot vote to approve the amendment at the meeting where it is introduced, which usually means that it is not even discussed at the meeting where it is introduced (a strict interpretation of Robert's Rules of Order would not allow discussion).  The Council has traditionally listened to comments from members of the public that are present, which I expect to happen tomorrow. 

Once the amendment has been introduced, the Council must vote on the next action (pass, amend and pass, reject, or defer) within 60 days. That will almost certainly happen at the May 7 Legislative meeting; the June 4 meeting is more than 60 days from the expected April 2 introduction. 

Note that the proposed legislation was discussed and amended by the Legislative Committee (a subcommittee of the entire council) during two meetings (February 21 and March 8) prior to the introduction in its current form as presented to the entire Council. The fact that the Legislative Committee was working on this legislation was announced both in Councilmember Dixon's Ward Report in the Town Crier, and in posts to TownTalk and TownAnnounce announcing the meeting times, locations, and agendas.  

Best regards,

Alan
-- 

Alan K. Thompson, Mayor
Town of Riverdale Park
5008 Queensbury Road, Riverdale Park, MD 20737
http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info
akthompson at riverdaleparkmd.gov

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