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Charter reform – summary testimony

Dear Mayor Potter and Councilmen,

I strongly urge you NOT to send the Charter Reform Commission’s recommendations straight to the ballot in May, after Thursday’s hearing, for the following reasons:

1. Charter reform is much too important for a rushed process, and for adoption at an off-year primary election when turnout will be low. No major amendments should be on the ballot until the 2008 primary or general election. That timing would allow candidates for City Council seats in 2008 to help publicize the issues and declare their intent for how they would best work if elected.

2. The Commission’s urging to you, to put their recommendations on the ballot to promote public debate, is exactly what Bill Sizemore’s initiative petition signature-gatherers say, to induce citizens to sign. It is a flawed assertion. If you put the recommendations on the ballot in May, my choice will be to vote Yes or No. I will have no opportunity to improve the proposal – a proposal which was only made public in the last two weeks – and I will likely vote No on everything. If instead, you send the recommendations out to Neighborhood Associations and all the other community groups identified under the Community Involvement project, citizens will be able to provide comments that will improve what is finally voted on in May or November 2008. And more important, citizens will have time to think about real choices, instead of just Yes or No.

3. The Commission’s recommendations should be the starting point for review, discussion, and revision. Nobody elected the Commission’s members to make final decisions regarding what to put on the ballot. The hearing on Thursday is supposed to be about the process, not the product. But if you send their recommendations directly to the ballot, that would be de facto declaring that the product is ready for an up-or-down vote. It isn’t.

4. I support Commissioner Sten’s and Mayor Potter’s memorandum dated January 5, 2007, regarding changing state law to allow the City Council to act as the Portland Development Commission’s budget committee. There is no urgency to put a Charter amendment to implement this change on the ballot in May, since it has not yet passed the State Legislature – November of this year would be more appropriate for this vote. I note that the Charter Reform Commission did not recommend this change. It would be inconsistent to rubber-stamp the rest of their proposals by sending them to the ballot in May, while changing this one. Some citizens know as much about civil service rules as you know about PDC, for example. Shouldn’t more citizen-experts be allowed to amend the Commission’s proposal before sending it for a vote, just as you’re proposing to send something different on PDC?

If you are in fact taking testimony on the substance of the Charter Commission’s recommendations, rather than the process, please visit my blog at www.AmandaFritz.com, where I have posted* several detailed analyses of the problems within the proposed amendments. Please don’t send these important changes to the ballot in May, without further public input and revision.

Respectfully submitted,

Amanda Fritz

* Links:
Switch to Strong Mayor form of government
Future Charter Changes
Civil Service
PDC

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