2000-05-10 Charter Commission Minutes

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Transcript of Meeting of May 10, 2000Page 17 of 62 that where I started from probably wasn’t where it is. It really hasn’t been misused per se. It has some pretty good safeguards in it, and again, I would move to delete that. RAY: Do we have a second? BESS: Second. RAY: Okay. Discussion. HIGASHI: What would be the main reason for deletion? SANTANGELO: The main reason for my motion was that basically it hasn’t been abused. I think, and I don’t want to wade into murky water, but I felt this last attempt maybe wasn’t the most ethical on the part of the people, but it’s the only time it’s ever been tried that way. Del Pranke brought up the fact that there is a litigation that takes place. It does incur some expense. And again, I think with some of the more important things this Commission’s put their energy into, that what we’re trying to do here maybe be misconstrued as not being in the best interest of the people – that maybe. And I’ve served with this Commission and have respect for how they feel about it, whether they vote it up or down. RAY: Ms. Herkes. HERKES: I go back to the fact that we are not the only body that can amend this Charter. If it is abused, the County Council can amend the Charter every year, any time they want to; every time there’s an election, or every two years when there’s an election, so if it starts to be abused then there is an avenue to stop the abuse. RAY: Other testimony? IRVINE: I wasn’t planning to vote to just throw this out, but I think it’s probably quite reasonable. It hasn’t been - RAY: Quite reasonable to throw it out? IRVINE: To throw it out? Yes. We have had a lot of testimony. I don’t think we’re making a lot of difference with going from the hundred to the 3% if we were voting within districts. If you have to go outside a district, the way we have it written right now, I don’t think I would probably vote for it. I think people should be impeached in their own district, and that 3% is only like 240 people. HERKES: Maybe we’ll work a little harder to elect people who can instill confidence in us and the integrity of government, that we won’t need an avenue like impeachment. RAY: I tend to agree. I don’t see it as really that much of a problem, and it’s such a divisive issue, sort of a target, so I would vote to eliminate it. All in favor of eliminating, raise your right hand. HANDS RAISED: All Commissioners. RAY: So we’ve eliminated the Impeachment. What about Planning Department Functions/Planning Commission Powers? HERKES: I move we eliminate those because it doesn’t change a thing. file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 05-10-00.html7/1/2011