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Pomeroy 9-15-89 DISaCUSSION OF PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS The accompanying proposal is color coded for ease of reference . Items highlighted in blue - the bulk of the changes - have as their aim creation of a gender-neutral charter . Two additional groups of changes eliminate redundancy and add flexibility. For example, procedures for gathering and validating petition signatures are spelled out in different wording, with differing degrees of detail , in three different places. . .yet there is no substantive difference in what is being described. I have removed this redundant wording from the sections relating to initiative , recall , and charter amendment , and included it as a new section at the end of Article XIII - General Provisions. This helps to streamline the charter , and means that any change of procedure will require only one amendment instead of three . It is not a constraint , because the common procedure is automatically overriden if an exception is spelled out in any of the other three sections. These changes have been highlighted in green . A similar example is the repetitive enumeration of districts in the provisions for appointments to various boards and commissions. In every case , the districts coincide with the county council districts, so there is no need to spell them out separately in each section they apply to. These changes are highlighted in pink. Substantive changes are highlighted in yellow. The ones presented at this time relate to the general plan , the board of appeals, impeachment , "affirmative action" , declarations of emergency, public hearings, conflict of interest and charter amendment procedures. I will discuss each briefly. General plan (Section 3-16) . The system whereby the planning director proposes land use changes on behalf of private developers as part of the comprehensive general plan revision process should be viewed as an abuse . It puts the county in the inapproporiate position: of being an advocate for private monied interests. Without any, ra_t.ionale , it-exempts potent'`a14.X massive projects from environmental impact static=ment requirements, and ; generally reduces public scrutiny .of them.-: ;This, .is a loophole which hould 'be closed. • Two other' changes relating to. the .general .._plan., replace "air pollution" with "air and water quality" as being among the concerns of . the general. p 1.an, add "environmen+a1 " to the social , . econorTc and governmental spheres as being worthy of attention . Board of Appeals, (Section 5-6.3) .. .The. statement giving preference ,.to persons : ,` EXHIBIT A ,586 (13 pages)