Charter Board

The Carroll County Charter Board will begin meeting weekly )) to hasten the writing of a document that could change local government from three commissioners to a county executive.Chairwoman Carmen Amedori said accelerating the meeting schedule from twice monthly could produce a charter draft by the end of the year. The weekly meetings begin Sept. 25."Weekly meetings will keep the issues fresh in everybody's minds," said Hampstead Mayor Christopher M. Nevin, one of nine board members charged with writing a charter.

After five public hearings, the Carroll County Charter Board returns to writing the document that could change the county's form of government from three commissioners to an executive and council.The nine-member board reconvenes at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Ag Center in Westminster to review issues -- some controversial -- that arose during the hearings. Most notably, they must decide whether the document should include a tax cap and provide for an elected or an appointed executive.The board also will determine whether a special election is needed.

Charter question is not just for South CarrollAs chairwoman of the Carroll County Charter Board, I got a phone call from a resident of South Carroll. She inquired as to why no public input charter board meeting had been established for the South Carroll area.First, the last time I checked, Mount Airy was located in the southern end. Mount Airy will have its public input meeting on Aug. 14.Second, in the list of meetings, as outlined in a box in the Carroll County Times, the reporter clearly indicated that on Aug. 28, a meeting would be scheduled.

The County Commissioners impaneled without acrimony yesterday a nine-member board charged with drafting a charter that could change Carroll's form of government.A year ago, the commissioners turned down a request to appoint such a board. But charter government proponents forced the issue by collecting 4,858 voter signatures in a successful countywide petition drive.Despite his lukewarm support for the charter idea, Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown told board members yesterday: "I appreciate your service."

The County Commissioners appointed a nine-member board yesterday to write a charter that could change Carroll's government to an executive and county council.Charter supporters collected nearly 5,000 signatures demanding the appointments. The board can take up to 18 months to write a charter, or it could amend a proposed charter that failed at the polls five years ago.Once written, a charter would appear on the ballot, possibly in 1998 along with a newly enacted legislative initiative to expand the Board of Commissioners from three members to five.

Yates dismissal of Baltimore was embarrassmentThe article in The Sun on March 20, entitled, "Officials bypass area event discussing racial problems" by Mary Gail Hare, was well-written and addressed clearly the crucial need for citizens of Carroll County to join with our sisters and brothers from the city to address the issue of racism."

The petition drive aimed at forcing the appointment of a panel to write a Carroll County charter has passed the validation process with signatures to spare.The Board of County Commissioners has until April 25 to appoint a board to write a charter. If the charter is approved in referendum vote -- as soon as the November 1998 ballot -- Carroll's government would change from three commissioners to a county executive and council.The local board of elections took about eight days to review the 4,858 signatures collected during the six months that began in late September.

The petition drive aimed at forcing the appointment of a panel to write a county charter has passed the validation process with signatures to spare.The Board of County Commissioners has until April 25 to appoint a board to write a charter. If the charter is approved in a referendum vote -- as soon as the November 1998 ballot -- Carroll's government would change from three commissioners to a county executive and council.The local board of elections took about eight days to review the 4,858 signatures collected during the six months that began in late September.

Appointments to a board charged with writing charter government for Carroll County could be decided by responses culled from a newspaper advertisement.The ad has angered charter supporters, who last week submitted to the commissioners a list of 24 residents willing to serve on the board. If adopted, charter would change the county's government from three commissioners to a county executive and a council."They don't have to look through thousands of applications, when they surely could find people out of the 24 names submitted," said Sykesville Mayor Jonathan S. Herman.