Charter Board

C Proponents of charter government in Carroll County should borrow the slogan of the anti-abortion Vote kNOw Coalition -- "Make them get it right" -- if they really want the county to adopt genuine home rule government.The charter board that drew up a home rule government proposal for Carroll so botched the job, the result was soundly rejected by voters Tuesday -- for all the wrong reasons.The charter board made a fundamental mistake when it loaded the proposed charter with baubles that tried to appease as many factions as possible.

WESTMINSTER -- Residents looking for a yes or no answer to whether charter government in Carroll County would cost more than the current commissioner system won't get one."Charter definitely will not cost you more. It will not definitely save you money," said Barbara S. F. Pease, a member of the board that wrote the charter.If residents vote to approve the charter in the Nov. 3 election, Carroll would be governed by a five-member County Council elected from districts. An appointed administrator would oversee daily government operations.

When the Carroll County charter board decided to make the county administrator position appointive, it violated one of the fundamental reasons for home rule government.The bedrock reason for writing a county charter is to ensure that local government is responsive and accountable to its citizens.As envisioned by the charter, the county administrator is going to have day-to-day control over the government. Yet this person will be directly accountable to the five-member council -- not to the citizens.

When the charter board decided to make the county administrator position appointive, it violated one of the fundamental reasons for home rule government. The bedrock reason for writing a county charter is to ensure that local government is responsive and accountable to its citizens. As envisioned by the charter, the county administrator is going to have day-to-day control over the government. Yet this person will be directly accountable to the five-member council -- not to the citizens.Is this rather basic shortcoming reason enough to vote against the charter?

If people are willing to listen, charter government supporters are willing to talk."Anybody interested can contact us, and we'll come out and speak to them. We're trying to get the truth out about what the charter can and cannot do," said Gary W. Bauer of Hampstead, a member of the Committee for Charter Government.The committee is in the midst of a campaign to explain the charter, which residents will be asked to vote for or against in the Nov. 3 election.At least one opponent is on the speaking circuit, too, trying to persuade voters to see it his way.The charter proposes to replace the current form of commissioner government with a non-partisan, appointed county administrator and a five-member council elected by districts.

Let the political jockeying begin.Carroll residents will be voting Nov. 3 not only to choose federal representatives and register opinions on the abortion issue but also to determine the county government's future.Overcoming concerns about an ambitious schedule, the Carroll Charter Board presented a proposed charter to the county commissioners Thursday. The board completed its work in time for the charter to be put on the Nov. 3 ballot, saving the county an estimated $50,000 for a special election.

WESTMINSTER -- The committee promoting charter government for Carroll might have to wait longer than it had hoped to raise the curtain on its full-scale campaign."

Carroll residents will have one last chance tomorrow night to ** comment on the proposed county charter before it goes to the county commissioners for consideration.The county's charter board, which has been working on the proposal since last spring, has scheduled its final public hearing at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Agricultural Center in Westminster.Board members plan to give their completed document to the commissioners Thursday.Jon R. Buck, co-chairman of the charter board, said the panel is not likely to change major provisions that were considered at three previous hearings and debated at length.

Carroll County's charter board wants county voters to approve its proposed charter on Nov. 3, and the nine-member group believes it has included a provision that will greatly improve chances of passage. The magic language: A county council would be prohibited from raising property taxes more than the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index.The charter board wants to assuage the fear that charter government means skyrocketing costs and more taxes. In the past two years, efforts to enact charter government in Frederick and Garrett counties failed.

WESTMINSTER -- The Carroll Charter Board engaged in a convoluted debate last night over imposing some type of control over county spending, then deferred a decision until Carroll's budget director can offer advice on the effects of various limits.The nine-member board, which is writing the document that could become Carroll government's constitution if it is approved by voters, agreed in principle that some form of taxation limit should be included in the charter. But they haven't decided the best method to achieve that goal.