Shortly after the Charter Review Committee issued its final report to the City Council yesterday, committee member Marc Warner issued a dissenting minority report. Here is an excerpt followed by Mr. Warner’s full report:
The nature of the dissent is not about the worthiness of revising the current charter. It does need revisions. Rather, it is about the tactics that the city should follow and the costs that the city should incur in the effort to make the changes. The majority recommends that proposed charter changes come from a new, large committee with broad representation, and with a budget, staff, and the ability to hire consultants. I reject these findings. Charter revisions should instead come from a) one or two council-appointed and unpaid editors to bring the current document to a “state of good repair,” and b) one or two council-appointed and unpaid facilitators to moderate public debates of potential new initiatives. City resources should be limited to the provision of meeting space, documentation on the City web site, discussion of results at City Council, and the dissemination of any materials for a public referendum if needed to support a home rule petition for changes to the Charter.