It’s not your mayor’s charter review, but it’s the best choice

October 27th, 2009

codeBook Every so often, federal and state laws change and that usually means that local laws and ordinances must change with them. Same goes for the governing document of the City of Muskogee – the city charter. Even in the absence of federal or state law changes, it is a good idea to partially review sections of the charter from time-to-time and make sure we are keeping up with the times.

The mayor proposed a complete charter review and a change in city government from the current city manager to a strong mayor government. This was very bold and seemed to some that it was a power grab attempt. The mayor also wanted a committee made up of citizens for this charter review. I’m not against citizens being involved, in fact, I think citizens should be very involved in their government – local, state and federal. However, the first step of being involved means to be informed.

The council voted down the mayor’s proposal and proposed the council as the charter review committee. The portions of the charter under review will be posted on the city’s website and citizens who want to be informed may read the proposed changes, attend the meetings and give input. This is, in my opinion, the best way to handle charter review and change.