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Expectations of the Charter Review Committee
"Membership on a charter review committee is accepting responsibility for leadership in
the most important single civic effort that any community can undertake. The duty of
leadership is to find the highest attainable level of improvement, not just a token advance.
Statesmanlike compromise is simply a means to this end." Guide for Charter
Commission, National League of Cities
Purpose and Overview
The primary function of the charter review committee is to review the existing charter to
determine if it will adequately serve the community well into the future. If necessary, the
committee is to prepare a draft charter for the City of Ashland. The proposed charter will
ultimately be reviewed by the city council for placement on the ballot for the voters of
Ashland.
The committee must be impartial, non-biased, and free of any perceived political gain and
may approach the task in whatever means results in a document that best serves the citizens
of Ashland.
In addition to adhering to the Oregon Public Meetings law, the committee will strive to
include the community beyond the requirements of the law. The council encourages the
committee to seek opportunities to educate the community about the process and purpose of a
charter review, the importance of a city charter and to solicit community input.
It is the council's experience that undertakings of this scope are best achieved within a set
timeline during which committee members are focused on achieving the task in a timely
manner. Stretching a task over a period of many months can result in a committee that loses
focus, interest and drive and a drop in attendance. As such, the council requests that the
committee develop a timeline so that the proposed amendments can be placed on the earliest
possible ballot.
The city will engage the services of a consultant with expertise in charter reviews and
revisions that will assist the committee as detailed in the attached Expectations of the Charter
Review and Revision Consultant.
Membership
The committee will be comprised of nine voting members: two former elected city officials,
and seven other citizens.
An alternate committee member will also be selected and will serve as a non-voting member.
Should a member of the committee be unable to fulfill duties, the alternate will assume the
role of the voting member. The city attorney will attend all meetings and will act in an
advisory role and a current city employee will staff the committee.
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