SLIDELL – St. Tammany Parish voters will face nine proposed changes to the Home Rule Charter when they go to the voting booths this Saturday, Nov. 21.
The changes are a direct result of a move from the Northshore Business Council (NBC) several years ago seeking a review of the Charter from the St. Tammany Parish Council, and administration of parish government.
“We never had any specific intent of what we wanted changed,” said NBC Chairman Sean Burkes. “We only want a review on a regular basis since things change in our parish, and our Charter needs to be reviewed.”
The work by the organization eventually encouraged the Parish Council to vote for the review, leading to the nine proposed amendment changes on the ballot this Saturday.
For that matter, one of the items on the list is for a Home Rule Charter review that will occur every 15 years, an item that included a few differences of opinion when it came to 10 or 15 years between reviews.
The Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany (CCST) also joined the push by the Business Council for the review and wanted a review every 10 years. In the end, the ballot item #2 offers a 15-year review. If it is voted down then it will not revert to any other guarantee of a regular review.
The Northshore Business Council has come out in favor of the nine proposed changes.
“Our Charter is 17 years old now so it’s only good policy to have it reviewed on a regular basis,” Burkes added. “We support all of the changes that are being proposed.”
The matter of term limits was another big issue with St. Tammany watchdog groups and was originally left alone after the Home Rule Charter, with no action and no mention of it on the ballot items this weekend.
However, the term limits matter was finally pushed through the Parish Council as an individual proposed change two months ago, and will face voters next spring.
Here is a list of the proposed changes, in capsule form:
Proposition No. 1
This proposition clarifies language that allows the parish government to enter into cooperative endeavor agreements, intergovernmental agreements and memoranda of understanding with other government subdivisions or public or private associations, corporations or individuals.
Proposition No. 2
This proposition would provide an automatic review of the home rule charter every 15 years through the appointment of a committee that would include at least two Parish Council members. That process would be very similar to the charter review that took place this time. But the committee itself recommended that the review happen every 10 years and be conducted by a special charter commission.
Proposition No. 3
This proposal deals with rules for council meetings. At present, the charter requires the council to provide by ordinance a “procedure” for interested people to be heard at council meetings “on any matter relating to parish government.” The proposed change would say that such discussion can be only on items already on the meeting agenda.
Proposition No. 4
This technical amendment would change the duration of emergency ordinances to bring them in line with the council’s meeting schedule. Currently, emergency ordinances are effective for no longer than 30 days and can be extended another 30 days with a two-thirds vote. This change would make such ordinances and extensions run until the next regularly scheduled council meeting.
Proposition No. 5
The change in legal representation called for in Proposition 5 has been one of the more contentious issues in the charter revamp. Right now, the charter calls for the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office to serve as legal counsel for the parish; the amendment would remove that requirement for both the administration and the Parish Council, allowing them to have their own attorneys.
Proposition No. 6
The section of the charter that outlines the parish president’s role would be revised by eliminating a paragraph that says the president will appoint, suspend or remove “for just cause” all parish government employees and appoint administrative officers unless otherwise specified.
Proposition No. 7
Some of the detailed language describing the duties of the chief administrative officer would be removed by Proposition No. 7, another technical amendment.
Proposition No. 8
This change would require the parish president to submit personnel policies and procedures to the Parish Council by ordinance. It eliminates a five-member personnel board that was supposed to review personnel policies and rules and conduct hearings on dismissals, demotions and disciplinary measures.
Proposition No. 9
This technical change would require that the parish’s budget for the coming year be submitted to the council at its October meeting. The charter now calls for the budget to be submitted 90 days before the start of the fiscal year, which begins Jan. 1.
↧
Voters to decide on nine propositions in November 21 election
↧