Why A Charter Review Commission?

Marge Laidlaw was chair of the 1985 Charter Review Commission, a former member of the Whatcom County Council and is a current member of the League of Women Voters of Bellingham/Whatcom. Judith Wiseman was a member of the 1985 Charter Review Commission and is voter service chair for the League of Women Voters of Bellingham/Whatcom.

On the ballot this November, if you are a Whatcom County voter, you will vote for and elect five Charter Review Commissioners from your own district. These 15 Commissioners, five elected from each of the three council districts, are charged with reviewing Whatcom County’s Home Rule Charter to determine its adequacy and suitability to the current needs of the county. They will serve for one year.

Commissioners may propose amendments to the charter, which will then appear on the ballot next November (2006) for the electorate’s vote. Those amendment proposals should be of interest to every Whatcom County voter, since many candidates have particular ideas to put forward that could have substantial impact on the way the county government conducts its business, and affects you.

A little background—Whatcom is one of only a handful of Washington counties governed by a system known as Home Rule; the 21st Amendment to the Washington State Constitution allows counties to choose this form of government.

In November 1977, the voters of Whatcom County elected 21 freeholders to prepare and propose a Home Rule Charter for Whatcom County, which was adopted. The charter made two basic changes in our county form of government. It separated the legislative and administrative functions of government by providing a nonpartisan, seven-member, part-time County Council and a full-time, elected administrator (County Executive) to replace the three-commissioner form of government.

And, the charter provided the right of initiative and referendum. By law, the charter is reviewed every 10 years by a body of elected commissioners who may propose changes in the form of amendments upon which the public votes the following November.

The commissioner receiving the most votes overall will convene the commission; commissioners will then elect a chair. Sixty-two candidates are running for election this November, making it a challenge to know what each stands for. Some are just generally interested in participating in local government, while others have specific agendas to promote.

So, what does Home Rule Charter do? It allows the people of a county to make local decisions about such things as: which county government functions should be performed by elected rather than appointed officials; how many members of the council there should be; which powers and responsibilities should be performed by the legislative branch (the council) rather than by the administrative branch (the executive); various intergovernmental agreements and others. Another important aspect of Home Rule Charter is the provision that allows citizens to place initiatives and referendums on the ballot.

Electing a Charter Review Commission is one of three ways of amending the Home Rule Charter. The other two ways are by citizen petition and through amendments proposed by the Whatcom County Council.

It will be important to choose people on November 2 who understand what the charter can and cannot do and who understand that a flexible, broad document should not reflect today’s current fad or political whim. In addition, the people elected to the Charter Review Commission should be able to work together and respect different points of view.

The League of Women Voters of Bellingham/Whatcom recently held a public forum to give voters the opportunity to see and hear the candidates for the Charter Review Commission. Commissioner candidates were given a minute to speak and then broke into groups according to the council district they sought to represent, where citizens of those districts asked them questions. Many of the candidates had never met, so the event provided them the opportunity to share views and learn about issues and concerns of the others.

Before breaking into groups, the candidates brainstormed a list of issues they planned to consider. These included: the charter review process itself, previous reviews, election of Charter Review Commissioners, agenda of the commission and of the county, foresight and long-range planning, legal council, accountability, transparency, term limits, community rights, blurring of checks and balances, financial accountability—true and hidden costs, representational voting, education, initiative process, full-/part-time council, independent performance audits, appointments to committees and commissions, number of representatives and districts, emergency ordinances, tribal sovereignty, property rights, public input, redistricting, appointed/elected county officials, consistency with state law and a county theme song.

Some of the candidates are campaigning for these positions and different groups are endorsing those who best reflect their views. Ultimately, the actions of those elected to serve on this commission will affect all of Whatcom County’s residents, so it is crucial to cast a well-informed vote on November 2nd. Vote. And vote for five Charter Review Commissioners in your district. §