This post might better be titled "Nothing Is Ever Easy," but that title was already used once this week.
If you are going to revise the city charter, who would you want crafting the proposed changes? The task promises to be an arduous and tedious one. The charter is not a simple document. It is the framework for how a municipality governs itself. Given that, it would seem reasonable to want people assigned to the task who can think analytically, are willing to do the hard work, are familiar with the charter as it exists now, and have knowledge of how government functions. Not everyone fits the criteria.
At the Common Council meeting on Tuesday, Council president Margaret Morris presented for discussion a proposed local law establishing a charter revision commission. She explained that there were basically three ways to approach charter revision: the mayor can appoint a charter commission; the Common Council can appoint a charter commission; a citizens' group can form to propose revision. "At the end of the day," Morris told the Council, "everything ends up on the ballot for referendum."
According to the proposed law, the commission would consist of seven members. Six would be community members appointed by the Council president, and the Council president would serve ex officio as the seventh member. At the meeting, Morris amended the suggested makeup of the commission to include the Council majority leader as an ex officio member. She explained that, since announcing her intention to create a charter revision commission, members of the public had approached her and expressed interest in serving on the commission. She had five people in mind who might serve. She did not, however, disclose who those five people were.
Jennifer Belton (Fourth Ward) was the first councilmember to comment, saying she wanted the selection process to be "more open and inclusive." She objected that she didn't know who the five people were. Morris responded, "These are people who raised their hands and said they are willing to do the work."
Claire Cousin (Fifth Ward) said she agreed with Belton, and Gary Purnhagen opined, "It's hard to fully reflect Hudson with seven people." Belton suggested that each ward should be represented on the commission. She noted there was a problem with the citizens' group that proposed a charter amendment last year "because they all looked alike."
Ken Dow, counsel to the Council, explained that, once a commission is established, "a lot of what they do is dictated by New York State law."
During the public comment period, Ron Kopnicki pointed out that the Common Council could constitute itself as a charter revision commission. Matt McGhee called for a public hearing on starting a commission. Lloyd Koedding wanted the five people Morris had chosen identified, suggesting they "might have an agenda." He went on to allege that last year's Citizens' Initiative for Charter Change "had it out for the mayor."
Morris invited councilmembers (and presumably also the public) to send their comments about the proposed law to her, indicating that she wanted to bring a revised version of the law before the Council at its August meeting. She also made the point that meetings of the charter revision commission would be open meetings.
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The citizens charter group all looked alike? Not for nothing (and no offense to those with whom I worked), but I sure do hope I don't look as masculine or as old as some of my counterparts.
ReplyDeleteAnd BTW, does Ms. Belton realize that women are considered minorities? Or do we simply not count?
ReplyDeleteI don't have any iinsghts into this complex matter, but it is imperative that we start to allow Colarusso's dump trucks to proceed down Warren St., 24/7.
ReplyDeleteWhat you will also very occasionally hear from Margaret Morris, along with Jason Foster, is how they hope to get trucks off of 3rd street. (It's been a few months!) Of course, nothing is ever explained in detail how they're going to accomplish this, then you don't hear anything about it for months or years, then the 7th Street park is going to be redone, then Luizzi had to come back and redo all their stones, then a charter commission can barely be put together, then the mill street fiasco then the this and then that... and all the trucks keep passing through the city, still using 3rd street headed both ways. Still turning on and off Park Place constantly. (Foster really doesn't like trucks on Park! Wants to make it one way!) Margaret talks. A lot. And about a lot! A lot too much, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteIf Hudson stopped providing healthcare benefits to elected officials, how many would still run for office?
ReplyDeletePerhaps that is one way to reduce our surplus of government and shortage of competent management. Then we can use the money we save to give proper benefits to the HPD and HFD and sponsor visas for family members of DPW? #WelcomingCity
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Hudson has an unusually large legislature for a city of its size. See where it got us...
Ms. Belton, you have been on the right side of Mill Street and fight for your constituents, but remember when the 11 member Common Council voted to sell the land that cannot be sold and is a state park, immediately after being warned by a professor of NY property rights and environmental law....
Larger "representative" groups do not necessarily act more wisely.
Common Sense has not yet reviewed the 7 proposed members.
But if they can read a budget, follow evidence and exercise judgment independently of Facebook vibes and the organizations they are meant to scrutinize, we will be better served...
Consider:
- The average American county governing body: roughly 10k registered voters per elected member.
- Columbia County Board of Supervisors: roughly 2k voters per supervisor
0 Hudson Common Council: roughly 400 voters per member.
Ms. Belton, Mr Purnhagen, and Ms. Cousin, what evidence shows that a larger committee produces better decisions?
We give you the evidence for the opposing argument:
The dysfunction and $20m budget of the City of Hudson, New York that you preside over.
I think what Margaret is intending here is in a vacuum the best approach: A small commission is the only one that could get this done in the proposed timeline. It would also create the most cohesive outcome.
DeleteBut the reality is that this commission will have to have more members since it needs to satisfy the always nebulous requirements of inclusivity and representativeness. Seven members is not enough for some significant group to feel excluded. Certainly not when one member is Margaret herself and the other six are picked by her.
Here's how seven members maybe could work: Instead of soliciting applications by residents to be on that commission, she could directly reach out to specific people in Hudson. And those people need to cover a considerable gamut or else this is politically dead.
Then she returns to the council with this law and before it's voted on, reveals all seven members. That would make the vote also a vote on the specific proposed composition.
From my time on the School Board, when I chaired a couple of BOE created committees (one on discipline and another on curriculum), the biggest challenge was creating a committe that was both representative and small enough to get something done. Some suggestions. 1. After setting up the official committee with X number of members, establish an "interested party" group that would receive copies of meeting minutes and agenda items, 2. have a symbolic "empty chair" at all meetings to represent "the average citizen who couldn't attend a meeting or be on the committee but had an opiinion and rights. It was the job of the committee to ask each other what the average citizen thought.
ReplyDeleteOr like when Tom DP hand selected the Comprehensive Plan committee and Mayor Johnson’s girlfriend ran it?
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, I agree that the only way to get buy in is for the rest of the council to add a member of their choice. Maybe in addition to the ones who submitted interest to the council prez, plus her and the majority leader ex officio. Sure, it will be a design by committee and they’ll probably not agree on the needed major change, like a city manager or cutting the council down to 1 per ward. But the charter is out of date and I think they can make progress on getting rid of the archaic stuff, like the commissioners.
Baby steps and compromise, which is hard in Hudson since every issue is split in a proxy war between the sides of “progress” or “reverse progress,” depending on how one defines what progress is.
Throwback to when Mayor Kamal, the “Housing Justice Director” (also his domestic partner), and his assistant (mayoral aide Weaver) formed the majority of a committee who decided who gets to own the Dunn Warehouse.
DeleteDid Belton, Purnhagen, and Cousin object then as well?
I may be in the minority here, but I think we're overcomplicating this. Margaret Morris was elected by the people of Hudson to serve as Council President. Revising the City Charter has been one of her stated priorities, so none of this should come as a surprise. At some point, we should trust the judgment of the person we elected to lead the Common Council.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't believe every ward needs its own representative on the commission. Margaret already represents the entire Common Council - not just one ward - and the goal should be to assemble the smallest group of competent, thoughtful, and well-intentioned citizens who are willing to do the work. Smaller groups are often more productive and better able to reach consensus than committees assembled solely for geographic or political balance. If I'd suggest one addition, it would be someone with experience in public communications or community engagement. Not to shape the substance of the Charter, but to help explain the commission's work to residents, improve transparency, and serve as a conduit for public feedback throughout the process.
Let's stop turning every appointment into a political proxy battle. Let Margaret pick a capable group, let them do the work in public, invite input from the community along the way, and then let the voters have the final say at the ballot box. That's how this process is supposed to work.
Hudson has no shortage of committees. What we're short on is execution.
I totally agree with you. But politics is a balance between principles and compromise.
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