Seventh Charter Review Commission Meeting Scheduled for April 13, 2015, 6:30 PM (Monday)

The seventh meeting of the Charter Review Commission will be held on Monday, April 13, 2015, 6:30 PM in the Civic Center Garden Room, 322 N. Commercial Street, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Agenda

1. Call to Order
   
2. Roll Call
   
3. Pledge of Allegiance
   
4. Public Session
   Members of the public will have 3 minutes to address the Commission on any subject. Each speaker should state his or her name for the record. To submit handouts, please provide one for each commissioner and two for staff and the record.
   
5. Approval of Minutes for March 23, 2015
   
6. Old Business: Discussion and Possible Vote on Proposed Charter Amendments for Voters at the next General Election.
   
   The Commission will take a mid-meeting break if necessary.
   
   Proposed Amendment 8 from Jon Mutchler: Shall the Charter be amended to provide voter education concerning county officials’ election titles by requiring ballots to refer to the Assessor as the “Property Assessor” and the Auditor as the “Auditor and Elections Officer”?
   
   Proposed Amendment 13 from Eli Mackiewicz: Shall the Charter be amended to include four political parties, instead of two, in the districting process?
   
   
7. Old Business: Proposed Charter Amendments for Voters at the next General Election
   The Commission voted to forward these proposed amendments to Whatcom County voters. They will not be discussed at tonight’s meeting. However, any commissioner may move to reconsider these amendments during any meeting.
   
   Proposed Amendment 1 from Joe Elenbaas: Shall the Charter be amended to provide for election of council members within the council district from which the candidate was nominated?
   
   Proposed Amendment 2 from Joe Elenbaas: Shall the Charter in Article 5.40 and Article 5.60 be amended to increase the "concise statement" limit from 20 words to 40 words?
   
   Proposed Amendment 3 from Ben Elenbaas: Shall Charter Section 8.20 be amended to prohibit the County Council from proposing Charter amendments on matters that have been approved by a 2/3 majority of voters?
   
   Proposed Amendment 5 from Todd Donovan: Shall the Charter be amended to facilitate voting on initiative and referendum?
   
   Proposed Amendment 6 from Ken Bell: Shall the Charter be amended to apply term limits to the County Councilmembers?
   
   Proposed Amendment 10 from Chet Dow: Shall Charter Section 8.23 be amended to prohibit the County Council from proposing any Charter amendment to Charter sections 2.12 or 2.13?
   
   
8. New Business
   
   Pending Amendment 12 from Jon Mutchler: Shall the Charter be amended to include a new section to require compliance with the Washington State Open Public Meetings Act and impose a civil penalty on violations of the Act?
   
   Pending Amendment from Todd Donovan and Jon Mutchler: Shall the Charter be amended to lower the threshold requirement for ballot signatures for Whatcom County Charter changes from 20% to 15% for citizen initiatives?
   
   
9. Adjourn

The next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 27, 2015 at the Ferndale

Library, 2125 Main Street, Ferndale.