Never forget we have a Home Rule Charter, unless we the citizens vote to dissolve it. Until we do, remind these damn County Commissioners that we are really in charge. According to the words of the charter:
This Charter shall be liberally construed in aid of its declared purpose, which is to establish effective home rule government in this county responsive to the people.
Because County Government has forgotten this, maybe it is time to forget about them. If the charter ceases to serve us, maybe it is time for a change.
4 comments:
Commissioners used to be elected Countywide. Then the idea of electing commissioners by district became all of the rage. Electing commissioners by district would make the commissioners closer to the people and solve all problems.
The truth is, it solved some problems, but created others.
Meanwhile, for the last twenty years, we have steadily moved towards more politics in County government. With the elimination of the County Manager and the amendment of the charter to allow Commissioners to directly contact county employees, we have pretty much adopted the model of the City of Miami where the entire administration will be political.
We are taking the best run local government and changing it to be more like the worst run local governments.
I personally think we need to go back to the original idea of charter government which was to place as much of the administration of government in the hands of professional managers as possible and strictly limit the politic leaders to broad policy-making and budget-setting.
Wasn't it the courts that mandated the change to electing commissioners by district?
The only way we get to excercise our authority per the org chart you presented, Genius, is to vote. Sadly, not enough of us do, and when we do, it's rarely a concerted effort to remove someone from office. The more disinterested we become, the more arrogant they become. I am appalled at the way some citizens are spoken to and treated by members of the Commission, particularly the Napoleonic incoming peque, Joltin' Joe.
repeal home-rule charter. Let State law apply!
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