In the coming year, charter review is going to become the great defining issues for the charter review committee, for city leaders, and ultimately for everyone living in this city who feels vested in its future.
Has the time has come to streamline Everett city government?
How can it be made to be more inclusive and workable without the perpetual political conundrum caused by the bi-cameral aspects of the city’s government.
Times change and governments tend to remain the same.
In this instance, it might make great sense for Everett to crash headlong into the new century already upon us and to make the changes necessary to form meaningful governments dedicated to doing the city’s business.
This is not to say the bi-cameral government hasn’t worked well over the years.
It will be up to the charter review committee to do what was done in neighboring Chelsea during the period of receivership.
Everett citizens have not required such a dramatic change in government over the years.
Everett is lucky to have so many large commercial companies operating here and paying hefty taxes.
It has also been lucky to have had a succession of leaders who took care of the city and the budget, even though they tended to get lost in nasty political battles that did nothing to encourage good government.
Charter review is just that – review – that will have the ability of dramatically changing some of the ways this city rules itself in order to streamline government or to entirely change some aspects of government.
How the charter turns out is akin to how Everett is going to turn out.
The process will be long and meandering.
There will be many battles about what should be changed and what should not.
In the end, the city will come out of this experience with a charter that serves the modern times more than it serves the past.
The bicameral city government is probably going to go the way of the Model T.
What exactly will replace it is anyone’s guess – and this is the interesting aspect of a true charter review.
How the new government will look in two years is, again, a guess.
2 comments for “Charter Review”