The new Republican majority on the County Council is full of surprises.
Instead of packing the County Charter Review Commission with GOP appointees, the Republican-dominated council moved in the opposite direction. Nearly two-thirds of the members appointed to the commission by Republican County Executive Charles I. Ecker and the council are Democrats.
The 15-member commission is established every eight years and, by law, no more than 10 commissioners can be of the same party.
"I really didn't see it going Democrat or Republican," said Council Chairman Charles C. Feaga, a Republican from West Friendship, of the council majority's bipartisan approach to the commission. "We picked the people we knew the best."
The County Council plans to air a resolution Jan. 3 that will establish the commission, define its task and formally name the members and the chairman. The resolution requires the commission to "address the needs of contemporary government" and to assure that the county charter "remains a functional, working document that effectively outlines the framework for an efficient operation of county government."
The commission, which is expected to begin work in February, will have 16 months to review the county charter, identify portions that need revision and recommend changes. Its deadline for submitting a written report to the council is May 1, 1996.
All meetings of the commission are public.
Ellicott City attorney Thomas Moore Meachum will chair the commission. He will be joined by fellow Republicans Shirley C. Meighan of Ellicott City, Randall K. Nixon of West Friendship, and Richard D. Neidig, William A. Ross and Bruce F. Taub of Columbia.
Democratic members include Martha M. Clark of Glenelg, Thomas J. Flynn of Laurel, Thomas E. Lloyd Sr. and Lillie M. Price-Wesley of Ellicott City. Others are Sue-Ellen Hantman, Ernie A. Kent, Richard F. Kirchner, John L. Peoples Jr. and Doris S. Thompson of Columbia.