Council expansion dropped from charter review

The Charter Review Commission unanimously decided Thursday, Oct. 13 not to recommend expansion of the five-member County Council.

The commission had previously discussed adding two more council seats, but after seeing little interest in the idea during low-turnout public hearings, members decided it wasn't an idea worth pursuing.

"There doesn't seem to be any groundswell of support that yes we need seven council members," commission member Jim Walsh said.

Said commission chairwoman Donna Richardson:. "There wasn't the response that I thought we were going to get" from the public hearings.

Specifying that floating zone applications are not subject to referendum was another idea the commission had previously discussed, but decided Oct. 13 that it wasn't worth recommending as a charter change. The only reasoning members gave for dropping the idea was that there was no support for it at the public hearings.

The 14-member commission is charged with identifying sections of the charter that need to be revised and recommending revisions to the council by May 1, 2012. Any changes the council votes to adopt will have to be affirmed by voters in the next election.

In total, only about a dozen people testified at the three public hearings, held Sept. 14, Sept. 20 and Oct. 5 in different locations throughout the county. Some testified on the council expansion issue, but there wasn't any agreement on what, if anything, should be done.

"This seems to me that this would be an issue that when it's out there and it's right, people will say that it's right," commission member Sang Oh said.

Commission member Josh Tzuker agreed, saying "if it's not broken, don't fix it."

He suggested that if there is a work load problem, as some current council members have suggested, that increasing council staff would solve that. Even though it does not require a charter amendment, Tzuker said the commission could recommend that.

But commission member Tom Coale said if the council members wanted to increase their staff, they could have already done it through legislation.

Tzuker responded that a commission recommendation could provide cover for what some might otherwise see as the council giving themselves more benefits.

The commission did not take a vote on the recommendation.

However, the commission members did vote on a recommendation from member Ed Cochran, a former Howard County executive, who said the council should form a study group to further research and evaluate the pros and cons of expanding the council.

Only a minority of the commission members agreed with Cochran's suggestion, meaning the recommendation will not be included in the commission's final report. County staff said the five members who favored the idea can issue a minority recommendation.

The only jurisdiction in Maryland that is smaller in population than Howard and has more council members is Harford County with seven.

The commission will hold another work session on Oct. 27 to continue discussion of other possible charter amendments, including the number of signatures needed for referendum.