Charter Commission Deadline Looms

Portland Charter Commission will wrap up its work and present a final report to city council by summer.

By Tony Zeli

The Portland Charter Commission must make major decisions on what changes to make to the city’s charter and present a final report by July 11th. As such, upcoming meetings in March and April are crucial.

Background

In 2020, Portland voters approved a review of the Portland City Charter. City Council appointed three members early the following year. Voters in Portland selected the other nine members in June 2021. Coming together during a pandemic and a time of political change, various groups saw an opportunity to change the city for years to come. Newly elected commissioners promised to address many issues such as redistricting, clean elections, and creating an Office of Public Advocate.

To tackle all these issues, the commissioners set up committees on governance, education, elections, procedures, and departments. The committees are meeting regularly over the next couple of months. Visit the city calendar for details at https://www.portlandmaine.gov.

Deadline Looms

The charter commission has just two more months to decide on which revisions to recommend and how to present them to the public – as one set of changes to be voted on as a package or several groups of recommendations that voters will decide individually. Running out of time, they are working at a faster pace.

Mayoral Powers

At their February 23^rd meeting commissioners workshopped competing proposals on mayoral powers, voted to change the way ranked choice voting works (although details are coming), and discussed universal residential voting.

At the meeting three proposals on mayoral powers were discussed. Out of the governance committee led by Robert O’Brien (representing District 2) was a proposal to keep an executive city manager and add a position of Chief of Staff. A counter proposal led by Nasreen Sheikh-Yousef (at-large) places the mayor in the role of chief executive of Portland. Also, a compromise from Marpheen Chann and Ryan Lizanecz featured an executive mayor, but a final recommendation awaits.

As the deadline looms, many issues will have to be decided soon. And it is the last chance for the public to weigh in.

Volunteers from the local chapter of the League of Women Voters are following the charter commission and producing helpful resources. Learn more on their website at https://www.lwvme.org/CharterCommission.

The full charter commission meets every other Wednesday, including on March 9th and March 23rd via Zoom. Commissioners may add meetings, as their preliminary report of charter revisions is due to the city council on May 9th. The final report is due on July 11th. Voters will be able to weigh in on November 8th.

Tony Zeli is publisher and editor. Contact him at thewestendnews@gmail.com.