CITIZEN-RUN WESTCHESTER COUNTY CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION AT CENTER OF INITIATIVE TO IMPROVE COUNTY GOVERNMENT

From press release:

Westchester County lawmakers last week announced the formation of a Charter Revision Commission to make innovations in county government. The panel will be charged with amending or revising the existing charter, holding public hearings throughout the county to solicit public input, review and recommend changes and to issue a report outlining its findings.  Legislators unanimously approved legislation that would establish a citizen-run charter revision commission, hoping that it could profoundly affect how county government operates in the future. County Legislators outlined plans to convene a Charter Revision Commission during last week’s regular business meeting.

Legislator William J. Ryan (D-White Plains), the prime sponsor of this legislation, explained his decision to move forward with Charter Review, Ryan said “it’s time to take a thorough look at how Westchester County government is running, how it operates and how it can be improved.  What steps should we take to right-size our government? How can we streamline its operation and make it more efficient and less expensive.  We need to come up with a revised Charter that reflects today’s realities and tomorrow’s hopes.”  Ryan noted that some counties, both in New York and in other states, require that their charters be regularly reviewed. He cited as an example Suffolk County, where such reviews are conducted every 10 years. “We’re way overdue,” he stated.

“This action is very timely, given that the Commission will study the operations and responsibilities of county government and recommend changes to the county charter that are needed in order to improve how county government functions and how it delivers services,” remarked Board Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers).  The Commission will also review the work of Westchester 2000—an earlier citizen study on consolidation of government services—to see if any of its recommendations should be reintroduced. “The Commission will have an excellent opportunity to be a catalyst for people to become more involved in county government.  It’s my hope that whatever recommendations that are presented by this Commission, we will ultimately fulfill our goal -- to make government more accountable, more responsive, more transparent and, ultimately, more effective,” Chairman Jenkins said.

Westchester’s Charter Revision Commission will be made up of members representing a cross-section of the county, reflecting the resident taxpayer, business, non-profit, labor and government sectors of the Westchester community. All appointments will be finalized by April 30, 2011. It would examine structural innovations for, and alternatives to the current form and structure of County government.  Recommendations would be submitted to the Board of Legislators, no later than April 2012, for implementation or, depending on what’s proposed, brought before voters in a referendum. 

The Charter Revision Commission shall be composed of total of twenty-three (23) volunteer members to be appointed as follows:

• Each of the seventeen (17) County Legislators shall individually appoint one (1) member to the Commission 
• The Westchester County Executive shall appoint six (6) members to the Commission

“The Commission shouldn’t shy away from looking at anything that, under the state constitution, can be done,” said Legislator Ryan.  “A government must never be afraid of examining itself and asking hard questions.”  Legislator Ryan expressed other types of issues that could be considered, such as:

• Consolidating/merging/eliminating various county departments and functions
• Inter-municipal relations between the County and various cities, towns and villages
• Facilitation of service delivery to the public and to better coordinate the functions between departments and agencies within in the County and various municipalities

“I strongly believe that the work being done by the Commission is critical to the future of Westchester County,” said the Board’s Committee on Legislation Chairman John Nonna (D-Mount Pleasant). “This Charter Revision Commission will give people the appropriate tools to really accomplish meaningful and legal changes in county government.  The Charter is the people’s document and the people should be the ones to recommend changes that reflect how they want to be governed.”