05/27/2005: "THE PRESENT STATUS OF RULE CHARTER"

Key elements that may be included in the Charter are listed below. The Charter will be put to a vote this coming November and will require a majority vote to pass.

A Hired, Professional, County Administrator -- A professional administrator will
be hired to manage the day-to-day administrative duties of the county. With this arrangement, each department head would report to one boss instead of three.

A Non-Partisan, Less Compensated Council Of Six -- Rather than three County
Commissioners (salaried at about $67,000/year plus benefits), the number will be changed to six Council members (salaried at $20,000/year or less). The council members will campaign and be elected solely by the citizens in their respective districts. The council will handle all legislative and policy matters of the county and will be strictly prohibited by the Charter from interfering in any way with the administrative duties of the County Administrator.

Initiative, Referendum and Charter Review -- These provisions will respectively
provide the citizens with the opportunity to initiate new ordinances, to overrule an ordinance implemented by the Council or to modify the charter. A high threshold of support would be required for any initiative to appear on the ballot, and all initiatives would have to identify a source of funds if additional expenditures are required. Charter review would allow the Charter to be modified as the needs of the County change.

Transition Plan -- The Charter will include a transition plan that will allow for the
orderly phased transition from our current system and will be sensitive to the elected officials who currently have unexpired terms.

The Proposal is Revenue Neutral – It is the Freeholder's expectation that none of the above changes will increase operating costs.