Keep Fairmont functional

Dear Editor:

We now have the opportunity to vote on the Fairmont City Charter questions. If adopted, these amendments will reduce the city’s ability to meet our ongoing needs.

Why? Because they all have serious unintended consequences. These potential adverse consequences include: increasing the city’s cost of each election with 9 more paid election officials and a new polling place (Q1), limiting the city council’s ability to select the best candidate for the job by placing a detailed job description and contract in the charter (Q5-7), giving the city clerk 6 bosses instead of 1 (Q8), allowing the City Council to discuss, debate and adopt new city ordinances in the SAME meeting (Q9), and allowing individual council members to take up city staff time and resources to “open an inquiry” without first bringing it to the rest of the council for consideration and vote (Q4).

While I am confident the Charter Commission considered, debated and discussed these issues, I suggest we vote no and send it back as “incomplete.” There may be some of these items with more consideration and adjustment, that will make sense. As the ballot questions are structured today, they will reduce the city’s flexibility and functionality. These amendments will also reduce our opportunity as citizens to contact our City Council members before important ordinances are adopted. These amendments will not keep Fairmont functional.

Joe Loughmiller

Chair, KeepFairmontFunctional.org