By Ralph L. Phelps

When I was selected to join the Charter Review Committee, I approached the task very cautiously and conservatively because any changes that might be recommended required a very thorough vetting process to ensure the right decisions were made to our community’s fundamental law.

My fellow committee members were equally dedicated, and we had many open and transparent discussions at public meetings that explored the issues from all aspects, bringing out researched facts and practical examples of what needed to be changed.

In the end, our report to council recommended they consider bringing changes to several sections of the Charter to the community for ballot action, and in my opinion, the changes proposed added needed clarifications to strengthen the Charter without altering the intent of any existing provision.

The ballot questions for Nov. 6, 2012 address Charter sections on Initiative, Referendum and Recall.

There is no need to repeat here the details of each change. My point is that these processes are a valued provision in the law for the citizens of Los Alamos County, and it is to everyone’s advantage to make implementation of the processes clear on legal subject areas and simple as possible, while ensuring our elected councilors can continue to do the jobs they were elected to do.

The four ballot questions achieve this goal, and I encourage everyone to vote in favor of their approval.