Special Charters

One of the key problems inherent in the local form of government (strong mayor-weak council) is that the mayor is so strong, and the council is so weak, and the citizens matter not at all, except as a revenue source and, at long intervals, as participants in the charade that is electoral politics.

Unfortunately, the other forms of government permitted by the Legislature seem to be just a shell game of titles, moving the power around among the same handful of people who are willing to play the schmoozy, backroom, fundraising games, but never actually cracking open that closed group to let in some actual fresh air, sunshine, citizen oversight and accountability.

That’s one reason it’s difficult for me to advocate for a Charter Change Committee and the time-consuming effort it would take for some group of local people to sit around comparing the pros and cons of the various charter forms, put together a new proposal, get it on the ballot, and get something slightly different but really pretty much the same: an amusing distraction with little actual impact.

However, the Faulkner Act has a provision for “Special Charters,” in which citizens can actually draft the whole thing start to finish themselves. There’s a little information about this possibility on page 16 of this manual on charter change. Detailed procedures are outlined here.

In general, those special charters are still granted by the Legislature, which means that, if a citizen-drafted charter truly protected the local self-governance rights of all North Plainfielders, the Legislature would probably refuse its’ blessing.

That would make for interesting democratic fireworks, particularly if a majority of the residents were involved in the drafting of the new charter, understood it fully and enthusiastically supported it.

More food for thought…