Like Sausage

The writing of a city charter is a lot like sausage – if you plan to eat it you should never watch it being made.

That said, we’re now at the point where the efforts of the Zephyrhills Charter Study Committee become not only public (they always have been, but nobody’s been interested), but those efforts become a subject of public, governmental debate.

On Monday the members of the Committee meet in a workshop session with their titular bosses, the members of City Council. It all begins at 4 p.m. in Council Chambers. Here’s what to expect:

The city’s proposed new charter will be explored, dissected and discussed. More importantly, the members of the Committee will attempt to explain to Council why they did what they did.

One of the Committee’s sticking points was the matter of how many votes it takes to fire a City Manager. What will probably not come out is that the Committee’s disagreement on this issue became so heated that one member of the committee actually resigned over it. What also will not come out is his stinging letter of resignation, but I might just publish it on this blog in the interest of complete disclosure.

After the workshop the Committee’s report and Revised Charter will then be in the hands of City Council. Because of the way the charter revision study was structured the Committee’s work is only advisory and the ball will then be in Council’s court. The councilpersons can accept it as written, revise it or simply chuck it. It may or may not be presented to the voters and if submitted for a vote it could take any one of several forms, all of them confusing.

Better yet, under Florida law there’s room for any number of Citizen Initiatives addressing the city’s charter. In short, the cat is either out of the bag or it isn’t.

Keep tuned, the city’s political season is about to begin and we have some very interesting behind-the-scenes scenarios.
Arjay