The board appointed by the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners to write a proposed new constitution for the community has continued its outreach effort through out the summer months.
Board Chairman Ken Coffey, at its , announced that there have been over 22 meetings with the general public and community groups in the last 90 days.
Additional public outreach meetings are planned for the Urbana, Walkersville, Thurmont and Adamstown planning regions.
Here is the Frederick County Charter Board outreach schedule as of August 18 2011. It includes a list of all of the completed presentaions and meetings as well.
Beginning in September, the Board will enter the next phase of information gathering with a forum featuring two experienced Maryland County Executives: Ken Ulman of Howard County and David Craig of Harford County. Future public meetings are planned to include representatives from other counties.
The board developed a preliminary list of possible questions to ask elected officials from other charter counties in Maryland.
The public is encouraged to send in questions to the charter board for the September 1, 2011 meeting at Winchester Hall. The plan is to provide time for direct questions from public.
To date audience participation during the outreach sessions have been extensive. Many very good ideas, comments and conversations have come forth. The board remains committed to keeping an open mind and plans to include these ideas for serious consideration during the Charter writing phase of the process. By that time the board will have made a decision on a charter writing consultant.
Stay tuned to the MacRo Report Blog or the Frederick County Charter Board website for the latest Charter Home Rule happenings.
In the meantime, please remember that members of the charter board are available to give a to a gathering of friends, neighbors, civic clubs and other organizations. For further information contact Frederick County’s Legislative Coordinator Ragen Cherney at 301-600-1049 or via e-mail.
Rocky Mackintosh, President, MacRo, Ltd., a Land and Commercial Real Estate firm based in Frederick, Maryland. He is an appointed member of the Frederick County Charter Board. He also writes for TheTentacle.com.