A group of city residents has embarked on a petition drive to seek the formation of an elected commission to recommend changes to the Fall River City Charter.
Since voters approved a charter change in 2017 there have been calls to either undo, amend, or make dramatic changes to elements of the city’s organizational document. A mandated special charter review committee is currently looking at the charter and is expected to file a report to the city council early this year.
Collin Dias is part of the group leading the Fall River Charter Review Initiative, along with Nelson Vasquez and Jeffrey Gaudreau. He says he respects the work of the special charter committee, but the city will be better served with an elected charter commission approved by voters.
The current city charter calls for a more detailed look at the charter every ten years, with the next review slated for 2027. Mr. Dias says confusion caused by the 2017 charter requires changes to be made sooner. His goal is to petition voters to elect a charter commission in time for the next municipal election.
Over 8,300 registered voters would need to sign the petition for the initiative to be put to voters. Even the commission would recommend how the charter should be amended, Mr. Dias says he and his group have ideas on where they would like to see changes.
The Fall River Charter Review Initiative will begin collecting signatures beginning this Saturday from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at SouthCoast Marketplace.
Comments are closed.