Cohoes creates City Charter Review Commission
Mayor Morse said the commission will be filled by next month
COHOES, N.Y. – The Spindle City could soon see changes and updates to its city charter.
Mayor Shawn Morse said he created a City Charter Review Commission.
Morse recently appointed several people to serve on the commission in hopes that they would be able to review the city charter and recommend any necessary updates to the city charter and municipal laws.
“Every 10 years the city needs to take an opportunity to review its charter, whether that means changes will be suggested or not will be up to the commission,” said Morse.
Morse went on to say that he believes the charter does offer good details about how the city should run, however, he did note that he believes there are some changes that could be helpful.
“I think our charter is very solid and I think it spells out how the city is supposed to operate to the best of its ability,” said Morse. “I think there’s certainly some language changes that are confusing that we’d like to look at. Policies and procedures have changed over time, so a document that was mademany, many years ago maynot reflect howwe are trying to do business in a different world today.”
“I think it’s just really vital that we have an independent commission to look at that and make suggestions back to the [Common] Council and to the people of Cohoes,” added Morse.
During a recent interview, Morse said he did not have a list of the people in the commission off the top of his head, but said “they’re citizens that live in the city that come from every walk of life and people that work in city government, people that work in county government, and people who have worked in various jobs throughout their career, we wanted to have a very diverse group of people that could bring a clear set of eyes and a good perspective.”
Morse said the commission will be filled by next month and that the council will appoint members as well.
“It came as somewhat of a surprise, but we’re looking into it,” said Common Council President Christopher Briggs. “I think there is some ambiguities within the charter that probably should be corrected, so I hope those are looked at.”
The mayor also noted that there is a timeline in which the commission should make its recommendations by.
“If there are simple changes that can be simply made through local laws then they’ll have to be addressed, but you also have to look at those things that may have to change through [a] referendum, where the people would have to vote on those changes,” explained Morse. “[Any referendum] would have to fall in a certain cycle and that’s all being reviewed right now by our legal department, so we can make sure that we’re within all of those time frames.”
“I think it’s always great for [a city] government to look at itself and figure out how it needs to reinvent itself for operating in a world that’s changing on a daily basis and make sure that we can change with the times,” added Morse.