Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1942-11-26

gram the recently elected Chartel
Board for Montgomery hal
issued a request for club and indi
J vidual participation in PROPOSED
charter.
The following statement, giver
out by Frederic P. Lee, chairman
outlines the boards plan:
The Montgomery County Char.
ter Board makes the following an
nouncement:
The Board has formulated 8
program for citizen participation
in the process of framing a pro.
posed charter for Montgomery
County during the next six months
There are three steps to the pro-
gram.
In the first instance, interested
individuals and organized groups
of citizens are urged to submit to
the Charter Board on or before
December 21st a written statement
of their views on matters regard
ed by them as being of primary
Importance for inclusion in the
proposed charter. The written
statements may be informal and
need not necessarily in the case Of
organizations be based on action
by formal resolution.
In submitting such statements
the Charter Board asks that citi-
zens bear in mind that charter
is broad document like q con
stitution and does not deal with
asta 49, $4,000 ~ pae u d
to legislation or regulations of a
county council which, under the
home rule amendment to the Mary
land Constitution, will be set up
in the charter.
Later in January public hear
ings will be held at which oral
statements may be submitted If
desired. Following the prepare
ton of a tentative draft of the
charter, an opportunity will be
given for discussion of it's pro-
visions before it is finally adopted
and submitted by the Charter
Board.
The Charter Board particularly
invites the attention of citizens to
certain questions that must be
dealt with one way or the other
in the framing of any proposed
charter. These questions include:
What should be the approximate
number of the county council and
should that number increase pro-
portionately to increases in popu-
lation as shown by each decennial
census? Also, should members Of
the county council be nominated
from districts or elected from such
districts, or both, or should they
be nominated or elected, or both.
on a countrywide basis?
Further questions relating to
the county council are: Should
members Of it be elected on nom
partisan ballot that shows no
party affiliation as in the case Of
judges and should members Of the
county council be nominated by
petition of the voters or by politi-
cal parties?
The Charter Board also sug-
gests that consideration be given
to the question whether there
should be provided a county man
ager form Of government under
which all the administrative and
business affairs Of the county gov
eminent and agencies thereof
would be supervised by a techni-
cally trained, experienced, and
well-paid manager selected from
time to time by the county coun-
Gil.
The remaining questions speci-
fed by the Charter Board are in
quiries as to whether the pro-
posed charter should include an
Independent county comptroller
with full and final authority to
disallow expenditures or con-
tracts made contrary to law and
should all county employees, ex-
cept for the department heads and
a county manager, be chosen and
removed under a strict civil serv-
ice merit system.
The Charter Board especially