Charter Review Task News Today

AMHERST — A weekend repair of a sewer break on South Whitney Street by the Department of Public Works, with crews spending their Saturday night and part of Mother’s Day on scene, is drawing praise from Town Manager Paul Bockelman.“I admired the work...

AMHERST — A weekend repair of a sewer break on South Whitney Street by the Department of Public Works, with crews spending their Saturday night and part of Mother’s Day on scene, is drawing praise from Town Manager Paul Bockelman.“I admired the work...

AMHERST — Sometime next year the town’s charter, adopted by voters in 2018 and putting in place a 13-member Town Council to replace the 240-member Town Meeting and five-member Select Board, will be under review by a special committee.To begin...

AMHERST — Sometime next year the town’s charter, adopted by voters in 2018 and putting in place a 13-member Town Council to replace the 240-member Town Meeting and five-member Select Board, will be under review by a special committee.To begin...

The pocket veto is an unintended loophole of charter language that allows the mayor to indefinitely postpone legislation, effectively killing it without any discussion.

The pocket veto is an unintended loophole of charter language that allows the mayor to indefinitely postpone legislation, effectively killing it without any discussion. It sounds simple, but it's a bit more nuanced than it seems on the surface.

Issue 11 on the November ballot would get rid of the "pocket veto" and ensure all proposed legislation gets a fair shake in front of City Council.

Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve an amendment proposed by Mayor Aftab Pureval and two council members. It would prevent the mayor from indefinitely postponing legislation, which is possible now as an unintended loophole of the “stronger mayor” charter amendment of 20 years ago.

Cincinnati Council Member Liz Keating is proposing a charter amendment that would more tightly limit the mayor’s power over when legislation is considered. Council is already set to vote Thursday on a similar plan to eliminate the so-called pocket veto; either version would need approval from voters to go into effect.