League of Women Voters to explain Charter Review Commission

The League of Women Voters and the Fort Vancouver Regional Library will sponsor a free, 90-minute presentation from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 21, to explain the work of the soon-to-be-elected 15-member Charter Review Commission.

Voters will select the new revision-commission members in the Nov. 3 General Election.

“This is not a forum to hear from the candidates who are seeking election to the commission,” said Judy Zeider, chair of the League’s Civics Education Committee. “Rather, it’s an opportunity to learn about the tasks facing the new commissioners.”

The workshop will take place via videoconferencing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Registration is required at fvrl.librarymarket.com/clark-county-charter-review-commission

Lindsey Shafar, senior legislative assistant for the Clark County Council, and former Camas Mayor Nan Henriksen, who helped draft the charter as the member-elected chair of the Clark County Board of Freeholders in 2014, will present.

Zeider explained the charter serves as the county’s constitution, was adopted by Clark County voters in 2014, and went into effect Jan. 1, 2015.

The charter changed the county’s form of government from one managed by three commissioners to one managed by a county administrator hired and fired by an elected five-member county council. The charter also specified that an elected 15-member commission would review the charter five years after it went into effect in 2015.

The review is to determine the charter’s “adequacy and suitability to the needs of the county and propose necessary and appropriate amendments.”

In addition to changing the form of government and increasing the size of the county’s governing council, the charter also allows voters to propose initiatives and referenda to impact county ordinances.

The presentation will include an overview of the charter, “detailing how it works and how county government functions under the charter,” Zeider said.

Zeider said the League is also sponsoring public forums on Oct. 1, 3 and 14 where commission candidates can present their qualifications for office. The forums will be broadcast on Clark/Vancouver Television (CVTV) and will be streamed later on the station website cvtv.org. For more information, visit lwvclarkcounty.org/uncategorized/3362/