Edgewater has convened its Charter Commission, in a 14-member body that is meeting twice each week in Council Chambers. In response to community concerns over the past years, and the recommendations handed forward by last year's Charter Review Committee, the Charter Commission is currently discussing the form of government that will work best for the City. Both the Strong Mayor/Council form, which assigns administrative control of the government to the City's mayor, and the City Manager / Council form, which would appoint an official - likely from outside the City's borders - to handle these responsibilities, are being considered. This is the single most important decision that the Charter Commission will make, and much of the Commission's later work will fall out of the decisions made on this topic.

These decisions should not be made by a handful of individuals. The Commission needs to hear from as many people as possible. Please make time to share your thoughts with the Commission, and encourage your neighbors to do the same.

For some time, a steady series of amendments to the Charter and contradictions within the document have led critics to argue that the Charter needed a serious overhaul. Beyond this, a series of administrative headaches and stalled public projects have led some to argue that the city's form of government is not working as it should. Months ago, citizens and members of City Council found flaws in the Charter and convened a Charter Review Commission to investigate these flaws - their findings included that the form of government was likely flawed, and couldn't be redressed without the investigative work of a Charter Convention; that the City needed a continuously serving Charter Review and Enforcement Committee to deal with deliberate breaches of the Charter; that quasi-judicial bodies should have final appeal, unless the issue was taken to City Council; that Eminent Domain should be revisited; and that Council should have new powers to hire (and fire) contract positions for temporary City needs.

That's the meat of the Commission's work. During the current deliberations, what is likely being concluded is that Edgewater has needs that aren't being met without having a hired administrator handling City Business during normal working hours, and faces a host of other problems caused by balancing development and community interests. In a small city, surrounded by competing larger cities, the competing priorities of handling efficient government while providing public input in a small community has sometimes led to the needs of a few trumping the greater good. Well meaning people can speak out at their peril - and some have.

Yet, at the same time, Edgewater is a city with tightly-held traditions, that in years past has resisted the idea of dethroning its powerful Mayoral position, and some worry that a professional administrator could take too much power - along with being an expensive bureaucratic position the City may be unable to afford. Creating an elegant, flexible system that preserves the public accountability in the political process, allows the Mayor to remain the City's political leader, and still allows the work to get done is key to making the venture a success.

It doesn't even sound simple - and it isn't. But it becomes easier with public input. Commission meetings are open, and public input is welcome at every stage. Each meeting is held in Council Chambers, at 6:30. You can get current meeting dates from 303-238-7803, extension 16. A lively informal debate is also occurring on the Edgewater Talking Stick, and members of the public can speak to the Commissioners themselves directly from the contact information listed at EdgewaterCharter.org. On that site, agendas, minutes, charter drafts and a copy of the current charter are all available for review.

It's our city, and our chance is now to decide how it looks in the coming years.

Devon Barclay
(originally published in the North Denver News)