Wednesday evening, the parish’s Home Rule Charter Commission began its mission to review the parish’s form of government to see if any holes need to be filled.
This 13-member committee is composed of 11 members named by the 11-member Parish Council and two members named by Parish President Tommy Martinez. They represent the entire parish and are an independent entity. They will make recommendations to the full Parish Council, which will then vote on the changes and send them to the voters of Ascension Parish for ratification.
Martinez suggested to the committee Wednesday that it seek advice from other parish governments who have adopted home rule charters. Many of our neighboring or nearby parishes have this form of government, so seeing what works and doesn’t work for them would be a valuable asset.
The commission will also use recommendations made by a 2002 committee formed in a joint venture between the parish, the Ascension Chamber of Commerce and the Public Affairs Research Council. These recommendations were not acted upon by the council at the time, but may provide a basis for the current commission to begin its review.
We wish the commission the best of luck in reviewing such a lengthy document to find possible changes, if any.
You can be sure that the Weekly Citizen will document this committee’s actions and bring you the latest on its efforts.
