2/27/08

Ahh crud.

Pardon my french, but WTF? The State Code trumps the City Charter? How does that work? Is this one of those stupid power plays between state and local govt.?

Well - this does change things drastically, now Harris and Co. have to be very careful who they choose. Talk about Russian Roulette.. I would not envy them right about now.

Everyone is going to watch who they choose, and think about the 27 months Harris and Co. will have to run the city the way they want.

Danger.... Danger Will Robinson.

So now the question is - the screw will turn, but for who? Us the citizens, or they the council?

Chatbox on and off tonight.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The state code trumps because the City is a political subdivision of the state. No surprise there to any student of Virginia history. The City's charter is granted by the General Assembly. But you raise an interesting point - "public input" is apparently desired by the mayor, but will it be heard? And who will express interest? Perhaps they'll drag Stuart Revercomb back in? Doubt it.

Anonymous said...

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+24.2-226

RoanokeFound said...

just a note - while it's nice that the Commonwealth has lasted as long as it has - it's not all that difficult to make the argument now that the fact that it IS a commonwealth is holding it back.

Situations such as this are examples.

And what's with all the Revercomb talk lately?

Jen said...

I'm thinking we citizens are going to get screwed royally. I have a feeling the current council will appoint someone to help railroad their ideas on through despite any objections. Does this nominee have to be approved by anyone or what are the pre-requisites for a person to be appointed??? I'm actually worried over who/what we're going to end up with. SHEESH, can I move?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, stick around for a while, and maybe you'll learn how things work around here.

Anonymous said...

I feel two hands on my back and a draft in my shorts AGAIN.Time to give again, but the good news is there is a independant PAC starting up soon to give the indy candidates a fair chance. This is the best shot we have at fair goverment and the best chance to keep our britches up. Aubrey

Anonymous said...

Jen: You CAN move! I did and much to my delight, life outside Roanoke City has proven to be much better. Not that we are free of hot topics but it does appear that common wisdom prevails. Also appears that there is a much more united view of things held by citizens and supported by local government. Maybe you could say, It's "government the way it ought to be". And we have no political parties in local elections and we have an elected school board. The PAC for independents is nice but hard to feel it will have any impact on this election. It's really funny, Harris attempted to sound so disappointed at not being able to hold an election. You cannot tell me the city did not know this and made the fuss about an election just to show this face of disappointment. Those Harrisites are really evil dasterdly folks.

Anonymous said...

What's with Bowers announcing on a day so that he blew the Sentinel's deadline?
That paper's put to bed earlier in the week, so they won't have it this week? Is he out to get Revercomb?

Anonymous said...

Bowers announced he will run as an independant to oppose Harris for Mayor.

Anonymous said...

By the way, I just want to point out the fact that the "Commonwealth" is a title simply indicating that the state was founded for the common good of the people. Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania also use the title Commonwealth as an official name. While Virginia does have some idiosyncrasies compared to other states (Independent city forms of government, etc.) it legally has nothing to do with the fact that it is a "Commonwealth".

Also, the fact that the municipal charter is derived from the state would explain that state law would trump a local charter. Local governments only have the power that the state allows them through the issue of a charter -- the concept of Dillon's Rule. This concept is shared in the majority of states - not just "Commonwealths".

This is similar to if the "Commonwealth" had a law conflicting with Federal law.

So, to answer the question in short, this is not a "power play".