Along with Joint Public Hearings of the Christiansburg Town Council and Planning Commission to receive comments on new rezoning requests, the agenda for the Tuesday, Dec. 15th meeting includes an item relative to moving the date of town elections.
A "Resolution of Support for a Change in Election Dates" is scheduled for a vote by Council. This is a required step in changing the Town Charter relative to the successful referendum to move town elections from May in even-years to November of odd-years.
Council and administration have acknowledged the town's charter and codes are in need of being brought up to date -- each year, the General Assembly enacts many laws which often have consequences for local governments. When these changes accumulate, instead of being addressed as they become applicable, the size of the task grows exponentially.
This becomes a bureaucratic nightmare for both staff and citizens to keep up with, as referencing documents generally available to the public do not necessarily accurately reflect current law.
During budget preparations last spring for the current fiscal year, the Town Manager stated funding was again included for addressing this need. Funding has been provided for several years now, yet no bids for a consultant have been issued nor has staff been directed to complete this "back-burner" task.
Tuesday's resolution is required to move the vote, as the General Assembly must provide cursory approval. Because this topic was discussed since January 2008, it's too bad the opportunity to make other needed updates to the charter (such as purchasing limits or authority granted to certain town positions) wasn't worked on during the past 12 months.
Tuesday's meeting is also expected to see a vote on a rezoning request for new houses along Melody Drive and a report from the Cemetery Committee (the last time this topic came up, many citizens and funeral professionals were not pleased). Resolve to make the time to watch your elected officials in action.