Five town halls on county charter proposed amendments scheduled

The Clark County Charter Review Commission will host a series of town hall meetings between Sept. 26 and Oct. 11 to educate residents on the nine proposed amendments on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

A meeting will be held in each of the county’s five council districts:

• The District 5 meeting is 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Ridgefield Community Library, 210 N. Main Ave.
• The District 4 meeting is 12:30-2:30 p.m. Oct. 3 at Camas Public Library, 625 N.E. Fourth Ave.
• The District 3 event is 3-5 p.m. Oct. 4 at Cascade Park Community Library, 600 N.E. 136th Ave.
• The District 2 event is 3-5 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Bud Van Cleve Room at Luke Jensen Sports Complex, 4000 N.E. 78th St.
• The District 1 meeting is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 10 in the Columbia Room at Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St.

• Amendment 19 would limit the number of consecutive terms county councilors can serve to three. Former councilors would again be eligible for election after one full term out of office.
• Amendment 20 is intended to increase transparency of the county’s budget process. If approved, a new timeline for submitting budgets, presenting to the county council and adoption would be established. The new timeline would be earlier than the dates currently set by state law.
• Amendment 21 would give the county council concurrent authority with the county manager to nominate members to all boards and commissions, with the exception of the ethics review commission. Currently, the council can only nominate members to the planning commission, historic preservation commission and the board of equalization.
• Amendment 22, if passed, removes nonpartisan county races from the primary election if only one or two candidates file to run. Election of nonpartisan county offices would be held in even numbered years.
• Amendment 23 would require the county manager to produce an annual report on the county’s fiscal and government affairs — and any other information the council decides is necessary — and to present that report in a public meeting.
• Amendment 24 requires the county to publish a Housing Impact Analysis prior to adopting any ordinance likely to impact residential housing capacity, density, permitting, and subdivision or parking requirements.
• Amendment 25 would require a supermajority vote of the county council to establish or increase taxes. A two-thirds or supermajority vote would mean that four of the five council members would have to support the vote, as compared with the simple majority or three votes currently needed.
• Amendment 26 is intended to make the county’s citizen-led initiative and referendum process more achievable. The amendment would reduce the number of signatures needed from 10 percent to 8 percent, allow initiatives without sufficient signatures the opportunity to become a mini-initiative and change how the number of signatures needed is calculated for petitions affecting unincorporated areas only.
• Amendment 27 would let the county council conduct performance audits of county departments or programs. Audits may also be conducted by an outside consultant or the auditor’s office.