The St. Tammany Parish Council adopted an amended version of the resolution to assemble a committee to conduct an institutional review of The St. Tammany Parish Home Rule Charter. The committee has been formed by appointments from various entities. The appointees are as follows: St. Tammany Parish President: Ed Dillard, Jeannine Meeds; the St. Tammany Parish Council: Richard Tanner, Steve Stefancik; the Northshore Business Council: Danny G. Shaw; the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce: S. Michele Blanchard; the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce: Andrew Gibson; the NAACP: E. Rene Soule; Leadership Northshore: Van Joffrion; Leadership St. Tammany: Antonio ‘Tony’ LeMon; and the St. Tammany Parish Legislative Delegation: Colonel Evans Spiceland. Every citizen is encouraged to offer input as well.
“I would like to thank everyone involved for their support in this endeavor,” said Pat Brister, St. Tammany Parish President. “As stewards of public trust and public money, citizens hold Parish Government to a high standard, and it is our civic responsibility to assess every area in government to ensure that we are meeting that standard. It is a healthy step that is necessary in building on the tenants of this administration — customer service, transparency, accountability and cooperation. I encourage every citizen to get involved and be that 12th member by adding your suggestions into the process.”
The Preamble of the St. Tammany Parish Home Rule Charter, approved by voters October 3rd, 1998, states:
“We, the people of St. Tammany Parish, in order to establish an elected and accountable government that is responsive to and representative of all the citizens of the parish; that recognizes and acknowledges all constitutional rights granted by federal and state sovereignty; that undertakes planning and policy making to preserve and enhance the quality of life and the environment for ourselves and future generations; and that provides services and leadership needed and desired by the citizens in an efficient and effective manner, do ordain this charter in trust with God for St. Tammany Parish.”
Wikipedia describes home rule as “the power of a constituent part (administrative division) of a state to exercise such of the state’s powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been decentralised to it by the central government.” – sourced http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_rule
The Home Rule Charter is available for review at www.stpgov.org/home-rule-charter. To offer you input, visit, www.stpgov.org/speakup.
