County Charter Government Authors Looking Back at Changes Made Since Inception

FREDERICK, Md. (RAD) During a recent interview with the Morning News Express, Rocky Mackintosh, one of the original authors of our current county Charter Government Document, described his impressions now that the new form of government has been running since it’s implementation two years ago.

He was expecting numerous changes because what was developed by the writing team was a skeleton document in which the the day to day operations, rules, and procedures would need to be developed by elected officials.

“One of the things, when I look at the changes and I talk to some of the council people about it, these are as much procedural changes because of the very, very short window. That centers around trying to get the budget organized and have hearings for budgets and different types of amending bills,” said Mackintosh.

Mackintosh also expressed that he feels some officials are trying to make too many major changes too soon.

“You know, when you’re making changes to Charter, they really do come down to, it’s like amending the constitution,” said Mackintosh.

Of course the different personalities of the officials involved might influence the numbers and types of changes proposed.

Mackintosh was a bit surprised at the rough going the new document has had to sustain as it was implemented.