Topic: Clarksville City Charter

Clarksville’s city charter, revised or not, still lacks the simplest of principles

By Mike Sanford | March 7, 2010 |

In the latest round about the city charter, the leaders in Nashville deemed it necessary that the people of Clarksville should have a say in its adoption, which in my opinion is only correct since it is the constitution of the city. However, the points that were brought out about the flaws in the revised charter are indeed important; they did not address the major issue of what the charter is lacking in the governance of the city: a lack of separation of powers within the frame work of checks and balances.

The separation of powers is that in which the different branches of government are separate within a system that each branch checks the other so that no one branch can do as it pleases. Clarksville is setup with an Executive (Mayor) and Legislative branch (City Council), but there is not a separation due to the fact that the Mayor is a voting member of both branches.

In the revised charter it states that the City Council is the legislative body of the city: «Read the rest of this article»

Is Clarksville a monarchy? Local Judge takes charter revision to task on balance of power

March 27, 2009 |

With the revised Clarksville  City Charter heading to the state legislature for approval, Clarksville City Judge Charles Smith spoke out  about what he views as “one-sided” analysis of proposed charter revisions by the City Council and the appearance that, in his view, “no meaningful change will occur” from the revisions as written.

In a letter submitted to Senator Tim Barnes and and Representatives Joe Pitts, Phillip Johnson and Curtis Johnson regarding action on the proposed charter revisions, Judge Smith voiced appreciation for their input and concerns regarding the city charter but suggested that their input would not be reflected in charter revisions. «Read the rest of this article»

City Council special session called to submit revised charter to the state

March 22, 2009 |

The Clarksville City Council will meet in special session March 23 at 4 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 108 Public Square, to request the Tennessee legislature to approve changes to the  Clarksville City Charter. This is the sole item on the agenda.

Local councilors and state legislators representing Clarksville have received communications from residents irked with the idea that the revisions were not openly presented to the public prior to the vote seeking state approval. «Read the rest of this article»

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