Undemocratic impact of Centennial charter

Centennial's elected treasurer warns that elimination of her position under the proposed city charter would result in less protection for taxpayers.  It makes sense.  Without the check and balance of other citywide officers chosen by the people, good-faith efforts by the mayor and council won't always be enough to avoid mistakes or deter abuses of power.

Treasurer Susan Bockenfeld cites a recent property acquisition -- the Westerra deal, intended as Centennial's new civic center -- where her analysis caught errors of over a quarter-million dollars per year forever (!) on a pending $4 million transaction.  Her letter about the incident, along with her report to the council (which they treated as unwelcome, proving the whole point) are linked as PDF files within this post on my personal blog.

Bockenfeld recommends that the Centennial home rule charter should be rejected by voters if its final draft deprives citizens of an elected treasurer/auditor performing the fiscal watchdog function for city residents.

I agree with this concern, which applies equally to the proposed charter provision eliminating an elected city clerk.  Many of us who live in Centennial and supported the original incorporation in 2001 now feel the home rule plan is flawed, and believe it should either be fixed or nixed.

Cross-posted on BackboneAmerica.net, the website I edit

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