Charter Review Committee elects officers

An attorney and a dentist head the new city Charter Review Committee that on Wednesday elected its officers and affirmed its position to have public meetings and input from residents and taxpayers.

Majority members on the committee selected Henri E. Nicolas, an attorney with Rodriguez & Nicolas, as the chairman of the committee over Melissa Zamora, communications director for the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Richard Atkinson, brother of City Commissioner Charlie Atkinson nominated Nicolas while assistant teacher Elizabeth Dierlam nominated Zamora.

Dierlam again nominated Zamora for vice-chair while attorney Mark Sossi nominated dentist David S. Morales Jr., with the majority backing Morales.

City Planner Ben Medina suggested that voting for officers take place by balloting, but the committee ultimately decided to not conduct the voting in secret.

The committee, entrusted to review the charter, the city's governing document, for possible amendments, will be posting its meetings that will include a visitor recognition portion. City Secretary Estela Von Hatten will keep minutes.

The committee will meet on Thursdays and the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth floor of City Hall, 1001 E. Elizabeth St.

City Attorney Jim Goza, who is guiding the committee, suggested that the meeting be continued through today, but Zamora objected that this would not provide the public with sufficient notice and fellow committee members agreed.

City management has given the committee a Nov. 7 deadline so that propositions that the City Commission select would be presented to voters in the May 2009 city elections.

Goza affirmed that the City Commission did not appoint the committee to forward a specific agenda. "I don't think there's any kind of agenda," Goza said.

Goza also pointed out, however, that there are "very few" provisions in the charter that contradict state law.

With an increase in the city's property tax rate looming in the horizon, Atkinson suggested that the committee look to the charter to see if revenues could be maximized through amendment.

eperez-trevino@brownsvilleherald.com