Even if you're not going to the Portsmouth Town Council for the wastewater management plan discussion, there are at least two other items regular readers may care about on the agenda: the Island Park skate area and some PCC proposals to revise the Town Charter.

Tailgunner Gleason has submitted an agenda item "Revisit Island Park Crime Watch/Playground Committee Issue." That's all it says, so what this one's about is anybody's guess, although anyone interested in the skate area will certainly want to be there (and it's before the wastewater discussion, so it will happen at a reasonable hour...)

And then, under new business, Portsmouth Concerned Citizens prez Larry Fitzmorris has a request for the Council to approve four changes to the Town Charter: Charter Review, Elimination of the Straight Party Lever, Recall of Local Elected Officials, and Two Year Terms for the School Committee. While I don't think charter review is necessarily a bad thing (depending on who gets to be on the committee), and I can at least understand the arguments for eliminating the straight party lever (though I don't personally find them compelling), the other two seem to me unlikely to increase the effectiveness of local government.

Let me put it as politely as possible: The PCC's history with Tent Meetings makes me very suspicious of their intentions around a recall ordinance. 'Nuff said.

And as someone who has been a regular attendee at school committee meetings for the past three-and-a-half years, I can tell you that the learning curve is much steeper than it is for the Council. And I'm also unsure how this would square with RI General Law 16-2-5: "In cities or towns having biennial elections the committee shall be divided as equally as may be into two (2) classes whose several terms of office shall expire at the end of four (4) years from the dates of their respective elections."

I'm sure that one could argue the proposed change falls under section 401 of the Town Charter, which says that state election law controls "excepting those provisions which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter affecting the form of government." But as I've said before, IANAL. However, I think there should be a requirement for significant evidence to support such a change to the Charter, and I'll be most interested in what the PCC brings to the podium tomorrow night.

Full disclosure: I live in Island Park, and I care about wastewater and the skate area. And as a supporter of our schools, I value accountability in their governance, but not at the potential cost of decreased effectiveness.