The deadline for applications to the Portsmouth Charter Review Committee is Monday, Sept. 20, and if you're reading this blog, you should consider submitting your name.

As you know, the Portsmouth Concerned Citizens (PCC) went to the Town Council with a package of charter changes, including eliminating partisan elections and providing for recall of elected officials. This is basically a batch of revisions that would make elections less transparent and give the PCC a bigger club to wield against democratically elected officials.

The Council, wisely I think, opted instead to convene a committee to review the Town Charter and make recommendations, and they have asked for citizen volunteers to serve. All it takes is some common sense and free time, and I'd very much urge everyone to at least put in your names. The Council may well pick their own favorites (especially the four-person majority who have opted not to stand for re-election) but at least we should make them look at as many applications as we can.

You can download the forms here (Word or PDF format) and they need to be returned to Town Hall by 4:30 pm on Monday. Yes, that's TODAY, so please, take a few minutes and fill one out.