Time to consider ‘home rule’ for Manatee County

The Manatee County Board of Commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Convention Center for a workshop on charter government, also known as home rule. The public is encouraged to attend. The featured speaker will be Virginia Delegal, executive director, Florida Association of Counties. Following her talk there will be a Q&A session, and citizens will be allowed to ask questions or present their points of view, each in three minutes.

Home rule is the right to local self-government including the powers to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; to license; to tax; and to incur debt. It involves the authority of a local government to prevent state government intervention with its operations. The extent of its power, however, is subject to limitations prescribed by the state constitution and statutes.

The BoCC has the authority to form a “Charter Committee” which will write a “Charter” that will outline the rules by which the county will be governed. A Charter is similar in nature to a constitution. Please come to this meeting and help the commissioners decide.

This story was originally published June 12, 2017 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Time to consider ‘home rule’ for Manatee County."