The first thing to be said is Jim Miller served on the Government Study Commission and worked hard in the failed effort to have the county adopt a home-rule charter. Miller's ardent advocacy would not have gone unnoticed by county commissioners Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey, who sought the ......

In the county commissioners' first public session of 2008, a handful of friendly meeting-goers warmly welcomed Dennis Stuckey, Scott Martin and Craig Lehman to their new roles. At the next meeting, a capacity crowd showed up angry about the firing of a county park naturalist. For a tri......

Heidi Wheaton in 2009 approaches one of the most pivotal moments of her political career, and the direction she chooses could greatly affect her future in Lancaster County politics.Wheaton's six-year term as an East Hempfield Township supervisor enters its last year in January. She'......

I simply do not believe Lancaster County voters oppose controls on taxes, spending and debt.I simply do not believe they think it's a bad idea to expose county government to greater public scrutiny.I simply do not believe they aren't in favor of checks and balances, term lim......

Lancaster County voters said "no" to home rule in overwhelming numbers Tuesday.As a result, the county's form of government, which has remained relatively unchanged for the past 277 years, is preserved."It's done," said county Commissioner Scott Martin. &......

No one expected home rule to be an easy sell.It could well flame out today because change is unsettling and the Republican apparatus, not wanting to cede an ounce of influence, has played on voters' fears through a campaign of distortion and misinformation.That people are pickin......

Tuesday's election could produce a record turnout. And that, advocates of the home rule charter agree, could be the charter's best shot at passage. In a normal election cycle, the fact that the the county Republican committee is working against voter ratification of the charter ......

The yard signs sponsored by opponents of the county's proposed home rule charter say it all: "Home rule = Bigger Govt. = HIGHER TAXES." Except, proponents of home rule say, that's not true. Home rule counties actually have a lower rate of tax increases over time, and a be......

Voters are likely to be inundated with claims and counterclaims about taxes and home rule in the next week, as the battle over the charter heats up. Last week, every household in the county got a postcard from the Lancaster County Government Study Commission outlining features of the charter....

Some of the recent discussion about home rule may be making it hard to know what the proposal is actually about. While much of the latest rhetoric for and against home rule is overheated, the proposal does present a unique opportunity to fundamentally reorganize county government. If voter......

Doubts about cost and accountability dominated a debate on the county's proposed home-rule charter Tuesday at Franklin & Marshall College.Four members of the 11-member Government Study Commission slugged it out over the merits of a Nov. 4 ballot question that will ask voters if the......

In Leola on Saturday, Republican Party officials were attacking the county's proposed home-rule charter as a special-interest power play. A half-hour later in Lancaster, other Republicans, including former Congressman Bob Walker, were defending the charter as the best opportunity to move La......

The economy is teetering, and we have high-powered financiers, elitists all, to thank.With their derivatives and hedge funds, they've benefited handsomely from a rarefied form of capitalism that leaves the average Joe scratching his head and, worse, holding the bag.If anyone des......

Lancaster County Commissioners will pay for the mailer pertaining to home rule.Commissioner chairman Dennis Stuckey said his board reviewed the Lancaster County Government Study Commission's revised mailer with county solicitor Don Lefever on Thursday morning and decided that county ta......

Lancaster County Commissioners failed to decide Wednesday on whether to pay for a revised mailer pertaining to home rule.Members of the Lancaster County Government Study Commission presented the new version of the document to the commissioners at their weekly meeting Wednesday morning and ......

Two-hundred and twenty-one years ago today, the United States Constitution was adopted in Philadelphia, ready to be put in front of each state for ratification.Dr. Victor DeSantis, dean of graduate studies at Millersville University, said Lancaster County residents will have their own vote......

Lancaster County Commissioner Craig Lehman said Tuesday that his board should not be interfering with the work of the county's government study commission."On a personal note, I don't believe the board of commissioners should be the referee when it comes to the home-rule issue......

Members of Lancaster County Government Study Commission on Monday revised the wording of a mailer regarding home rule, hoping the county commissioners will see fit to send it to all households in the county.They decided to make the changes even though several members believed it was unnece......

As they have for months, the Government Study Commission labored over word choice and the placement of clauses. But instead of dissecting the language of the home rule charter it is proposing, the group this morning looked at the wording of a postcard mailer it plans to send to every household ......

County commissioners might have pulled the plug on funding a countywide mailer explaining a proposed Home Rule Charter, but some members of the commission that spent 21 months drafting the charter aren't ready to drop the issue just yet.Lancaster County Government Study Commission, whi......

Lancaster County commissioners pulled the plug on funding Wednesday for a mailer that was to be sent to every household in the county regarding the proposed Home Rule Charter.Calling the one-page document drafted by the 11-member Lancaster County Government Study Commission "clear adv......

Contention between proponents and opponents of home rule on the Government Study Commission continues even as today's deadline for the organization's work passes. Greg Sahd, one of three dissenters on the 11-member commission, complains that the group at its Tuesday meeting: •......

Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry's board of directors has reinforced its support for an initiative aimed at changing Lancaster County government.At a special session Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to urge voters to vote "yes" on a November ballot referendum ......

The Government Study Commission wrapped up the final amendments to its proposed home rule charter Tuesday afternoon, officially ending its 21-month effort to study and rewrite the structure of county government. Voters will next be asked to approve or disapprove the group's proposed charter dur......

Whether Lancaster County changes its government from its present three-commissioner structure to a five-commissioner form under home rule is now up to voters.By an 8-to-3 vote Tuesday, Lancaster County Government Study Commission approved the Home Rule Charter, clearing the way for it to a......

You might be on the fence about home rule, but I bet you're not on the fence about paying taxes.That's why a change the Government Study Commission made Tuesday to its proposed 27-page charter should grab the attention of undecided voters.If voters in November approve the ch......

Last month the Government Study Commission soundly rejected a proposal to include election districts in its proposed home rule charter. But on Tuesday, the commission voted 6 to 3 to make a ballot question on election districts part of its charter, leaving the question up to voters in the Novem......

If Lancaster County voters opt for home rule, advocates argue, life in the county courthouse will go on much as it always has. "Wills will continue to be probated, marriage licenses applied for, divorce cases will still be filed, deeds will continue to be recorded, criminal records kept up......

ARTICLE X: TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Section 10.01 Nature of Article. The provisions of this article shall relate to the transition from Lancaster County's existing form of government to the form of government provided for in this charter. Where inconsiste......

Both critics and supporters of home rule often point out that the basic form of county government hasn't changed in 300 years. The last time anyone tried to tweak the system was 1973, when an earlier home rule study was thrown out after a lawsuit. But if voters approve a home rule char......

ARTICLE IX: MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Section 9.01 Subpoena Power. In any case where an elected County officer or agency has the power under this charter or other applicable law to conduct public hearings, the elected officer or agency shall have the authority......

In 2000, then-Democratic Chairman Scott Brubaker filed a complaint with the county elections board over a Republican voter registration plan that came to be known as Votergate. Normally, the three county commissioners sit as the elections board. Because his political action committee was named ......

ARTICLE VIII: AUTHORITIES, AGENCIES, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

Section 8.01 Establishment of Agencies, Boards and Commissions. a. There shall be such agencies, boards and commissions established by this charter, by state law, by the Administrative Code or......

County department heads getting invitations at their offices to a county commissioner's fundraiser. The same commissioner being accused of pressuring potential political opponents who are also county employees to drop out of a political race. Questions about whether it was proper for t......

The Lancaster County Government Study Commission tweaked the proposed home rule charter on Tuesday, but by Saturday, it appeared that the changes satisfied few. Two days after the Tuesday, July 8, GSC meeting, the county Republican committee voted overwhelmingly to encourage voters to reject th......

ARTICLE VII: ACCOUNTABILITY, CONDUCT AND ETHICS

Section 7.01 Accountability, Conduct and Ethics Code. The Board of County Commissioners shall establish by ordinance an Accountability, Conduct and Ethics Code covering all elected County officials, candidates f......

Here's an understatement: The local GOP opposes the home rule charter. The Republican Committee of Lancaster County got off the sidelines of the home rule debate in a big way Thursday night, soundly rejecting the proposed charter in a resolution that said the plan would "deform rather ......

Lancaster County Democrats, have a word with your leader. Please.Bruce Beardsley, your unfailingly optimistic, indefatigable county chairman, is in need of a reality check.While Beardsley is a courageous partisan, always marching the flag of Democratic values into the gale of Lancas......

The home-rule charter put to Lancaster County voters in November will not call for electing commissioners by district, the Government Study Commission decided Tuesday. Member Sam Mecum, who proposed the districting idea, said rejecting it could doom the charter's chances of ratification....

At first, Jim Miller wasn't thrilled with the idea of giving citizens access to the ballot in the county's home-rule charter. But the arguments for "initiative and referendum" changed his mind. Based on citizen input, Miller, a member of the Lancaster County Government St......

ARTICLE VI: INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM

Section 6.01 Initiative. a. The citizens of the County have the power to propose ordinances by petition for consideration by the Board of County Commissioners. Each registered voter of the County signing an initiativ......

Between 1999 and 2007, Lancaster County government's debt exploded from $46 million to $253 million — a 550 percent increase. "The rate of growth in annual debt service as a consequence was also alarming," Lancaster County Government Study Commission Vice Chairman John Smuck......

ARTICLE V: BUDGET AND FINANCE

Section 5.01 Fiscal Year. The fiscal year of the County shall commence on the first day of January and conclude on the last day of December of each year. Section 5.02 Budget Adoption Process. The Board of County Commissioner......

A member of the Government Study Commission is recommending several major changes to the draft of the proposed home rule charter for Lancaster County. Sam Mecum, one of the commission's majority supporting home rule, said in a recent e-mail message to the other 10 commission members that he off......

In home rule math, 11 minus 4 could equal $500,000 in five years. That is, advocates of a proposed home rule charter for county government say, combining three of 11 "row offices" into one, and eliminating two others, could yield a half-million in savings within five years. Taxpa......

ARTICLE IV: OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS

Section 4.01 Other Elected Offices. In addition to members of the Board of County Commissioners, the County offices to be filled by election pursuant to this charter are: 1. District Attorney 2. Sheriff 3. Co......

Since 2004, county government has run through three county administrators, and the job is vacant again. The responsibilities of the administrator have seesawed, too. The home rule charter up for voter approval on Nov. 4 aims to bring stability to the office by codifying the administrator's ......

ARTICLE III: EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Section 3.01 Executive and Administrative Power. The executive and administrative power of the county shall be vested in the Executive Branch. The Executive Branch shall consist of the County Administrator, the Office of Manageme......

People view Lancaster County as simple and bucolic. But with a mix of urban core, growing suburbs and rural areas, political scientist Victor DeSantis argues, the county is far more complex than its image. With complexity, he says, comes a need for more professional expertise in government....

The Sunday News will publish a 10-part series on each article in the proposed home rule charter for Lancaster County government. Each installment in the series, after its publication, will be available on LancasterOnline.com, keyword: "home rule." In 2006, Lancaster County voters......

The Government Study Commission will take another look at electing county commissioners by districts. In the proposed charter that the 11-member study group approved early last month, the number of county commissioners is increased from three to five, but all commissioners are chosen by voters ......

Lancaster County Government Study Commission on Tuesday began plotting a strategy to reach out to as many county residents as possible — without spending more than $50,000.The commission's goal is to educate the public prior to the Nov. 4 general election about the home-rule char......

Part one of 10
Since the 18th century, Lancaster County government, like almost all the 67 counties in Pennsylvania, has been a creature of state government. If voters agree on Nov. 4, county government will become an entity shaped by the people. That's the ration......

Although he's given home rule the thumbs down, Jim Bednar has unwittingly made a case for a home-rule charter.Bednar, a former county GOP chairman, would be the last person to see it that way. He's certainly been consistent in opposing home rule.Last summer, Bednar was in th......

The clock is now ticking on whether Lancaster County becomes a home-rule county.Members of the county Government Study Commission on Tuesday voted 8-3 in favor of officially proposing a home-rule charter that calls for, among other changes to the current form of county government: expandin......

The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office has received a letter requesting an investigation into whether the Lancaster County Government Study Commission has violated the state's open meetings law, the Sunshine Act. Ephrata resident Rose E. King sent District Attorney Craig Stedma......

Lancaster County's proposed home-rule charter was publicly unveiled to mixed reviews Thursday night.To Steve Geisenberger of Manheim Township, the charter represents a chance for county residents to dictate, at least in part, how they want to be governed."If we want to chan......

Education is one thing. Advocacy is another.Members of Lancaster County's government study commission Tuesday told the county commissioners they are prepared to "educate" the public about the soon-to-be-proposed home-rule charter without "advocating" for its adoptio......

There's a thin line between advocacy and education.But the Lancaster County Government Study Commission plans to walk it.On Tuesday, commission members voted to hire the public relations firm Barry Bruce & Co. of Lancaster for $50,000 to help spread the word about the propos......

Lancaster County Commissioners Dennis Stuckey, Scott Martin and Craig Lehman are planning to travel together in one vehicle to the National Association of Counties conference in Washington, D.C., next month.During a special commissioners' meeting on the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act Thursd......

The specifics of the discussion might have been arcane. The general gist of the disagreement at Saturday morning's Government Study Commission, however, was as old as the argument over government itself. Specifically: Should "the people" be both empowered and trusted with boundles......

Democrats, you need not worry about losing your voice in county government under home rule.The government study commission continued drafting a home-rule charter Tuesday, voting 8-3 in favor of minority-party representation on a five-member board of commissioners.While a strong majo......

Next week county voters will elect three commissioners. In four years, they may be choosing five. If the straw vote taken by the Lancaster County Government Study Commission on Tuesday is any indication,  the county may move into a full-time board of five members by the next election....

It's an exciting time to float the vote on the Lancaster County Government Study Commission this week, as the 11-member panel meets to carve out a future for the board of commissioners. The group will gather on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Adamstown Borough Office, 3000 North Reading Road. The......

Would county government work better if executive power were concentrated in the hands of a single person?A majority of the County Government Study Commission thinks so.In a nonbinding show of hands Tuesday, the commission voted 8-2 in favor of a strong chief executive.The str......

In light of Dr. G. Gary Kirchner's write-in campaign for a second term as county coroner, I researched some of the more interesting names voters wrote on their ballots in the recent past.For example, in the 2004 U.S. Senate race won by Arlen Specter, Lancaster voters gave actor Bill Co......

The commission studying the establishment of a home-rule charter in Lancaster County will actively seek the community's involvement in the creation process.•••Members of Lancaster County Government Study Commission are gearing up for ro......

Today let's travel back to 15th-century Portugal, which has almost nothing in common with Lancaster County except, perhaps, adherence to tradition.We all know about tradition. It's at the heart of the dissent by three conservatives on the 11-member Lancaster County Government Study Commiss......

Nothing is set in stone yet, members of the government study commission cautioned their breakfast companions this morning at a Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry forum. But strong hints to how the board will function and the policies its majority favors became clear soon after the ......

The county's government study commission voted last month to recommend Lancaster become a home-rule county, and as part of that process state law requires the commission to produce a report explaining why.That report need only reflect the opinion of the majority of the board.Tue......

Lancaster County Government Study Commission this week issued a draft of its interim report to the community.The report outlines the government study commissioners' findings and rationale for their vote recommending a home-rule charter. The commissioners voted 8 to 3 in favor of recomm......

It's official. Our county government can use a make-over. That was the declaration of a majority of government study panel members Tuesday night, who voted to draft a home-rule charter for the county. With a crowd of 50 fanned out across City Council chambers in the Southern Market ......

Lancaster County Government Study Commission members voted Tuesday to change the structure of the county's government.In a pair of 8-3 votes, the members agreed change was needed and drafting a home-rule charter was the best way to do it.Over the next 9 to 12 months, the commiss......

"It's a very important vote for the county and for future generations."So says Lancaster County Government Study Commission member Heidi Wheaton about the impending July 31 vote by the commission that could lead to a dramatic change in the structure of the county's govern......

Doris Kiehl, who for decades was Lancaster County government's consummate insider, takes the position the county should not abandon its three-commissioner form of government.A retired chief clerk and assistant county administrator, Kiehl told the Government Study Commission that in the 35 ......

Cuddled up against New Jersey, Northampton County is a fast-growing community known for canal boats, Crayola crayons and grandstanding county council members.That last point is the admittedly biased opinion of Wayne Grube, an ancient, compact Democrat, his face round and pillowy, a veteran......

If it were in your hands to reshape county government, would you do it?Would you increase the number of commissioners? Stagger their terms? Impose term limits? Guarantee minority party representation? Elect commissioners at large or by district?Would you have an elected county execu......

Republican Heidi Wheaton has described herself as courageous and willing to speak her mind when problems arise.According to Wheaton, an East Hempfield Township supervisor, she draws inspiration for her outspokenness from President Reagan's 1987 "Tear Down this Wall" speech in......

Republican Heidi Wheaton raised $138,501 in donations for her bid to be a Lancaster County commissioner, far outpacing the other three GOP contenders in the primary campaign.According to campaign-finance reports that were due Friday to the county Board of Elections, Wheaton pumped $29,200 ......

Former Lancaster County Commissioner Pete Shaub believes changing the current form of county government won't necessarily improve it.What the county needs, he believes, is good leadership."If you look at my two terms in office, they were like night and day," Shaub told......

Lancaster County Government Study Commission is up and running, and its members want you to get involved.And, in the first of a series of open forums planned by the commission,one current and two former county officials will field questions tonight from commission members and the public on......