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By Michael DePietro
Tribune Editor
Earlier this week, North Tonawanda Mayor Arthur G. Pappas released a statement announcing the formation of a charter revision committee – an independent body set up to review the city’s aging charter for outdated or redundant codes.
"This committee is made up of North Tonawanda residents from all walks of life," Pappas said. "The committee is bipartisan. Any current elected officials or anyone running for office are not included. The committee will operate with total autonomy, including from my office."
Members named to the committee are: Mitchell Banas, Daniel Brick, David Burgio, Scott Depaolo, Lou Dalporto, Deborah Dexheimer, William Lewis, Dale Marshall, Cindy Oberjosh, Jay Shepherd and Amy Sileo.
If the committee does recommend any changes to the city charter, it will need to be put up for a public vote.
During Tuesday’s Common Council work session, Pappas said the committee is composed of a mixture of individuals from various political parties, as well as individuals representing business, legal and education sectors. He said it also features some “general citizen representation, to a degree.”
“We've tried to create a kind of well-rounded committee,” Pappas said.
The first initial meeting of the new charter review commission was held Thursday, April 29. Pappas said the initial meeting was not open to the public as it was more of an informal opportunity for members to meet each other and to get a sense of the task at hand.
“We consist of 11 members at the present time. Future meetings probably will be open to the public to some degree for listening purposes,” Pappas said. “Although they certainly are not members of the committee, the public will be able to sit in and listen. More details on that will be coming after we have this initial meeting.”