Members of the Butte‑Silver Bow Charter Study Commission spent substantial time Jan. 12 debating how specific the charter should be about department structure and position titles.

Commissioner Lori Casey warned the group that adding department names and job titles to the charter risks micromanaging future councils: "We are starting to micromanage," she said. Several other commissioners agreed that many departments function under ordinance and boards and that leaving structure to the council preserves flexibility.

Commissioner Cindy Shaw summarized a discussion with Bill Melvin, manager of the Butte Civic Center, who indicated he expected to appoint an assistant manager and favored renaming the position to director as part of a succession plan; Shaw said there is no ordinance or charter language currently forcing that change. Commissioner Matt Stepan urged the commission not to "get out ahead of ourselves" by adding charter language unless asked to do so.

The chair framed the issue differently for some functions. She argued that the commission should memorialize a reclamation and environmental services department because Butte‑Silver Bow remains a potentially responsible party under Superfund and long‑term remediation work remains: "we have 30 more years expected," she said. Commissioners noted prior votes: the commission affirmed adding reclamation and environmental services to the charter in prior work and changed animal services' head title from manager to director in an earlier decision.

County counsel and other members clarified legal constraints: if a position or department is specified in the charter it can constrain future council authority, but the group can also place a general label in the charter and rely on ordinance for operational details. Commissioners said they will continue analysis, gather more public comment and working‑group input, and return with refined language before finalizing recommendations for the ballot.

The commission scheduled further working‑group outreach and canceled a planned Jan. 20 public meeting to give subcommittees time to complete reports; the next full commission meeting is Jan. 26.