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Fraser trustees split after survey shows narrow support for home-rule charter commission; education and timing flagged
Summary
A public-opinion survey presented June 3 found narrow initial support (51%) for creating a home-rule charter commission that rose to 57% after neutral briefing; trustees debated staff capacity, likely costs and whether to initiate the charter process now, but did not move to place an ordinance on the next ballot.
Consultant Courtney Severs of Mellan Strategies told the Fraser Board of Trustees on June 3 that a May survey of 135 registered voters showed modest baseline support for a ballot question to form a home-rule charter commission (51% yes), rising to 57% after respondents read neutral explanatory language about how a commission would be formed and how the final charter would still go to voters for approval. Courtney cautioned the sample—s margin of error was about 7.9% at the 95% confidence level due to the small community sample.
Courtney said the most persuasive messages focused on local control, voter protections and resident involvement in drafting a town-specific charter. She reported 66% of respondents in the survey would support a lodging tax in principle and that support rose when the use of proceeds was tied to trails, public transit or affordable housing.
Special counsel Linda Misha outlined the legal and procedural steps required to put a home-rule question to voters: board adoption of an initiating ordinance, petition requirements and an election to form a nine-member charter commission; the commission would then have up to six months to draft a proposed charter, which would return to voters for adoption. Linda noted costs for the legal and election work and said a robust public education campaign would be important.
Trustees were divided. Supporters argued home rule would give Fraser more control over local revenues and policy tools, including the potential to retain local lodging-tax dollars now collected by the county. Skeptics cited staff bandwidth, the town—s pending town-manager transition, and uncertain odds of passage without a significant outreach budget. Trustees asked staff to return at the next meeting with clearer cost estimates for moving from ordinance to election (legal drafting, petition and election costs, and an informational campaign).
No motion was adopted to initiate the charter process at this meeting. Staff and counsel advised the board that an initiating ordinance could be brought to the June 17 meeting if the board wished to proceed, but several trustees said they were "unsure" and wanted more detailed cost and implementation analysis before committing. Trustees also discussed timing trade-offs: holding a special election sooner would raise immediate costs; waiting to coordinate with a county-coordinated election could delay the process into 2028 but lower election costs and possibly reach a different voter composition.
