Volusia County, FL - The Volusia County Council held discussion about the repeal of a Volusia County charter, which would give Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood more flexibility in managing budget and personnel.
According to council members, repeal of the charter is not something they can just do. More is required to make it happen. Discussion about forming a charter appeal committee was put forth and it was questioned whether or not the committee could be formed in May.
County Attorney Daniel Eckert said he didn't think a charter review committee would have the authority to repeal the charter because the charter repeal is up to the legislature, or it would require signatures from the public.
Vice-Chair Deb Denys pointed out that if there is a 15% signature incentive it still won't be the decision of the council and that the council can't override the rule of the people.
Eckert said nothing can be done without voters from Volusia County.
Council members also agreed that Sheriff Chitwood should not encounter future delayed response times when communicating with council members. Chitwood had recently publicly claimed he waited nearly 2 months for a response to a request.
2 residents spoke up in defense of the council, 1 said he's working to recall Chitwood as Sheriff.
Photo courtesy of Congarashu and Shutterstock.com.
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