constitutional amendment announced to secure the right of local community self-government

 PRESS RELEASE: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ANNOUNCED TO SECURE THE RIGHT OF LOCAL COMMUNITY SELF-GOVERNMENT

Rep. Danielle Friel Otten (D-Chester) Introduces A Constitutional Amendment To Give Our Communities More Power to Protect Health, Safety, and Welfare

October 4, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck, PA Community Rights Network, President
[email protected]
pacommunityrights.org
717.875.5066

Yesterday, Rep. Danielle Friel Otten (D-Chester) introduced an amendment to the PA Constitution, HB1813, which would secure the right of local community self-government. This proposed amendment has grown out of the foundation laid by the PA Community Rights Network, which has worked with communities across PA for nearly a decade.

Rep. Otten was joined in her announcement by local elected officials and community leaders from her district including:

-Bill Miller: Uwchlan Township Supervisor, Chairman
-Rebecca Britton: Downingtown Area School District, Board Member; Uwchlan Safety Coalition, Co-Founder
-Erin Buchner: Moms Demand Action, Chester County Local Lead
-Dianne Herrin: West Chester Borough, Mayor
-Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck: PA Community Rights Network, President; Lancaster Against    Pipelines, Co-Founder 

Pennsylvania communities have been handcuffed when it comes to making important decisions, on important issues. Preemptive laws passed by our legislature have removed meaningful decision-making authority from local elected officials and community leaders. Those laws also protect corporate interests at the expense of community health and safety.  

Here’s a short list of those issues: Fossil fuel pipelines, single-use plastics, common sense gun oversight, fracking and frack waste dumping, minimum wage and other labor protections, factory farms, sewage sludge dumping, police and prison oversight, campaign finance abuse, toxic waste incinerators. The list goes on and on.

“We can’t keep fighting every single harmful intrusion, every single time, for the rest of our lives,” said Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck, board president for the PA Community Rights Network. “The time is long past due to make sure that our constitution secures the rights of ‘We the People’ to make decisions in our best interests, and to determine our own future. HB 1813 does that, and we’re proud to stand with Rep. Otten and leaders across the state as we work to make this not just an aspiration, but a reality.”


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Read more about the RLSG Amendment here.
For template letters of support for local elected officials, municipalities, and organizations, click here.