Sarasota County Charter Review Board District 2: Lourdes Ramirez

Name: Lourdes Ramirez

Age: N/A

Family: N/A

Bio: N/A

Why do you want to serve on the Charter Review Board?

As a Charter Review Board member, I want to serve the citizens of Sarasota County and protect our charter which is our local constitution.

If elected, what will be your top three priorities during your term?

1. Listen to the citizens of Sarasota County. We need to provide our citizens the opportunity to make their voices heard.
2. Restore the rights of citizens to propose changes to the local constitution without barriers.
3. Protect our local constitution from being dismantled.

Where do you stand: Should the Charter Review Board be proactive initiating changes to charter, or should the board make recommendations based on voter desires and ideas brought to the board?

The Charter Review Board should do both. The board should be proactive in making changes to the charter as well as make recommendations based on citizen’s desires and ideas.

What is your position on turning the Charter Review Board into an appointed position rather than an elected office?

We are blessed to have the opportunity to elect our local officials unlike communist countries, which like to choose all of the government officials. I will oppose any attempt to make the Charter Review Board into an appointed board.

What, if anything, in your view, needs to be updated/changed in the county charter?

In 2018, there was a referendum that changed the charter that limited citizens’ opportunities to propose changes. At first glance, that referendum seemed to only change the date of citizen proposed amendments from a special election to the general election. The fact is that the referendum made it almost impossible for citizens to propose amendments to our charter. I believe the Charter Review Board should propose a change to reverse those restrictions on citizens.

The CRB has been discussing changes to the charter amendment process. What’s your position on that?

I’m concerned the proposed amendment process will be made to make it even harder for citizens to make changes to the charter. I’m running for Charter Review Board to protect citizens’ rights.

What are your comments about reforming the CRB, so it mirrors the State Constitutional Revision Commission — appointed members every 10 or 20 years to review the charter, rather than the existing system of elected members who serve four-year terms?

The current process of meeting three times a year is not a burden to the Charter Review Board members, staff or our government’s budget. The Charter Review Board must be accessible to the citizens of Sarasota County. We need to keep citizens’ rights of electing members to serve four-year terms and not allow special interests dictate who should serve as our local officials.