The commission studying the Concord School District charter has recommended the Legislature relinquish its control, but members argued residents should style the exit strategy.

"The authority of this commission is derived not from the voters of Concord but from the Legislature, the very body we're working to sever ties from," said school board President Kass Ardinger.

So the study commission recommended last night that the Legislature authorize a new charter commission, whose members would be elected next year from different areas of the city.

The study commission was created by the Legislature after several Concord lawmakers proposed bills relating to the Concord School District charter. The school district is the only in the state whose charter is a part of state law. The Legislature retains the power to pass laws about the charter, so the recommendations made last night will be presented as a bill to lawmakers.

The recommended commission would comprise nine residents of the Concord School District.

Two of them would be elected from Wards 1, 2, 3 and 4; two of them from Wards 5, 6 and 7; two from Wards 8, 9 and 10; and three at large. The elections would be nonpartisan.

A motion failed to ban the election of school board members and city councilors.

"I don't want it to look like the Chinese Politburo where they keep electing one another," said attorney Chuck Douglas, who had proposed the motion.

Ardinger argued at-large elections would ensure the election of the best candidates willing to take on a "thankless job," and member-elect Bill Glahn said at-large representation was appropriate for governing the schools.

"I don't know why any greater wisdom comes from particular wards rather than the city as a whole," Glahn said.

Members of the proposed commission would be elected in November 2010.

They would be charged with deciding upon a mechanism for district voters to change the charter, as well as any other proposed changes they wished to make.

Voters could see those proposals on the ballot in November 2011. The existing charter would remain in effect until voters adopt another charter with provisions for future changes.

Attorney Charlie Russell delivered a last-minute pitch to grant residents control before the new charter commission presents its proposals. He moved that the Legislature enact a petition process for changing the charter until actual changes are made.

"The Berlin Wall went up in 1961, just when this charter was approved," Russell said. "The Berlin Wall has been gone 20 years, and it's time we had some democracy in Concord."

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