Talk:Norristown, Pennsylvania
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[edit] Home rule charter
Could someone expand on Norristown's new status as a home rule municipality? I knew they did this in New Jersey but was unaware that PA would let places change status from being boroughs. The old adage is that every place in PA is legally a city, borough, or township except the town of Bloomsburg... now we have home rule "municipalities" as well?
Also just more general, concrete information on the history of the borough would help flesh this out. Passdoubt | Talk 08:14, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
This seems dubious to me, as well. Just because Norristown is governed under a different statute than other PA boroughs doesn't mean it holds some odd status as a "home rule municipality." Also note that this status is supposedly not new, but dates to 1986. The US Census of 2000 refers to the place as a borough, not a municipality (or a home rule municipality). On the other hand, Norristown's official website consistently refers to it as a "municipality." (The title is even "Norristown Municipality.") Some more sourcing on this would be useful. john k 08:23, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
Here's the quote from the Borough of Norristown Home Rule Charter: The Home Rule Municipality of the Borough of Norristown shall be a municipal corporation having the name of ‘‘Borough of Norristown’’. As used in this Charter, the words Borough, Municipality, and Norristown shall mean the Home Rule Muncipality of the Borough of Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It seems to me that it could accurately be described as both a borough and a "home rule municipality." john k 08:25, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
- An attempt to establish "home rule" was also made in Pittsburgh in the 1980s. People voted on it, too, and it may have become law (which may have been reversed by now; I haven't heard a word said of it in the last ten years). "Home rule" fever existed in Pennsylvania at the time of the Reagan administration. I think that there were several changes amongst the cities of the Commonwealth. Another town was produced, so Bloomsburg is no longer the "only town in Pennsylvania." GhostofSuperslum 15:50, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
The above quotation of the charter is from the 1986 charter. A new charter was adopted in a 2004 referendum. The 2004 charter, among many other changes, changed the name from "Borough of Norristown" to "Municipality of Norristown", and eliminated the position of mayor. The municipal secretary should have mailed the 2004 charter to the state, which should have published it in the Pennsylvania Code. Apparently, this has not happened. The day after the referendum, law enforcement officers raided the municipal building and carted off many boxes of documents. This may have caused enough confusion to disrupt the mailing of the 2004 charter (maybe the FBI has the envelope?). Today I added a bit of info and a link to the 2004 charter to the article. It's confusing to refer to Norristown as a "borough", which word has no clear common meaning, and in Pennsylvania can lead one to believe it is a municipality governed under the Pennsyvania Borough Code, which Norristown is not. I've read the act that allows for home rule in Pennsylvania, and it doesn't specify whether or not a township or borough which adopts a home rule charter remains a township or borough in any sense, but it's clear that the home rule charter supercedes the township or borough code.
[edit] Boroughs
I deleted the mention of Alaska and claims of Norristown being among the largest boroughs, since the term "borough" is mainly in legal use as opposed to common use, and boroughs in Pennsylvania have a specific definition different from those outside of Pennsylvania. LImerickDFE.
[edit] The pronunciation of the placename
Does anybody know whether the (local) pronunciation ends in [-taun] – as in the noun "town" [taun] – or in [-tən] – as in e. g. "(Charles)ton"? Thank you very much. Tom Hope 16:27, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
