The Lancaster Home Rule Study Commission has scheduled a special meeting next week to hear from two former mayors.
Republican Art Morris, who led the city from 1980 to 1990, and Democrat Rick Gray, who served three terms from 2006 to 2018, will appear before the commission beginning at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27, at City Hall, 120 N. Duke St.
The commission is seeking input from the mayors as part of its research into city government operations and whether the city should draft a home rule charter.
It initially reached out to Morris, Gray and former Mayor Janice Stork with written questions — the same approach it has taken with city elected officials and department heads — but the mayors said they would prefer to respond in person.
Stork, a Democrat who served from 1990 to 1998, will not attend Dec. 27. The commission said it is working to schedule an alternative time for her.
Morris, Stork and Gray are the city’s three living mayors. Charlie Smithgall, who served from 1998 to 2006, died in October 2022.
The commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 4, at West Art at 815 Buchanan Ave., the corner of Buchanan and West End Avenues.
It is scheduled to vote on whether to proceed with drafting a charter at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at City Hall.
