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DELEGATE WHEATLEY: Mr. Chair-
man, the thing that disturbs me with the
proposed amendment is that we apparently
are now creating a board that may be given
no function by the General Assembly; is
that true?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: That is pos-
sible, but I think hardly likely.
DELEGATE WHEATLEY: I suggest
that the General Assembly may well have
been reluctant if given the option to give
this power to a board which it could, I as-
sume, reserve for itself if it were not com-
pelled to do so and exercise all of these
functions.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: I call Delegate
Wheatley's attention to the fact that for
all practical purposes all of the powers of
the existing Board of Public Works are
purely statutory. They could be taken away
from it by the General Assembly next
January.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Wheatley.
DELEGATE WHEATLEY: Of course
the existing board is of a different compo-
sition. It has a member of the treasury
elected by the General Assembly, so I think
the comparison could not necessarily be
accurate as to a newly constituted board.
My next question would be what effect
would there be if such a proposal were not
included in the constitution at all?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: That was what
we originally proposed.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Wheatley.
DELEGATE WHEATLEY: That an-
swers my question, Mr. Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sherbow.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Will the gen-
tleman yield for a question?
THE CHAIRMAN: You may proceed,
Delegate Sherbow.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Delegate Mor-
gan, I do not know where they have put it
because there have been so many amend-
ments. I would like to offer an amendment,
and I wonder if you would accept it, that
the meeting of the Board of Public Works
shall be public?
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THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: I would not
have any objection to such an amendment.
That is one of the purposes of the Board
of Public Works, or the board of review.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sherbow.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: I would like
to have inserted and amend the amend-
ments so that the word, "public meetings, "
is put in the appropriate place. I am sorry
I cannot follow the many that have taken
place.
THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair calls the
attention of Delegate Sherbow and Dele-
gate Sickles to the fact that that would
probably prevent the action that was indi-
cated by Delegate Sickles that might be
desirable in an emergency and would be
inconsistent with the language which has
been added already. The language now is
that it may act by majority vote and shall
hold its meetings or otherwise act. As the
Chair understood Delegate Sickles, he
wanted the legislature to be able to author-
ize the board to act in an emergency situ-
ation, without having a formal, open meet-
ing. Is that correct, Delegate Sickles?
DELEGATE SICKLES: That is cor-
rect. That is a correct statement of my
position.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sherbow.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: I still offer
the amendment. I think it is more impor-
tant that the meetings be in public than
that that kind of emergency which has not
happened so far as I know in over a hun-
dred years be provided for. I would like to
offer that as an amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan,
do you accept the suggested change?
DELEGATE MORGAN: I would have
no objection to such an amendment, Mr.
Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: Will you please in-
dicate the change you are accepting then,
because the Chair is lost. I do not know
just where you are going to put it. Dele-
gate Adkins.
DELEGATE ADKINS: I should like to
respectfully disagree with my distinguished
Chairman. I do not think that amendment
is proper in this document. The content of
the constitution, no provision herein pro-
vided gives the General Assembly the right
to provide the regulations under which the
Board shall operate. It seems to me there
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