Steve Whalen, Shannon Zollo
categorize at a high level some substantive changes
redline copy of charter provided to Council for review
Charter is the Town's governing document
4-5 major recommendations
Citizens committee had made recommendations, those were considered in this review
1 - appointed Treasurer (elected today)
allow the Administrator to appoint, for efficiency and skills
2 - appoint Constable, Board of Health, Board of Assessor positions (elected today)
there are likely highly qualified individuals who could serve but do not want to run an election campaign in order to serve in these roles.
Q - Mason - Would you include the Town Clerk in the appointed slots or maintain it as an elected position?
A - Zollo - We will make no recommendation on this position, there was discussion but no consensus so with no recommendation for change, it would remain an elected position.
A - Whalen - I approached this by not considering the current people in any position, I would make this an appointed position
3 - We chose not to recommend staggered terms, if the Town is willing to go through the hassle of setting it up, there are benefits to go forward that way. Both Zollo and Whalen feel the same on this item. There is no compelling reason for recommending this.
Clarification - Mason - purpose of this evening is to hear the report recommendation. There will be a public workshop and public hearing on these so all will have a chance to get their say on these matters.
4 - Administrative changes - clean up for more efficiency
allow new Council to have a week between the election and their first meeting
Council should have an ability to re-organize with a term if it had the 2/3 votes to do so
Administrator is currently not allowed to chair subcommittees, should be allowed to do so if appropriate
add recommendation of a temporary Town Administrator to cover for an unexpected absence or to find an appropriate replacement
5 - language to be removed from Charter covering the removal of employees. these items are already superseded by existing bargaining agreements or employee policies
Q - Pfeffer - Were any considerations from the prior report not addressed in this set of recommendations?
Q - Pfeffer - What of the recommendation to change the number of meetings per month?
A - This is a recommendation to meet a minimum of once vs. the requirement today of being required to meet twice.
Nutting - If you'd like to get this on the November ballot, we'd need to move this along.
Mason - let's set the workshop for February, the public hearing in March
Nutting - the home rule charter changes would be submitted to the legislature, they would act upon it and either send it back for revision or approval. The piece that is not included in this document yet is a transition plan, for example, moving to an appointed Treasurer when would the appointment take effect and the election process stop. Hoe rule petitions are pretty routine.
