By Adam Swift
The town council could take up a vote on several recommended town charter changes at its next meeting on Tuesday, August 12.
The biggest change recommended by the ordinance review committee (ORC) would change the composition of the town council. Currently, the nine member council has nine members – the president, six precinct councilors, and two-at-large councilors.
The ORC recommendation would reduce the council to seven members – the president and six at-large councilors – doing away with the precinct seats.
The recommendation was made partly as a way to help increase the number of contested races for council seats, according to Council President Jim Letterie. Several councilors and residents who spoke at last week’s council meeting, however, said they had some concerns about constituent representation if the precinct system is eliminated.
Typically, recommendations from the ORC are voted on by the council and then placed on the town election ballot for approval by the voters.
But Letterie said the town still needs to look a little further into the process for changing the composition of the town council, noting that it could take the election of a nine-member charter commission, which would then have to make the recommendation to the council. Currently, the ORC is an appointed committee.
At the beginning of the public hearing on the proposed charter changes, Letterie thanked the ORC for its hard work and numerous meetings over the last several months.
“The primary focus of the ordinance review committee was to formulate charter change recommendations for inclusion on the biannual election scheduled for Nov. 4,” said Letterie. “Registered voters will have the opportunity to vote on these proposals if they come out of the council with a positive recommendation.”
All the proposals have been reviewed by the town attorney before being submitted to the council, he added.
Letterie said there are several proposed changes, but that the potential change to the composition of the town council has raised the most interest so far. He said the past few ORCs have considered a potential change in the council composition before the current committee recommended the proposed change.
There has been discussion with town attorney Jim Cipoletta and Town Manager Tony Marino about how the potential change could be enacted.
“When there is a petition, or in this case, a proposal for an amendment to the charter that deals with number, composition, or manner of election of the legislative body, the council must order an election of a charter commission, consisting of nine members townwide,” said Letterie. “The charter commission shall hold a public hearing on the matter within 45 days of election, make a report to the council within 16 months of that election, and then the council would vote within 18 months of that same election, and a two-thirds vote would be required by the council.”
If the council does move forward with the recommendation for the change in council composition, Letterie said it is likely there would need to be an additional election on the November ballot for the nine member charter review commission.
The council president said at last week’s meeting that it was unclear if current council members or town employees would be eligible for the charter review positions.
“However, once there is a charter commission elected by the town, that charter commission would then start, it could take 16 months, it could take a month,” said Letterie, adding that the commission would only be considering the council composition charter change, and not the other recommendations made by the ORC.
It would then take a super majority vote of the council of six votes to pass the charter recommendation.
“My next question was, once the council passes it, does it go back to the voters to vote on it, I’m being told no, so there are still several questions that we have to get answered before,” said Letterie.
If the town moves forward with the charter change, he said it would take roughly a year and a half to fully execute it.
Letterie said the rationale for the council change is that over the last 20 years, close to 70 percent of precinct councilors have run unopposed.
“By transitioning to all at-large councilors with staggered terms, the ORC believes this will provide all voters to vote for all council seats over time, foster town-wide representation and accountability, reduce barriers to candidacy that may exist under precinct-based systems, and encourage more residents to run for office by removing geographic restrictions,” Letterie said.
If the change goes through, Letterie said the make up of the council would be similar to that of the school committee, which has six at-large seats.
Another proposed charter change creates a more transparent process for the council abandonment close, with due process protection for the councilors.
The five-step process would define how concerns are raised, reviewed, and enacted upon, Letterie said.
There is also a proposed charter change that would change the way the council vice president is chosen, with a candidate nominated by the president to serve a two-year term.
Other proposed charter changes would change the process to review council compensation and change the procedure for calling for special meetings.
Most of the conversation from residents and councilors during the public hearing revolved around the proposed changes to the size and representation on the town council.
ORC Chair Karin Chavis said all the recommended charter changes were made with much thought and input, including from people outside the ORC.
Several residents said they were concerned that eliminating the precinct councilors would make it more difficult for constituents to know who to turn to if they had neighborhood specific issues.
Todd Sacco said he hoped the change would bring more participation from the public, and added that an increase in compensation for candidates could possibly bring in more candidates.
“I would echo some of the concerns; I am very open to what the ORC came up with,” said Precinct 6 Councilor John DaRos. “The only concern I would have is that I am approached on a regular basis by constituents in my precinct and they come to me often and the first words out of their mouths are, I’m coming to you because you are my councilor. If a change is made with a new format … I think you need to do a very solid education effort so that people really feel they can reach out.
“I think the obvious benefit is today, people reach out because they know you are their councilor, at least for precinct councilors.”
Councilor-at-Large Max Tassinari said the only concern he has about the council charter change is whether people in their individual precincts will feel represented and get the best representation.
“If we think we can do that with six at-large councilors, I wouldn’t be opposed,” said Tassinari.
Council Vice President Hannah Belcher, who serves on the ORC, said none of the suggestions were reached frivolously.
“There was a lot of research that went into all of them, and I think there are a lot of good points on all sides,” said Belcher. “We’ve spent a lot of time going over them, so I am curious to hear more public comments and thoughts from a wider audience.”
Precinct 1 Councilor Pat Costigan said he also had some concerns about representation within the precincts.
Precinct 5 Councilor Joseph Aiello addressed the potential raise in compensation, and said he was not sure if that would increase interest in candidacy for council seats. He said there could be other ways to increase interest, including enhanced health coverage and more administrative help for the councilors who are not president.