Winthrop Voters Approve Changes to Town Charter

By Sue Ellen Woodcock

In addition to voting for candidates, Winthrop voters had a chance to vote on four changes to the town’s charter.

Question 1 addressed salaries for the Council President and members of the town council and when they could be voted on. The question passed with 2,038 votes.

The amendment to the charter will now say, “The council president and the members of the town council shall receive a salary for their services from time to time be set by ordinance. No ordinance increasing the salary of town councilors shall be effective unless it shall have been adopted on or before the last day of June in the second year following a town election and it provides that such salary is to take effect upon the organization of the town government following two municipal elections. The council president and the members of the town council shall not be considered `employees’ for the purpose of chapter 32B of the General Laws.”

Question 2 and Question 3 on the ballot addressed the abandonment of elected positions on boards and committees. Question 2 passed with 2,771 votes and Question 3 passed with 2,671 votes.

In Question 2 and Question 3 addressing abandonment will now read “any elected council member shall be considered to have abandoned their office if that person has failed to appear at more than one half of all regularly scheduled meetings of the full council over a one year period. If the office is abandoned, the office shall be deemed vacant and shall be filled in the manner provided in section 2-11. An allowance for exemption to this rule may be granted by a 2/3 vote of a majority of the full body of the Town Council.”

Question 4 addressed publication of charter notices in newspapers. It received 2,326 votes.

Question 4 now clarifies “where the Charter requires notice by publication in a “newspaper” or “local newspaper,” each such section be amended to provide “newspaper or in another manner as may be provided by ordinance,” such sections to include Sections 2-9(c), 6-1, 7-4, 7-5, 7-8, 7-9(b), 7-9(c), 8-5(f), and 9-12(a).”

A section of Winthrop’s Charter calls for a review of the Town Charter every five years. This is the second time since the Town Manager form of government was adopted in Winthrop. The Ordinance Review Committee has been working diligently and placed the four amendments on the ballot.