The first meeting of the newly formed Charter Review Committee kicked off this past Wednesday at 6PM. The Town Charter was last reviewed in 2014. On January 5, 2015, Town Meeting authorized the Select Board to submit the changes to the Legislature for adoption. On April 7, 2015, the voters approved the changes at the annual Town election. On April 24, 2015, the Governor signed Chapter 16 of the Acts of 2015 into law.
At least every ten (10) years, a special Committee consisting of nine (9) members shall be established for the purpose of reviewing the Charter and making a report, with recommendations, to the Town Meeting concerning any proposed amendments that said Committee may determine to be necessary or desirable. The Committee shall consist of the Moderator, one (1) member or designee of the Board of Selectmen, one (1) member or designee of the School Committee, one (1) member or designee of the Board of Library Trustees, one (1) member or designee, of the Municipal Light Board of Commissioners, one (1) member of the Bylaw Committee and three (3) Town Meeting members to be appointed by the Moderator. (Emphasis added).
The following members were appointed to the committee:
- Moderator – Alan Foulds
- Select Board – Chris Haley
- School Committee – Chuck Robinson
- RMLD – Phil Pacino
- BOLT – Andrew Grimes
- Bylaw – Jesse Arnold
- Town Meeting Members – Bill Brown, Jonathan Barnes, and Goeff Beckwith
At their inaugural meeting, voting for a chair and vice chair opened up with Town Manager Fidel Maltez reading a statement submitted by Phil Pacino who was absent from the meeting. In the letter, Phil noted that he scheduled a work trip around the original charter committee meeting date of September 26th but it was subsequently re-scheduled to the 27th and he was unable to attend the new one. Phil advocated for himself to be considered for chair or vice chair, citing his previous work on the charter committee in 2015 as well as his previous terms as chair of the Finance Committee and Bylaw Committee. Select Board member Chris Haley was also nominated for chair by Charles Robinson and after a round of voting, the board elected Chris Haley as chair and Phil Pacino as vice-chair.
The committee then discussed the overall charter review process as well as setting their subsequent meeting dates. The Charter Review Committee is scheduled to meet next on Monday, October 16th at 7PM.
