Charter Review Committee Still Seeking Input from Public

The Charter Review Committee has submitted its Initial Report to Town Council and invites the public to submit comments. This report is the first of three reports required by the Town Council’s committee charge. The committee expects to issue a Preliminary Report later this month, followed by a Final Report no later than January 5, 2026.

The Initial Report consists of three documents. “Narrative” sets out the committee’s structure and process. “Cover Sheet” summarizes the report. The body of the report is a table entitled “Suggestions Under Consideration” that lists 50 sections of the charter that the committee says merit further attention and which were drawn from a “subset of all public comments and suggestions received.” For each such section, the table presents a rationale, committee discussion notes, and the original Charter language. The “Narrative” states that these 50 sections were the result of votes taken at the Review Committee’s September 20 retreat, where members ranked suggestions received based on their feasibility and importance. That meeting was not recorded, no minutes were taken, and votes of the individual members were not recorded. All three documents can be found here.

Although the Town Council’s charge directed that the Initial Report provide draft changes to the Charter, the Narrative specifically states that the report does not contain any recommendations. Instead it lists sections that are under consideration, require further discussion or clarification, or have been flagged for consultation with the committee’s consultant, the Edward J Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston who were also consultants to Charter Commission that drafted the charter. The Initial Report also does not contain any consideration of matters that were raised in public comments but are outside the scope of allowable changes and requiring permission from the State Legislature or the creation of a new Charter Commission, such as suggestions that the size of the Town Council be increased or that the employed Town Manager should be replaced with an elected Mayor. 

The committee intends to issue the second required report (Preliminary Report) on November 20, which  should contain proposed changes to the Charter as well as a summary of public comments that fell outside the current Charter’s scope.The committee is planning a public forum, required by the Town Council’s charge, on December 4 to solicit feedback. And at last, a Final Report will be issued no later than January 5. 

The committee is seeking public input either in writing through the committee’s website using the feedback form or during the comment period of the next committee meeting, which will be on November 13, or at any subsequent committee meeting.