Charter Panel Issues

Its Final Report

By Steve Bigham

The Charter Revision Commission submitted its final report to the town clerk on Thursday and in formally completing its work now has nothing left to do but wait and hope that its work reaches the voters intact.

The 11-member board will gather for a picnic next week to celebrate 10 months of serious study of the charter. The fate of its proposed changes to town government, however, is no longer in its hands. It is now up to the Legislative Council to decide what it wants to do, and there are some council members who may opt to kill parts of the report before it reaches the voters.

Two weeks ago, the council completed its review of the proposed changes and surprised a few people when it approved three of the four most controversial changes: creation of a Board of Finance, veto power for the first selectman, and the elimination of the Board of Selectmen. The move was gratifying to Charter Revision Commission members and the commission’s public supporters who believe the issues need to reach the voters in November.

However, the council’s final approval is not scheduled until August 24 and an 11th hour reversal of prior council decisions is still within the realm of possibility –perhaps even likely.

Council member John Kortze has been outspoken in his opposition to the Board of Finance aspect of the proposed charter changes, saying the town needs to “fix the broken wheel rather than add a fifth wheel.” He believes the council will have the needed votes to reject the Board of Finance proposal. That fact was made even more apparent this week when it was learned that at least one council member who favors the creation of  a Board of Finance, will be on vacation on the day of the vote.

Still, Mr Kortze said, the process allows for the questions to reach the voters no matter what and he will live with whatever turns out.

“If this was meant to be, then it will get petitioned and it will get on the ballot,” he said.

Charter Revision Commission Chairman Bill Sheluck says he hopes the council will stand by its previous votes and pass along the recommendations to the public to vote on in the November election.

“As I’ve indicated earlier, the closeness of the votes on the Legislative Council is added reason why these recommendations should go to the voters in November. We’ve worked very hard to reach the conclusions we have and believe they’re soundly based and will provide a strong framework for town government going forward,” he said. “If the council makes any major changes from the decisions it has recently reached, we are prepared to petition the voters.”

The charter panel will remain in business until after the council issues its final report. At that time, the board will disband. If members do choose to petition the questions onto the ballot, they will have to do so as private citizens.

This week, the Charter Revision Commission made a last-minute change to its report, adjusting the threshold at which a special appropriation would be automatically send to a referendum from $2 million to five percent of the current annual budget. This year, that threshold would stand at approximately $3.5 million. Resident Dennis Dougherty made the suggestion at a joint meeting of the council and charter board Tuesday night.

The Charter Revision Commission will need to acquire 1,400 signatures in order to get the questions on the ballot. Those signatures would need to be submitted to the town clerk’s office by September 6.