Meeting, July 26, 2001

 

Present:  Paul Connolly, Raphael Herz, and Linda Wollschlager

Absent:  Jeff Phillips and Phil Verzani

Others present:  Frank Fessenden, Frank Foss, Milton Gilbert, and Susan Salamoff

 

The meeting was called to order by the chair at 7:18 PM in the School Committee Meeting Room, Third Floor, Town Hall.

 

Minutes of the July 19 meeting were approved as written.

 

The chair distributed copies of the agenda and the committee's preliminary recommendations to all in attendance.

 

Ms. Salamoff thanked the committee for its hard work and for keeping the public informed, particularly through its web site.

 

The committee discussed the specific items on the agenda. (In these minutes, the items are referenced by the short designation that appears in the agenda.) All items for which the committee voted final approval will be forwarded by the clerk to the Board of Selectmen as warrant articles for the October 2001 Town Meeting.

 

Charter, Art. 2, s. 2-5. Resolve ties by lottery instead of by vote in caucus. Public comments included:  (1) Leave current procedure in place; (2) If Town Meeting members are not voting in caucus elections, mail ballots to them. Mr. Connolly noted that the current procedure only addresses the issue of tie votes involving the division into thirds, but is silent about tie votes affecting election. The committee unanimously (3-0) voted final approval of its previously recommended warrant article.

 

Charter, Art. 2, s. 2-6(c). Do not consider persons for appointment before revision of precincts. Ms. Salamoff noted that considering unsuccessful candidates from previous elections for appointment to fill vacancies is not democratic. The committee will add this separate item to its list of items awaiting action. The committee unanimously (3-0) voted final approval of its previously recommended warrant article.

 

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-1. Advise elected officials who move out of town to resign. Public comments included:  (1) Town Counsel should write the language for this charter change; (2) Any report to the Town Clerk should be in writing. The committee unanimously (3-0) agreed to postpone further consideration until September.

 

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-2(c). What does "subject to the provisions of Article 6" mean? Public comments included:  (1) There is no reason to change back to original language; (2) Allowing change by Article 6 provisions is desirable. The committee unanimously (3-0) agreed to take no action to change this section.

 

Charter, Art. 7, s. 7-6(b). Provide Charter and By-Law Review Committee with additional time for the submittal of recommendations and report to town meeting. The committee unanimously   (3-0) voted final approval of its previously recommended warrant article.

 

By-Laws, Art. 10, s. 2. Lists of appointees by Board of Selectmen. Public comments included:  (1) Distinction between Town Officials and Committees is not correct; (2) Board of Selectmen appoints only one member of MetroWest Growth Management Committee. The committee unanimously (3-0) voted to amend its proposed draft change to combine the first two sections under the title "Town Officials / Committees" and alphabetize and to add "one member" as suggested. The committee unanimously (3-0) voted final approval of the warrant article as amended.

 

By-Laws, Art. 20, s. 1. Lists of appointees by Town Administrator. Public comments mentioned omissions and improper names for officials. Ms. Wollschlager noted that the committee was aware of most such problems, but had chosen to take just the initial step of removing obsolete names from the current list. The committee unanimously (3-0) agreed to postpone further consideration until September.

 

By-Laws, Art. 20, s. 3. Minimum qualifications for new town administrator. Public comments included:  (1) "Equivalent" is better than "similar."; (2) Only chief or deputy administrative officers should be allowed to apply; (3) More details must be specified instead of leaving it up to the screening committee to draft the announcement and selection criteria consistent with duties of the position as specified in Charter, Art. 4, s. 4-2. The committee (2-1) voted final approval of an amended version of its previously recommended warrant article. The final approved version substituted "equivalent" for "similar."

 

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-1(d). Preliminary elections. Public comments included:  (1) Opinions for and against eliminating preliminary elections were expressed; (2) Additional number of candidates allowed before triggering preliminary elections is not fair. The committee (2-0) voted final approval of the draft warrant article it had distributed.

 

By-Laws, Art. 20, s. 4. Describe process for selecting new TA in by-law. Mr. Herz reported on a draft change to the Charter, Art. 4, s. 4-1(b) on the same subject that had been prepared by Town Counsel at the direction of the Board of Selectmen. Unlike the committee's focus, that draft does not address starting the process before a vacancy actually occurs and also makes significant changes in the membership of the screening committee and in the process followed. Public comments included:  (1) Starting the process before the vacancy actually occurs is good; (2) Membership of screening committee should not be changed; (3) It's okay for both warrant articles on this subject to be filed for action by Town Meeting. A motion to postpone consideration until September lost (0-3). The committee unanimously (3-0) voted final approval of the draft warrant article it had distributed.

 

By-Laws, Art. 40, s. 1. Publication of Town Report, referred by Town Meeting. Mr. Connolly reported on his discussion with Deputy Town Administrator Paul Cohen on this subject. Mr. Cohen noted:  (1) Some financials for the completed fiscal year (e.g., the forms for computing the tax rate) cannot be ready by the publication date; (2) Any late items can be forwarded to the Finance Committee for inclusion in their report to Spring Town Meeting; (3) No supplemental report or appropriation is needed; (4) The Town needs to get experience in this first year of the new process to see if any changes are needed. The committee unanimously (3-0) voted to draft a warrant article that restores the dates affecting publication of the Town Report to what they had been previously. Mr. Connolly will prepare the article based on the article that had been referred to the committee.

 

Mr. Herz thanked those in attendance for their inputs during the long meeting.

 

Assignments were made. Mr. Herz will contact the secretary to the Board of Selectmen about the action taken with regard to the process for selecting a new TA and about the committee's desire to have more discussion about this subject. Mr. Connolly will file the committee's warrant articles with the Board of Selectmen for Fall Town Meeting. Ms. Wollschlager will update the information on the web site.

 

The committee decided to schedule a meeting for Aug. 9 in the School Department Training Room.

 

The meeting adjourned at 11:00 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Paul E. Connolly