CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE
Minutes - June 2 2009
Present: Scott Kerry, chair; Nan Balmer, Judy Cannon, John Knight, Stephen Wasby, Clerk.
Others: Tom Johnson
The meeting commenced at 5:00pm and was adjourned at 6:25pm.
The minutes of the May 12, 2009, meeting were approved as distributed.
There was some discussion of maintaining all discussions among the five Committee members, rather than in smaller groupings, unless people were specifically designated for a particular task. Whether those other than members of the Committee could talk at meetings, unless invited to speak, was discussed. A five- or ten-minute comment period at the beginning of each meeting was suggested. This idea was included in a proposal, already under discussion, to limit participation by those not members of the committee. After some initial discussion of how whether people could talk to several elements in the Charter or only to the ones being considered, and after a suggestion that the Charter be on the Town’s website, the following motion was made (Wasby), seconded (Knight), and approved 5-0:
Unless invited to make a presentation to the Committee or to sit with the Committee
as a consultant, no visitor may speak except during a ten-minute comment period,
or at the discretion of the Chair.
Wasby made a brief report on the Committee’s presence on the Website.
In a discussion of Article 20 from the Town Meeting after the previous Charter Review Committee, it became clear that several members of the Committee wished to have a clearer
understanding of the procedures necessary to make changes in the Charter, and whether different procedures were to be used for major and minor (e.g., wording) changes. There was discussion as to whether to ask the Town Administrator to ask Town Counsel about some of these matters,
or whether to hold that in abeyance while some Committee members examined the matter further. It was decided, 5-0, that the Chair would ask the Town Administrator for a brief written memorandum on how Charter change happens and what happened with the last Charter changes.
There was extensive discussion as to the procedures to be adopted – particularly, whether to go through the Charter provision-by-provision, advocated by John Knight, or to invite specified Town officials to respond (in writing, possibly followed by an appearance) as to whether there were Charter provisions causing problems, advocated primarily by Stephen Wasby, with Nan Balmer suggesting a smaller set of people who would be queried. One of the issues was whether department heads, who may be considered “personnel,” should be included among those to be asked for comments. There was related discussion as to whether to invite people to appear at a hearing early in the Committee’s proceedings or only to invite officials in connection with the detailed examination of the Charter, along with
“putting the word out” in general that comments on the Charter were welcome. The idea of having an early open meeting to receive suggestions
Charter Review Committee - Minutes - June 2 2009 - page 2
was rejected. Knight moved, Cannon seconded, that the Committee should go through the Charter section-by-section, bringing in people as needed for each section, with no one to appear before process was begun. The proposal was adopted, 4-1 (Wasby in the negative).
It was agreed that if anyone seeks to make a suggestion or comment about the Charter to members of the Committee, they should be asked to put it in writing and send it to the Chair.
The next meeting will be on June 16, 2009.
The following meetings will be July 14 and July 21, 2009.
Eastham resident Tom Johnson attended because of his interest in seeing how possible Charter changes would fit with the thinking of the Long-Range Planning Committee, of which he is a member. He felt the Charter Review Committee should reach out more broadly and should ask certain department heads for their views. He also suggested that the agenda should indicate which sections of the Charter are to be considered.
Respectfully submitted,
Stephen L. Wasby, Clerk
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