A Report on the Charter of the Town of Dracut.11.27.12

***DRAFT*** A Report on the

Charter of the Town of Dracut, Massachusetts

EDWARD J. COLLINS, JR. CENTER FOR PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

November 2012 (rev 11.27.12)

Dracut Charter Review Page 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the request of the Board of Selectmen, the Collins Center has undertaken this review of the 1985 Dracut Home Rule Charter. This report breaks down issues and recommendations into three categories: (1) policy or substantive issues and recommendations, (2) technical or legal issues and recommendations, and (3) formatting, grammatical, and typographical issues and recommendations. After presenting some general observations on the existing charter and some big picture issues, this report goes through go through the charter by article, raising items as they appear in the text. For a charter review project, the Center team believes it is important to come to a general understanding of the characteristics of a town. From a demographic standpoint, Dracut appears to be relatively stable. Most interviewees cited the Towns relatively low taxes and spending as a reason why people locate in the community, and they noted that this was both an asset and a liability. A recurring theme among interviews was a wish that a way could be found to expand the commercial tax base, but also that this was unlikely in the near future. At the same time, there was a sense of pride about how the Town has maintained its rural character. In terms of the current governance and operations of the Town, there was a sense that the Town was generally doing good work in a difficult financial situation. The overarching issue of concern was that the current state of affairs was unlikely to last. In particular, Center staff were made aware of some level of anxiety about the upcoming retirement of the Town Manager. The incumbent has been in office since shortly after the current charter was adopted, and this Charter provides significant authority to the position. Given that the Towns operations have been relatively stable during that time, there is concern about how a new Town Manager lacking the institutional knowledge and accrued trust will fare under the charter. Based on the above understanding of the current state of the Town and likely future changes, the Center team believes that the 1985 Home Rule Charter of the Town is fundamentally sound as the foundational document for Dracuts form of government. The evidence supporting this claim comes from a variety of sources: (1) from the direct interviews Center staff conducted with Town elected and appointed officials, (2) from the professional judgment of Center staff after reviewing the document text, and (3) from the general stability of the Towns governance and the lack of major issues that have appeared since the documents adoption. Despite this positive starting point, Center staff did identify plenty of areas for potential review and improvement in the charter. These areas for review are mostly narrow topics and the suggested recommendations are generally not radical. (As several interviewees described it, what the Charter needs is some tweaking.) Nevertheless, the importance of dealing with the issues raised herein shouldnt be underestimated. At the same time, while the majority opinion seemed to reflect a desire to maintain Dracuts current form of government and to tweak the current document, it is important to note that a minority opinion of those interviewed was that the Town should consider a more radical change to its form of government. This view is given consideration in the General Observations and Overview of Charter section of the report. The specific issues raised and recommendations provided in the main sections of this report relate to a wide range of topics across the charter and Town operations. Finally, given the typographical and formatting issues encountered during this process, the Center recommends maintaining a single, updated, clean pdf version of the charter on the Towns website once the charter review and revision process is complete. The Clerks office should maintain that same document in multiple electronic formats, in addition to hard copies.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary Page 1 Table of Contents Page 2 Background Page 3

General Observations and Overview of Charter Page 4 Review of Text: Page 8

Preamble Page 8 Article 1: Existence and Authority Page 9 Article 2: Town Meeting Page 12 Article 3: Elected and Appointed Officers Page 22 Article 4: Town Manager Page 31 Article 5: Administrative Organization Page 38 Article 6: Finances and Fiscal Procedures Page 44 Article 7: General Provisions Page 51 Article 8: Transitional Provisions Page 61

Miscellaneous Policy Recommendations Page 62 Methodology Page 63 Appendix Page 64


BACKGROUND At the request of the Board of Selectmen (Board), the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston (Center) has undertaken this review of the 1985 Dracut Home Rule Charter in order to make recommendations on what revisions might improve it and on the process to achieve those revisions. This report breaks down issues and recommendations into three categories: (1) policy or substantive issues and recommendations, (2) technical or legal issues and recommendations, and (3) formatting, grammatical, and typographical issues and recommendations. It is important to note that the Centers expertise centers on the policy implications of decisions in charters. Although the Center has expertise in the legal and technical aspects of charters, Center staff defer to the Towns legal counsel on strictly legal matters. After presenting some general observations on the existing Charter and some big picture issues, this report goes through go through the charter by article, raising items as they appear in the text. For convenience, each item raised will be labeled Policy, Technical, or Formatting or Typographical, respectively. The initial version of the charter document provided by the Town and used for review and editing was titled Charter Scanned (6-1-2012) Edit3.doc. Given that this appeared to be a document have been created using optical character recognition (OCR), it is possible that the typographical issues noted were introduced during the scanning process and were not in the actual 1985 document. To try to compensate for this, the Center requested another version for cross-checking, and a differently-formatted version with the file name DRACUT.doc was provided. While this version appears to have fewer typographical issues, it is likely that it too was at one point derived from a version scanned using OCR. The typographical issues it contains appear different than those of the prior version. These two versions together were used as the basis of the text to be reviewed. In this report, Charter Scanned (6-1-2012) Edit3.doc will be referred to as version (a) and DRACUT.doc will be referred to as version (b) when differences need to be noted. The actual text appearing at the beginning of each section of this report (italicized and indented) is taken from version (a) unless otherwise noted. Once the charter review and revision process is complete, the Center recommends maintaining a single, updated, clean pdf version of the charter on the Towns website. The Clerks office should maintain that same document in multiple electronic formats, in addition to hard copies.


GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND OVERVIEW OF CHARTER General Observations For a charter review project, the Center team believes it is important to come to a general understanding of the characteristics of a town its strengths, its weaknesses, the challenges it faces, etc. To get at some of these items, the Center team asks general questions during interviews with Town officials. From these questions, the Center has built a very basic understanding of the situation facing Dracut that provides the context for this project. From a demographic standpoint, the Town appears to be relatively stable. None of the interviewees seemed to feel that the Town was poised for significant population growth (or decrease) in the near future, and none of the interviewees saw a major change in the composition of the Towns population ahead. There was some sense that the Towns senior population may be growing, but this was not uniform. School enrollment appears to have declined slightly before leveling off, and there is no indication that big changes are coming. Most interviewees cited the Towns relatively low taxes and spending as a reason why people locate in the community, and they noted that this was both an asset and a liability. A recurring theme among interviews was a wish that a way could be found to expand the commercial tax base as a way of both generating additional revenue and relieving some of the burden from the residential taxes, but also that this was unlikely in the near future. The Towns lack of access to a major highway, combined with a deficiency in certain kinds of infrastructure (e.g., sewer in some areas), was often repeated as significant obstacles to commercial growth. At the same time, there was a sense of pride among many interviews about how the Town has done in maintaining its rural character. In terms of the current governance and operations of the Town, there was a sense that the Town was generally doing good work in a very difficult financial situation. There was frequent praise for the management of the Town and for the cooperation between management and departments, as well as among the departments themselves. Department heads were generally full of praise for their counterparts and the services they worked to provide for the taxpayer dollars they received. Moreover, most interviewees felt that the Towns annual budget process generally went quite smoothly, which is certainly not the case in many towns around the Commonwealth. Finally, there was a sense of optimism that a move into a new building could contribute to improvement in communication. The overarching issue of concern was that the current state of affairs was unlikely to last. This is due to an impending wave of retirements among Town department heads and management that several interviewees saw on the horizon. In particular, Center staff were made aware of some level of anxiety in the Town about the upcoming retirement of the Town Manager. The incumbent Town Manager has been in office since shortly after the current Charter was adopted, and this Charter provides significant authority to the Town Managers position. Given that the Towns operations have been relatively stable during that time, there is concern about how a new Town Manager lacking the institutional knowledge and accrued trust will fare under the Charter. Obviously, there is no way to know the answer. As it relates to this project, it is simply worth keeping in mind that a new person will be taking the reins in the near future and that the Charter should provide enough guidance that stability continues beyond the change in the position.


Overview of Charter Based on the above understanding of the current state of the Town and likely future changes, the Center team believes that the 1985 Home Rule Charter of the Town is fundamentally sound as the foundational document for Dracuts form of government. The evidence supporting this claim comes from a variety of sources: (1) from the direct interviews Center staff conducted with Town elected and appointed officials, (2) from the professional judgment of Center staff after reviewing the document text, and (3) from the general stability of the Towns governance and the lack of major issues that have appeared since the documents adoption. Passed on May 6, 1985, the Dracut Charter is one of the newer charters that the Center has been asked to review. For that reason, it already incorporated many of the modern municipal management practices and concepts that are often lacking in charters written earlier in the 20th century or in prior centuries. Despite this positive starting point, Center staff did identify plenty of areas for potential review and improvement in the Charter. These areas for review are mostly narrow topics and the suggested recommendations are generally not radical. (As several interviewees described it, what the Charter needs is some tweaking.) Nevertheless, the importance of dealing with the issues raised herein shouldnt be underestimated. At the same time, while the majority opinion seemed to reflect a desire to maintain Dracuts current form of government and to tweak the current document, it is important to note that a minority opinion of those interviewed was that the Town should consider a more radical change to its form of government. Before proceeding with the main reports review and analysis of issues in the current Charter, the Center considers it important to address that in this report. In terms of considering the primary forms of government in Massachusetts, the most basic distinction is between city and town. The legal distinction between the two is the form of the legislative branch. In towns, the legislative branch is a form of town meeting. In cities, the legislative branch is always a city council, although that can go by one of a variety of different names. Within the city and town forms, it is possible to categorize each further. The city form can be divided by the form of its executive branch. The two forms are a Council-Manager form of government, where the executive branch is headed by a Manager appointed by the Council, and a Mayor-Council form, where the executive is an elected Mayor. The town form can be further divided by the form of its legislative branch (i.e., town meeting) into open town meeting and representative town meeting. (The head of the executive branch in towns is always a Board of Selectmen, although the powers and duties that the Board can have may vary significantly, depending on how much authority and responsibility a Town shifts from the Board to an appointed Town Manager or Town Administrator that the Board appoints through a charter, special act, or bylaws.) Bringing this all together, most cities and towns in Massachusetts can be described by one of the four forms appearing in the chart below.


Dracuts charter gives it an open town meeting form of government. This form of government has existed for over 350 years in Massachusetts and is often considered one of the purest forms of direct democracy in the world in that it gives all registered voters the opportunity to legislate directly. At the same time, it is often argued that, due to the infrequency, unpredictability, and general unwieldiness of open town meeting, it is not an effective or efficient way to manage the operations of a complex entity like a large town government. Of the roughly 260 Massachusetts towns with an open town meeting form of government, Dracut is the second largest by population. (Interestingly, the four open town meeting towns with the greatest populations are all contiguous, with the other three being Andover, North Andover, Tewksbury.) The mean population for towns with open town meeting is just over 8,000, and the median population is about 6,500, although it is worth noting that there are 121 towns with populations under 6,000, and that the Massachusetts Constitution requires those towns with populations under 6,000 to have open town meeting as their legislative branch. Some interviewees felt that the complexity of managing operations as complicated as Dracuts had grown beyond the capacity of an open town meeting form of government to manage. Certainly, where Dracut sits population-wise among towns with open town meeting provides at least indirect evidence that towns in other parts of the Commonwealth have concurred with that opinion. If the Town were to move away from open town meeting as its legislative branch, it could remain a town and adopt a representative town meeting legislative branch, or it could convert to a city form of government and create a council as its legislative branch. If it went with the representative town meeting approach, the elected town meeting could range in size from 50 to 400, and the executive would still be headed by a Board of Selectmen. (It may be worth noting that no Massachusetts town has moved to a representative town meeting form of government since 1989, and about a dozen have abandoned it.) If the town wanted to convert to a city form of government, its legislative branch would cease to be town meeting and would become a council (which could go by the name of City Council, Board of Aldermen, Common Council, Municipal Council, etc.). The smallest council in Massachusetts is seven and the largest is 24, and any odd number within that range could be reasonably considered. At the same time, the Board of Selectmen would be dissolved, and the Town Manager would become a City Manager and would report to the Council instead of the Board. Shifting from the legislative to the executive, the other important feature of Dracuts form of government is that its executive branch includes a strong Town Manager in charge of day-to-day operations and reporting to the Board of Selectmen. (As noted, the executive branch of every Massachusetts town is headed by a Board


of Selectmen, with the exception of the 20 or so city known as the town of municipalities in Massachusetts. In these cases, a municipality has been permitted to continue calling itself a town even though it operates under a city form of government.) Because there is so much variability among how the authorities and responsibilities of the executive are allocated between Boards of Selectmen and Town Managers, Town Administrators, Town Coordinators, etc., it is harder to pinpoint how Dracut compares on this feature. The best proxy for determining how those authorities are allocated is the title of the manager hired by the Board of Selectmen. The two most common titles among all but the smallest towns are Town Administrator and Town Manager. Typically, Town Managers have more authorities and responsibilities than Town Administrators, but there is no legal distinction between the two, and there are some Town Administrators with significant authority and responsibility and some Town Managers with less than one would typically expect. Using this imperfect proxy, there are roughly 60 towns that employ someone with the title Town Manager. Of those, Dracut is the 11th largest by population. The average population of this group is about 20,000, and the median population is about 17,000. It is worth noting that the level and coherence of a Town Manager or Town Administrators authority and responsibilities can be a significant factor in attracting top candidates to the position. More experienced applicants tend to seek positions whose authority and duties provide the tools for the person in the position to manage the municipal government effectively. It is both because of the recognition of the importance of aligning authority and responsibilities and because of the awareness of how that affects recruitment that more and more towns are increasing the powers and responsibilities of their Town Administrator and Town Manager positions. For that reason, it would be an unusual if not unprecedented step in Massachusetts for Dracut to restructure the Town Managers position in a way that significantly reduced its responsibilities and duties. If Dracut were to move to a City, it could simply convert the Town Manager to a City Manager reporting to the City Council, as previously noted, or it could consider an elected Mayor as the head of the executive. It is worth noting that even among those interviewees who expressed an interest in a change in the Towns form of government, there was no discernible interest in having a Mayoral form of government. One final structural issue that was briefly raised but quickly dismissed was the issue of the Dracut Water Supply District, which is an entirely independent government entity outside the jurisdiction of the Town of Dracut. The occasional question was raised about the efficacy of having an entirely independent government entity providing the water for some of the Town (but not the full Town). It was also noted that the district lines are not well-aligned with the voting lines, so that some people receive and pay for water from the Kenwood Water Department but are able to vote for the Dracut Water Supply District, while others receive water from the District but are unable to vote in the elections that determine who governs it. Regardless of these challenges, there seemed to be no interest in taking on this issue at this time. Please note that the Center does not make recommendations on the best form of government for Dracut, although Center staff are happy to answer questions about the pros and cons of the various forms, and to provide further information about other Massachusetts municipalities structures and experiences. If the Town does decide to pursue significant changes to its form of government or to other items enumerated in the Charter, there are two options for doing so: electing a charter commission and appointing a committee to draft a new special act charter. Both of these processes could lead to a new charter for Dracut, and the resulting documents would carry the same force and authority. However, these processes are significantly different. To learn more about this, interested residents should review the article Charting a Route for Charter Change, which is available on the Division of Local Services website (http://www.mass.gov/dor/local-officials/dls-newsroom/ct/charting-a-route-for-charter-change.html).


REVIEW OF TEXT: PREAMBLE

We, the people of Dracut, in order to reestablish the individual sovereignty of the people with respect to the conduct of our local government and to take the fullest advantages inherent in the home rule amendment to the constitution of the Commonwealth, do hereby adopt the following home rule charter for the Town of Dracut.

Policy Many Massachusetts city and town home rule charters have preambles, but they are not required. Of those charters that do preambles, the language is relatively uniform and generally similar to the language in Dracuts preamble. The only area where Dracuts language differs substantially from the most common language is with the stated reason for adopting the Charter, which is to reestablish the individual sovereignty of the people with respect to the conduct of our local government and to take the fullest advantages inherent in the home rule amendment to the constitution of the Commonwealth (Italics added.) In most Massachusetts city and town charters, the italicized portion above is replaced by this text: to reaffirm the customary and traditional liberties of the people The Town may wish to consider whether the existing language still is the preferred text to convey the purpose of the charter. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to the preamble. Formatting or Typographical Many cities and towns choose to capitalize constitution and home rule charter, but there others that do not. This is purely a stylistic issue.


REVIEW OF TEXT: ARTICLE 1: EXISTENCE AND AUTHORITY Section 1 Incorporation

The inhabitants of the Town of Dracut, within the territorial limits established by law, shall continue to be a body corporate and politic under the name Town of Dracut.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical In version (a), the header of this section appears to use a capital I instead of a 1, whereas the other section headers in the document (with the exception of the section 1 in other articles) use numbers. Version (b) uses 1. The Town should standardize this numbering. Section 2 Short Title

This instrument shall be known and may be cited as the Dracut Home Rule Charter.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section. Section 3 Division of Powers

The administration of all the fiscal, prudential and municipal affairs of the town shall be vested in an executive branch headed by a board of selectmen and a town manger. All legislative powers of the Town shall be exercised by the town meeting.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical


There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There is a typographical error in both versions: Manger should be Manager. Also, the Town may want to consider changing Town to town to standardize with the remainder of the document. Section 4 Powers of the Town; Intent of the Voters

It is the intent and the purpose of the voters of the Town of Dracut, through the adoption of this charter, to secure for the town all of the powers possible to secure under the constitution and statutes of the Commonwealth, as fully and as completely as though each such power were specifically and individually enumerated herein.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section. Section 5 Interpretation of Powers

The powers of the town under the charter shall be construed and interpreted liberally in favor of the town, and the specific mention of any particular power is not intended to limit in any way the general powers of the town, as stated in section 4.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section. Section 6 Intergovernmental Relations


The town may enter into agreements with any other unit of government to perform jointly or in cooperation, by contract or otherwise, any of its powers or functions.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section.


REVIEW OF TEXT: ARTICLE 2: TOWN MEETING Section 1 Composition

The legislative body of the town shall be a town meeting consisting of all registered voters qualified to vote in state and local elections.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical The phrasing all registered voters qualified to vote in state and local elections is a little bit unusual and could potentially lead to some confusion. Although unlikely, there could be a divergence at some point between the voting qualifications for state and local elections, in which case the and might inadvertently prevent registered voters from participating in town meeting. It may be better to use a simpler form: open to all registered voters of the Town. Formatting or Typographical In version (a), the header of this section appears to use a capital I instead of a 1, whereas all of the other section headers in the document (with one other exception) use numbers. Version (b) uses 1. The Town should standardize this numbering. Section 2 Annual Town Meetings

The town meeting shall meet at least twice in each calendar year. The first such meeting shall be held on the first Monday of June and subsequent nights thereafter unless otherwise provided by future bylaw and shall be primarily concerned with the determination of matters that have a fiscal effect on the town, including but not limited to the setting of all annual operating budgets for all town agencies. The second such meeting, the powers of which shall also be deemed those of an annual town meeting, and shall be primarily concerned with general by-laws, zoning by-laws and not having a fiscal effect on the town, shall be held on the first Monday of November and subsequent nights thereafter unless otherwise provided by future bylaw. In addition to the two meetings required by this section, the board of selectmen may, in any manner provided under the general laws of the Commonwealth or the charter, for the purpose of acting upon the legislative business of the town in an orderly and expeditious manner, call the special town meetings into session at other times by the issuance of warrants therefore. Any article defeated at a town meeting shall not again be considered on its merits by a subsequent town meeting held within one year without a two-thirds vote.

Policy There do not seem to be any significant issues with the spring annual town meeting in recent years. However, a few issues were raised with regard to special town meetings and, in particular, the fall regular meeting. These have to do both with the quorum numbers (this will be discussed elsewhere) and the specific requirement that it should be primarily concerned with general by-laws, zoning by-laws and not having a


fiscal effect on the town. Among charters of Massachusetts towns with open town meeting, there is a significant split, with quite a few similar to Dracut in requiring a fall town meeting, and a similarly large or perhaps even larger number that only specifically calls for an annual town meeting, leaving the call of all special town meetings up to the needs of the Town. There is certainly merit to both approaches. However, beyond that split, Dracuts charter language that specifies the topics of the fall town meeting is highly unusual. (Center staff was not able to locate comparable language in any other town charters, but that does not mean there are none out there that have it.) As one interviewee noted, the term primarily concerned further clouds the intent of the provision by leaving what appears to be a loophole and creating the opportunity for misunderstandings. The Center team recommends changing this language. At minimum, the Town should consider removing the language specifying the topic of the fall town meeting to allow for flexibility and prevent potential conflicts based in the current languages vagueness. An example of how this could look is provided below:

The town meeting shall meet in regular session twice in each calendar year. The first such meeting, referred to herein as the "spring town meeting," shall be held during March, April or May, on a date fixed by by-law, and shall be primarily concerned with the determination of matters involving the expenditure of town funds, including, but not limited to, the adoption of an annual operating budget for all town agencies, and for the purpose of electing officers and for the determination of all other matters to be decided by ballot of the voters. The spring town meeting shall be deemed to be the annual town meeting. The second such meeting, referred to herein as the "fall town meeting," shall be held during the last 4 months of the calendar year on a date fixed by by-law, and shall be deemed to be an annual town meeting for all purposes of the General Laws; provided, however, that the fall town meeting shall not include the election of officers. (Charter of the Town of Groton, Section 2-1)

A further alternative would be to remove the requirement for a fall town meeting entirely and leave special town meeting calls to the needs of the Town in any particular year. However, some argue that maintaining the requirement for a standing fall town meeting is a helpful way to maintain continuity and stability in policy-making. If the Town wished to eliminate the standing fall meeting, an example of how this could look is provided below:

Special Town Meetings shall be held at the call of a majority of the full Board of Selectmen at such times as they deem necessary, in order to transact the legislative business of the Town in an orderly manner. Special Town Meetings shall also be held on the petition of two hundred (200) or more voters, in the manner provided by the general laws and Town bylaw.

Either of these approaches could help alleviate confusion around the fall town meeting. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section. Section 3 Quorum


A quorum of 250 shall be required to conduct business at any town meeting unless otherwise provided in a future by-law.

Policy In 2010, this was changed by bylaw from 250 to 200 for the fall town meeting. Some interviewees felt that it should be reduced further and/or the spring annual town meeting should be reduced as well. Several stated that 150 or even 100 would be a better quorum for Dracuts town meeting. More drastically, one wondered whether Dracut might consider dropping to zero quorum, and another wondered if the Town might be better served by representative town meeting. On the other hand, some thought that 250 was the appropriate number to retain for town meeting quorum. Beyond encouraging periodic review of the numbers, the Center team does not think it is appropriate to recommend an ideal number for Dracuts quorum. Every town has a different tradition and political culture, and the quorum ought to reflect that uniqueness. Technical It would be worthwhile to change the charter text to reflect the current status (i.e., 250 for spring town meeting and 200 for fall). Beyond that, given that there appears to be some variation in opinion about the preferred quorum number, a better approach may be to move determination of the quorum number entirely to the bylaws. The new text could read: The quorum to conduct business at any town meeting shall be as determined by by-law. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section. Section 4 Presiding Officers

A moderator, chosen in accordance with the provisions of Article III, Section 8, shall preside at all sessions of the town meeting. The moderator shall regulate the proceedings of all town meetings, decide all questions of order and make public declaration of all votes. The moderator is required to finish all articles on the warrant of the town meeting first called to order prior to the consideration of any warrant article in an intervening special town meeting. He shall perform such other functions as may be provided by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote.

Policy As several interviewees noted, the Dracut Town charter makes no provision for a back-up Moderator, should the Moderator be absent. The bylaws also appear silent on the matter. With no local statute in place, Chapter 39, Section 14 provides one possible framework for having a back-up Moderator:

At every town or district meeting until a moderator or temporary moderator is elected, the clerk of the town or district shall preside; but if he is absent or if there is no clerk, the chairman of the selectmen or prudential committee or body exercising similar powers, if present, otherwise the senior member present in point of continuous service, shall preside; but if no selectman or


member of said committee or body is present, the justice of the peace calling such meeting, if the meeting is so called, shall preside. Such presiding officer shall have the powers and perform the duties of a moderator.

Many town charters do provide explicitly for a back-up moderator. For example, one town charter simply states: In the absence of the Moderator, the Town Meeting shall elect a temporary Moderator. Another charter provides for a different approach, stating that the regularly-elected Moderator shall, at the first session of the spring town meeting, appoint a deputy moderator, subject to ratification by the town meeting, to serve at any session of an annual or special town meeting in the event of his absence or disability. The Town ought to consider including one of these alternatives in its charter. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical This is the first time where a gender-specific pronoun appears in the document, so it is worth raising the question of whether the Town wants to revise the document to make it gender neutral. This is not necessary from a legal standpoint. Article 7, section 6 makes it clear that gendered pronouns can apply to both genders. The decision is entirely a stylistic consideration.

Section 5 Clerk of the Meeting

The town clerk or his designee shall serve as the clerk of the town meeting. The clerk shall give notice of all meetings to the public, keep the journal of their proceedings and perform such other functions as may be provided by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section.

Section 6 General Powers and Duties

All powers of the town shall be vested in the town meeting, except as otherwise provided by law or the charter. The town meeting shall provide for the exercise of all powers of the town and for the performance of all duties and obligations imposed upon the town.

Policy


There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section.

Section 7 Establishment of Standing Committees

The town meeting may from time to time, by by-law, establish standing committees to which shall be referred warrant articles for study, review and report in advance of the sessions of the town meeting. Until such time as the town meeting acts, by by-law or other town meeting vote, to change or abolish such committees, the following committees are hereby established: Finance Committee - There shall be a finance committee appointed by the moderator consisting of seven or nine members each of whom must reside in a different precinct from all other members. The finance committee shall be governed by the provisions of Chapter IV of the Revised By-Laws of the Town. Committee on Rules - There shall be a committee on rules consisting of seven or nine persons each of whom must reside in a different precinct from all other members., to be appointed by the moderator. The terms of office of members of the committee on rules shall be for three years, initially so arranged that an equal number of terms as possible shall expire each year. The moderator shall serve, ex-officio, as the chairman of the committee on rules. The committee on rules shall provide a continuing oversight of the business of the town meeting and shall consider all proposed changes in its conduct. The members of the committee on rules shall during the time the town meeting is in session, organize by the election of a vice-chairman and a clerk. Committee on Government Regulations - There shall be a committee on government regulations consisting of seven or nine persons at least one of whom shall be appointed by the moderator, each of whom must reside in a different precinct from all other members,.for terms of three years, initially so arranged that as nearly an equal number of terms as possible shall expire each year. The committee on government regulations shall review and report on all warrant articles that would, if adopted, amend the charter or affect the by-laws of the town. It shall be responsible for the decennial review of the by-laws of the town as provided in Article 7, Section 9.


Permanent Building Committee - There shall be a permanent building committee consisting of five members especially trained or experienced in construction management. They shall be appointed by the moderator for three-year terms initially so arranged that not more than two terms shall expire each year. The permanent building committee shall be assigned the responsibility for overseeing the construction or reconstruction of all town buildings, approving the plans thereof, and expending such funds as appropriated for such project by the town meeting. The committee, during the lifetime of any project shall file monthly reports with the town manager and make yearly reports to the town meeting.

Policy According to several interviewees, there have been problems finding enough interested residents to fill the Finance Committee, Capital Planning Committee, Committee on Regulations, and Permanent Building Committee. At this point, the Committee on Rules appears to be entirely vacant and inactive. There also appears to be a mismatch between the precincts and the interest among residents in participating on committees. These comments were made frequently by interviewees. Given the lack of interest, one potential partial solution would be to merge the Committee on Rules and the Committee on Regulations into one Committee on Rules and Regulations, reducing the number of seats to fill and potentially increasing the number of issues under the new Committees purview to the point where more residents saw it as a worthwhile and interesting place to volunteer their time. Although different, the work of the two Committees may be close enough to make one Committee successful with both mandates. When asked, most interviews expressed support for this potential salutation. It should also be noted that neither committee is a common standing committee in most other Massachusetts towns with open town meeting. As for the issue of requirements for participation by precinct, the logic for this is certainly understandable. Providing a geographical requirement helps prevent the takeover of a particular committee by any individual region of the Town. However, weighed against this must be the vacancies left on those committees and whether potentially committed and skilled volunteers have been blocked from helping due to these geographic restrictions. One potential compromise solution to this would be to remove the precinct requirement from the language and replace it with language in the by-laws that gives initial preference for precinct representation on committees, but provides that seats may be filled from among applications if residents from the requisite precincts are not forthcoming. Finally, one interviewee wondered whether the Moderator was the appropriate appointment authority for these committees and suggested that perhaps the Board of Selectmen would be a better appointment authority. The logic for having the Moderator the appointing authority is two-fold: (1) As Committees reviewing expenditures and warrant articles, these Committees are in some ways performing the function of being standing Committees of the legislative branch (i.e., Town Meeting). For that reason, having them be appointed by the Board of Selectmen would blur the executive and legislative functions. (2) By reporting to the Moderator instead of the Board of Selectmen, these Committees can provide an additional check and balance against the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager. Having said all that, the Center team does not think it is appropriate to recommend specific appointing authorities to the Town for these committees, and it is certainly the case the appointment authority varies from town to town around the Commonwealth. Technical


An issue was raised with the Charter language around Permanent Building Committee, whose role is to oversee the construction or reconstruction of all town buildings. The question was whether this language so broad that even small renovations like replacing a window should theoretically have to come before the Committee. The short answer is that only capital expenditures should come before this Committee. Replacing windows and similar work would be considered building maintenance and should probably not be considered within the purview of the Committees work. Incidentally, it should be noted that several interviewees specifically noted that the Permanent Building Committee has been a very hard-working and successful committee in recent years. Formatting or Typographical In the track changes of version (a), there are three sets of edits that were made in 2005 (according to the edit dates). They are listed here with the new text bold and underlined, and the deleted text marked with a strike through:

There shall be a finance committee appointed by the moderator consisting of seven or nine members each of whom must reside in a different precinct from all other members having at least one member from each precinct. to be appointed by the moderator. There shall be a committee on rules consisting of seven or nine persons each of whom must reside in a different precinct from all other members., to be appointed by the moderator. having at least one member from each precinct. There shall be a committee on government regulations consisting of seven or nine persons at least one of whom shall be appointed by the moderator, each of whom must reside in a different precinct from all other members,. from each precinct for terms of three years, initially so arranged that as nearly an equal number of terms as possible shall expire each year.

In the new text, in version (a), two of these sections have periods in the middle of the sentences: members., to and members,.for It was not clear to Center staff whether these changes were formally adopted as charter changes, whether they were changes noted in the charter but made via by-law as provided, or whether they were added for some other reason. Section 8 Warrant Articles

(a) Initiation - Except for procedural matters, all subjects to be acted upon by the town meting shall be placed on warrants issued by the board of selectmen. The board of selectmen shall place on such warrants all subjects requested in writing by (1) any elected town officer or member of an elected multiple-member body: (2) any appointed multiple-member body acting by a majority of its members: (3) any ten or more voters: or (4) any appointed town officer or department head. All subject submitted to the board of selectmen under this section shall be placed on a warrant for the next town meeting, annual or special that shall occur forty-five or more days following the date of submission. (b) Publication Forthwith, following receipt by the board of selectmen of any subject for a town meeting warrant article, initiated by petition or by one or more members of the board of


selectmen, a copy of such subject shall be posted on the town bulletin board and otherwise distributed as may be provided by by-law. Additional copies shall be kept available by the town clerk

Policy The Center team thinks it is worth noting that the language here regarding who may place articles on the warrant is particularly broad, providing an unusually large number of sources of warrant articles. Despite that, there did not seem to be any sense among interviewees that this potential had been abused, so it does not appear any change is needed. Another policy issue raised was whether consideration should be given to obtain the costs of publication from persons submitting articles and/or whether consideration should be given to the Board of Selectmen in screening articles that are submitted. As a general matter, both of these ideas present some problems. While certainly charging fees is something Towns do when residents or others request specific services, recouping the costs of publication from article proposers would essentially mean charging residents to be part of the policy-making process itself. This seems to be antithetical to the democratic traditions of Massachusetts local government in general and town meeting in particular. Center staff were not aware of another town that takes this step. Similarly, giving the Board a veto over what articles make it on the ballot also would seem to be significant encroachment into the powers and responsibilities of Town Meeting. If there are problems with malicious, superfluous, or absurd warrant articles being submitted, a better way to deal with that might be to tighten the rules around the initial submission of articles as noted above. For example, restricting Town officials who can submit them to department heads would be ways to raise the bar on articles being submitted without potentially empowering the Board of Selectmen to dictate town meetings agenda. The number of signatures to put an article on the warrant is spelled out in Section 10 of Chapter 39 of the General Laws and cannot be changed: the selectmen shall insert in the warrant for the annual meeting all subjects the insertion of which shall be requested of them in writing by ten or more registered voters of the town and in the warrant for every special town meeting all subjects the insertion of which shall be requested of them in writing by one hundred registered voters or by ten per cent of the total number of registered voters of the town whichever number is the lesser. The selectmen shall call a special town meeting upon request in writing, of two hundred registered voters or of twenty per cent of the total number of registered voters of the town, whichever number is the lesser; such meeting to be held not later than forty-five days after the receipt of such request, and shall insert in the warrant therefor all subjects the insertion of which shall be requested by said petition Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical In version (a), the first sentence of sub-section (a) refers to town meting. Version (b) has the correct text (town meeting). In the second sentence of this sub-section, version (a) refers to subject when it should read subjects, as it does in version (b). Also in that sentence, version (a) appears to have colons in place of the semi-colons that would be more grammatically correct (and that appear in version (b)). In the final sentence of that sub-section in version (a), there is a comma missing after special. It is correct in version (b).


Finally, there is a period missing at the end of the last sentence of sub-section (b) in version (a). It is correct in version (b). Section 9 Referendum Procedure

(a) Effective Date of Final Votes - No final vote of a town meeting on any warrant article, except a vote to adjourn or dissolve or votes appropriating money for the payment of notes or bonds of the town and interest thereon becoming due within the then current fiscal year, or votes for the temporary borrowing of money in anticipation of revenue, or a vote declared by preamble by a two-thirds vote of the town meeting to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the peace, health, safety or convenience of the town, shall be operative until after the expiration of five days from the dissolution of the town meeting. If a petition is not filed within the said five days, the votes of the town meeting shall then become operative. b) Non-Final Votes - Any article disposed of by a vote to lay on the table or to postpone indefinitely or by other dilatory vote shall be deemed to have been rejected in the form in which it was presented or amended. (c) Referendum Petition If, within said five days a petition signed by not less than five percent of the voters containing their names and addresses is filed with the board of selectmen requesting that any question not yet operative as defined in (a) be submitted to the voters. then the operation of such vote shall be further suspended pending its determination as provided below. The board of selectmen shall within ten days after the filing of such petition, call a special election that shall be held within fourteen days after issuing the call for the purpose of presenting to the voters any such question. If, however, a regular or special election is to be held not more than thirty days following the date the petition is filed, the board of selectmen may provide that any such question be presented to the voters at the same election. (d) Referendum Election - All votes upon any question so submitted shall be taken by ballot, and the conduct of such election shall be in accordance with the provisions of law relating to elections. unless otherwise provided in this section. Any question so submitted shall be determined by a majority vote of the voters voting thereon, but no action of the town meeting shall be reversed unless at least twenty percent of the voters vote on the question. (e) Format of Questions - Any question so submitted shall be stated on the ballot in substantially the same language and form in which it was stated when presented by the moderator to the town meeting, as appears in the records of the clerk of the meeting.

Policy As best as Center staff was able to determine, this referendum procedure has not been used in the 27 years of the charters existence. For that reason, it is difficult to evaluate its effectiveness and necessity. [If there are examples, the Center would like to discuss with someone familiar with the situation to adjust this section.] Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical


In version (a), there is a period in the middle of the first sentence of the sub-section (c): voters. then Version (b) has a comma in its place, which is probably the correct punctuation. In version (a), there is a period in the middle of the first sentence of the sub-section (d): elections. unless Version (b) has a comma in its place, which is probably the correct punctuation.


REVIEW OF TEXT: ARTICLE 3: ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICERS Section 1 General Provisions

(a) Elective Offices - The offices to be filled by the voters shall be the board of selectmen, school committee, moderator, housing authority, board of library trustees, and such members of regional authorities or districts as may be established by statute, iterlocal agreement or otherwise. (b) Eligibility - Any voter shall be eligible to hold any elective town office. (c) Nomination Procedures - The number of signatures of voters required to place the name of a candidate for any town office on the official ballot for use at any town election shall be not less than fifty. (d) Election - The regular election of town officers shall be held annually on a date fixed by by-law. No preliminary elections shall be held. (e) Compensation - Election town officers shall receive for their services such compensation as may annually be provided for that purpose by appropriation of town meeting. (f) Coordination of Officers - Notwithstanding their election by the voters, the town officer named in this article shall be subject to the call of the board of selectmen, at all reasonable times, for consultation, conference and discussion on any matter relating to their respective offices.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical This is only a minor point, but one position on the five-member Housing Authority is not elected currently and cannot be elected. That position is reserved as a state appointment. The Town does have the authority to decide on the method of section of the four non-state-appointed members of the Authority. (This will be discussed further later.) Formatting or Typographical Version (a) of this document had typo in the word iterlocal in sub-section (a), but version (b) had the correct interlocal. Version (a) of this document had the word officer in the singular in sub-section (f), but version (b) had the correct plural officers. Section 2 Board of Selectmen

(a) Composition; Term of Office - There shall be a board of selectmen consisting of five members elected for three-year terms, so arranged that as nearly an equal number of terms as


possible shall expire each year. (b) Powers and Duties The executive powers of the town shall be vested in the board of selectmen. The board of selectmen shall have all of the powers and duties given to boards of selectmen under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth, and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the charter, by bylaw or by other town meeting vote. The board of selectmen shall cause the laws and orders for the government of the town to be enforced and shall cause a record of all its official acts to be kept. To administer its policies and aid the board in its official duties, the board of selectmen shall appoint a town manager, as provided in article 4. (c) Appointing Powers - The board of selectmen shall appoint the town manager, town counsel, town accountant and members of the historical commission, arts council, registrars of voters (but not the town clerk) and other election officers, constables and members of all appointed multiple member bodies for whom no other method of selection is provided by the charter or by by-law. (d) Licensing Authority - The board of selectmen shall be the license board of the town and shall have the power to issue licenses, to make all necessary rules and regulations regarding the issuance of such licenses and to attach such conditions and restrictions thereto as it deems to be in the public interest, and to enforce the laws relating to all businesses for which it issues licenses.

Policy One interviewee raised the issue of the Board of Selectmens powers and duties under this charter, noting that they had been significantly diminished so that their primary work seemed to be the one specific power enumerated in the charter other than their appointing powers, that of licensing authority. The Center does not believe that to be the case. The Board has a essential roles to play in hiring and supervising the Town Manager, appointing numerous other positions, boards, and committees, vetting and approving the appointment of key department heads, and essentially shaping the long-term planning and strategizing about a wide variety of aspects of the Towns future, among other responsibilities. The Center takes a position that the Board of Selectmen in a strong Town Manager town has a great opportunity to work on the longer-term policy and planning issues that Boards of Selectmen in towns with weak Town Managers or Town Administrators cannot get to due to being bogged down in day-to-day operations. Another issue raised was the filling of vacancies on the Board of Selectmen. One interviewee wondered whether it would be possible for the next highest vote-getter in the prior election could fill the vacancy, as an alternative to holding a special election, which is the method provided in Section 10 of Chapter 41 of the General Laws. On the one hand, it would be a way to avert the need for a time-consuming and potentially costly election, and it could ensure that the new Selectman was someone who was interested enough in being on the Board that he or she actively ran in a contested campaign. On the other hand, the voters of the Town had already indicated a preference for someone else, so that could be interpreted as a signal that the policies or issues that the person raised were not representative of the Town, so putting the person on the Board could contradict the will of the people. (In an extreme scenario, if the second person on the ballot were someone who was not a serious candidate and only received a handful of votes while the winner receives almost all the votes, the resulting situation could be risky.) The Center researched other examples of this method being used, but has not been able to find any at this time. In addition, some argue that the cost and inconvenience of a special


election should not be a major factor in determining how to choose the head of the Towns executive branch. If the vacancy occurs close enough to the next regular election, the Board could continue to operate with four members until that time. In short, the Center does not recommend the next highest vote-getter approach. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section.

Section 3 School Committee

(a) Composition: Term of Office - There shall be a school committee consisting of five members elected for three-year terms, so arranged that as nearly an equal number of terms as possible shall expire each year. (b) Powers and Duties - The school committee shall have all of the powers and duties school committees are given under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote. The powers of the school committee shall include but need not be limited to the following:

I. The school committee shall appoint a superintendent of the schools and all other officers and employees associated with the schools fix their compensation and define their duties, make rules concerning their tenure of office, and discharge them. 2. The school committee shall make all reasonable rules and regulations, consistent with law for the administration and management of the public schools of the town.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical Several interviewees asked about whether the 1993 education reform legislation supersedes Section 3(b)(1). Indeed, it partially does by moving some management authority to the Superintendent (from the School Committee). It is probably good for the charter provisions to reflect that change. For example, what follows is the text of one town charter that was adopted after the education reform legislation was enacted:

The school committee shall have all powers which are conferred on school committees by general laws and such additional powers and duties as may be provided by the charter, by-law or otherwise and consistent with said grant of powers conferred by general laws. The powers and duties of the school committee shall include the following:

(1) to elect a superintendent of the schools who shall be charged with the day-to-day administration of the school system, subject only to policy guidelines and directives


adopted by the school committee; (2) to make all reasonable rules and regulations for the management of the public school system and for conducting the business of the school committee as the committee deems necessary or desirable; and (3) to adopt and administer an annual operating budget for the school department, subject to appropriation by the town meeting.

The school committee shall have general charge and superintendence of all school buildings and grounds and shall furnish all school buildings with proper fixtures, furniture and equipment. The school committee shall provide ordinary maintenance of all school buildings and grounds; provided, however, that the town meeting may, by by-law, provide for the establishment of a central municipal maintenance department which may include maintenance of school buildings and grounds. Whenever the school committee shall determine that additional classrooms are necessary to meet the educational needs of the community, at least 1 member of the school committee, or a designee of the school committee, shall serve on the agency, board or committee to which the planning or construction of such new, remodeled or renovated school building is delegated.

Note that there are significant similarities to the language currently in Dracuts charter. The change mostly centers on the appointment of staff other than the Superintendent. Formatting or Typographical In version (a), sub-section (b)(1) appears to use a capital I instead of a 1, whereas the other section headers in the document (with the exception of the section 1 in other articles) use numbers. Version (b) uses 1. The Town should standardize this numbering. Additionally, there are differences in comma usage between versions (a) and (b). Version (b) has a comma after consistent with law in sub-section (b)(2), whereas version (a) does not. Of the two, version (b) is probably the better one grammatically.

Section 4 Town Accountant

There shall be a town accountant appointed by the board of selectmen for a three-year term.

Policy Several interviewees wondered whether the Board of Selectmen was the best appointment authority for the Town Accountant. Other suggestions included the Finance Director and the Town Manager, both of which would provide a tighter financial management team for the Town. On the other hand, some interviewees felt strongly that the current structure with regard to the Town Accountant works well and provides a check and balance on the Town Manager by not reporting to that office. There are certainly pros and cons to both approaches. On balance, however, the value of centralizing the financial management team and bringing the Town Accountant closely into that team makes a pretty strong case for the Town Accountant being an appointment of the Town Manager, perhaps subject to approval of the Board of Selectmen as provided for several other key department heads in Article 3, Section 2. If the Town did decide to move in that direction, it should also, via


the charter or the by-laws, provide that the Towns external audit be conducted by a firm retained by the Board of Selectmen in order to provide an additional check and balance. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section.

Section 5 Board of Assessors

(a) Composition; Term of Office - There shall be a board of assessors consisting of three members appointed by the manager for three-year terms, so arranged that one term shall expire each year. One of the assessors shall be a full time professionally qualified appraiser and shall serve as chairman of said board; the other members shall be part time. (b) Powers and Duties - The board of assessors shall annually make a valuation of all property, both real and personal, within the town. It shall have all of the powers and duties given to boards of assessors under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical Version (b) of sub-section (a) has a comma separating board and the in the final sentence, whereas version (a) above has a semi-colon, which is more correct.

Section 6 Board of Health

(a) Composition: Term of Office - There shall be a board of health consisting of three members appointed by the manager for three-year terms, so arranged that one term shall expire each year. (b) Powers and Duties - The board of health shall be responsible for the formulation and enforcement of rules and regulations affecting the environment and the public health. It shall have all of the powers and duties given to boards of health under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth, and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote.


Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical Version (a) has a colon in place of a colon in the header for sub-section (a): Composition: Term of Office. Version (b) has a semi-colon, which is both more correct and consistent with the remainder of the document.

Section 7 Board of Library Trustees

(a) Composition; Term of Office - There shall be a board of library trustees consisting of three members elected for three-year terms, so arranged so that one term shall expire each year. (b) Powers and Duties - The board of library trustees shall have the custody and management of the library and of all property of the town related thereto. All money raised or appropriated by the town for its support and maintenance shall be expended by the board and all money or property that the town may receive by gift or bequest shall be administered by the board in accordance with the provisions of such gift or bequest. The board of library trustees shall have all of the powers and duties given to boards of library trustees under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth, and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the charter, by bylaw or by other town meeting vote.

Policy There are no recommended policy changes to this section. Some towns have moved their library boards of trustees from elected to appointed, but raising that issue did not seem to draw much interest. Technical Although not reflected in the version of the charter provided, the Center team was told that the size of the Board has already been changed from three to five. This change appears to have been made in 2006. This change should be reflected in a revised charter. Formatting or Typographical Version (a) is missing a comma in the second sentence of sub-section (b) in between by the board and and all money. It is correctly included in version (b). Section 8 Moderator

(a) Term of Office - There shall be a moderator elected for a one- year term.


(b) Powers and Duties - The moderator, as provided in Art. 2, Sec. 3 shall preside and regulate the proceedings at all sessions of the town meeting and shall have all of the powers and duties given to moderators under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote.

Policy Several interviewees suggested that the Town consider increasing the Moderators term to three years. There are certainly many towns that have moderators with three-year terms. Stability in the moderators position can certainly assist a moderator in gaining the experience that is likely to improve performance at the main task, and making the commitment a three-year one could help ensure that only those candidates who were very serious about the position would run. By that same token, a three-term might turn off a potentially strong candidate who would be interested in doing the work for a year or two but would not want to commit to a longer term. Similarly, Dracuts Moderator position has significant appointment powers, so putting one person into the position for three years at a time could affect the appointments made to committees. The Center has no strong recommendation on this topic but encourages the Town to consider the pros and cons, and perhaps to look at the historical competitiveness of elections for the position. Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section. Section 9 Planning Board

(a) Composition; Term of Office - There shall be a planning board consisting of five members appointed by the manager for three-year terms, so arranged that as nearly an equal number of terms as possible shall expire each year. (b) Powers and Duties - The planning board shall make studies and prepare plans concerning the resources, possibilities and needs of the town. The planning board shall have the power to regulate the sub-division of land within the town by the adoption of rules and regulations governing such development. The planning board shall annually report to the town manager giving information regarding the condition of the town and any plans or proposals known to it affecting the resources, possibilities and needs of the town. The planning board shall have all of the powers and duties given to planning boards under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth, and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote.

Policy


Several interviewees felt that the Associate member of the Planning Board should be allowed to vote on all matters before the Board when there is not a quorum of full members, not just special permits. There have been situations when the Board lacked a quorum, but when the participation of the Associate could have created a quorum and allowed a meeting and/or hearing to proceed. [Please note that the Center is currently researching examples of how other towns have handled this issue.] Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section. Section 10 Housing Authority

(a) Composition; Term of Office - There shall be a housing authority consisting of five members. Four members shall be chosen by ballot; the fifth member shall be a resident of the town, appointed by the department of community affairs or as otherwise provided by law. Housing authority members shall serve five-year terms, so arranged that one term shall expire each year. (b) Powers and Duties - The housing authority shall have all of the powers and duties given to housing authorities under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth, and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote.

Policy Several interviewees raised the issue of the elected status of the Housing Authority, noting that there have been issues with the Authority that could not be addressed because of its independently elected status and wondering whether there are ways to bring them closer to the rest of Town government. (It should be noted that issues raised were not of the type in the media lately surrounding some Massachusetts local housing authorities. They were about policy-making and effectiveness.) There have been a number of towns that converted their elected Housing Authority positions to appointed ones, and Center staff believe that this approach can serve some communities very well. However, the Center does not believe it is appropriate to make a recommendation about the method of selection for the four currently-elected positions on the Housing Authority in Dracut (the fifth position is always appointed by the state). The Center does have a methodology it provides to towns considering the elected or appointed status of positions. It is contained in the chart provided below.

Framework for considering elected and appointed offices

Criteria supporting a position or board being ***ELECTED***

Criteria supporting a position or board being ***APPOINTED***

1. It has significant policy-making responsibility. 1. It has minimal policy-making responsibility.

2. It has few ministerial responsibilities and tasks whose performance is guided almost entirely by statute.

2. It has many ministerial responsibilities and tasks whose performance is guided almost entirely by statute.

3. Someone with little training or expertise in its 3. Someone with little training or expertise in its


area of work could quickly and easily become effective in the work.

area of work would have significant difficulty in performing the work effectively, potentially creating significant risks for the community.

4. Its role and tasks are easily and widely understood by the public.

4. Its role and tasks are complicated and NOT easily and widely understood by the public.

5. The nature of the position or boards role makes it relatively simple for the public to evaluate the performance of its non-policy-making duties (for example, efficient use of resources, etc.).

5. The nature of the position or boards role makes it relatively difficult for the public to evaluate the performance of its non-policy-making duties (for example, efficient use of resources, etc.).

6. The position or board is helpful as a check or balance against another center of power in the community.

6. The position or board is not needed as a check or balance against another center of power in the community.

7. It is not critical to the effective and efficient functioning of the government for this position or board to cooperate regularly with other officials.

7. It is critical to the effective and efficient functioning of the government for this position or board to cooperate regularly with other officials.

8. In the particular community in question, election for the position historically produces a very competitive race between highly-qualified candidates.

8. In the particular community in question, election for the position historically produces little or no competition and few or no highly-qualified candidates.

Technical The reference to the department of community affairs as the appointing authority for the fifth member of the Authority is out of date. The Town should consider changing the language. Examples of alternatives that would be an improvement include: (1) the fifth member shall be a resident of the town and shall be appointed as the laws of the commonwealth provide. Or (2) the fifth member shall be a resident of the town and shall be appointed by the Commonwealth. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section.


REVIEW OF TEXT: ARTICLE 4: TOWN MANAGER Section 1 Appointment; Qualifications; Term

The board of selectmen shall appoint a town manager without term and fix his compensation within the amount annually appropriated for that purpose. The office of town manager shall not be subject to a personnel by-law, if any. The town manager shall be appointed solely on the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications. He shall be a professionally qualified person of proven ability, especially fitted by education, training and previous experience. He shall have had five years of full-time paid experience as a city or town manager or assistant city or town manager or the equivalent level private sector experience. The terms of the manager's employment shall be the subject of a written agreement setting forth his compensation, vacation, sick leave benefits, and such other matters excluding tenure as are customarily included. He shall not have served in an elective or appointive office in the town government for at least five years prior to his appointment. He shall devote full time to the office and shall not hold any other public office, elective or appointive, nor engage in any other business or occupation during his term.

Policy One issue raised several times about this section was the restriction on a new Town Manager not having been in an appointive office in the Town for at least five years prior to appointment. Many town charters have restrictions on elected officials becoming the Town Manager, but few have restrictions on appointive officials becoming the Town Manager. The logic in favor of prohibiting appointed officials from becoming Town Manager is that forces the Town to bring in an outsider, someone with a new perspective and ideas drawn from experiences in other municipalities or organizations. It also prevents a politically-connected insider from being appointed, although probably not to the extent the prohibition on elective officials does. At the same time, it may remove some internal political infighting by preventing multiple people within the Town from jockeying for the position. Yet set against those arguments, the logic for removing the prohibition may be stronger. To begin with, there are many organizations across all sectors (including governmental entities) that work very hard to build institutional knowledge, particularly among the organizations leaders. To explicitly prevent someone with experience in the organization from taking over leadership of it not only weakens the direct institutional knowledge that could be gained by having a long-time employee in charge, but it may trickle down the hierarchy, discouraging others from taking positions in the municipality or staying in them. The competition for highly-skilled and experienced department heads and municipal managers is going to grow tougher in the coming years, which may only increase the value of producing home grown managers with experience and commitment to the community. Finally, there is a broader principle worth noting here that relates to putting restrictions in the charter. Although this is somewhat of an obvious statement, once a restriction is in the charter, the Town cannot change it without changing the charter. However, a restriction that is not in the charter can be made by a by-law, which leaves more flexibility, or even more simply in this case by a particular Board of Selectmen that is hiring a Town Manager not choosing a Town employee because they want to bring in someone from the outside. Essentially, the only reason to put a restriction like this one in is the belief is that future Boards will for some reason be unable or unwilling to choose an outsider if a current employee is competing. Failing that, it may be best to leave this decision to the Boards discretion.


Technical There are no recommended technical edits to this section. Formatting or Typographical There are no recommended formatting or typographical edits to this section. Section 2 Powers and Duties

The town manager shall be the chief administrative officer of the town and shall be responsible to the board of selectmen for the proper administration of all town affairs placed in his charge by or under the charter. He shall have the following powers and duties: (a) He shall supervise and be responsible for the efficient administration of all functions under his control, as may be authorized by the charter, by by-law, by other town meeting vote or by the board of selectmen, including all officers appointed by him and their respective departments. (b) He shall appoint, and may remove subject to the civil service laws where applicable the conservation commission, fence viewers, industrial development finance committee, industrial redevelopment authority, personnel board, recreation commission, redevelopment authority, street lighting committee, zoning and building boards of appeals, all department heads, all officers and all subordinates and employees for whom no other method of appointment is provided in the charter, except persons serving under other elected agencies and appointments made by representatives of the Commonwealth. The town manager's appointment of the police chief, fire chief, highway surveyor, part superintendent, tree warden and dog officer shall be subject to the approval by the board of selectmen. (c) He shall be entrusted with the administration of all personnel policies, practices and related matters for all municipal employees as established by any compensation plan, personnel policy guide or by-law, and all collective bargaining agreements entered into by the board of selectmen on behalf of the town. (d) He shall fix the compensation of all town officers and employees appointed by him within the limits established by appropriations and any compensation plan adopted by the town meeting. (e) He shall attend all regular and special meetings of the board of selectmen, except meetings at which his own removal is to be discussed, unless excused at his own request, and shall have a voice, but no vote, in all discussions. (f) He shall attend all sessions of the town meetings and shall answer all questions directed to him that are related to this office. (g) He shall see that all of the provisions of the general laws, the charter, of the by-laws and other town meeting votes and of the board of selectmen that require enforcement by him or officers, employees subject to his direction and supervision are faithfully carried out.


(h) He shall prepare and submit a proposed annual operating budget and a proposed capital improvement program as provided in article 6. (i) He shall assure that a full and complete record of the financial and administrative activities of the town is kept and shall render, a full report to the board of selectmen at the end of each fiscal year, and at such other times as may be required. (j) He shall keep the board of selectmen fully informed as to the financial condition and needs of the town and shall make such recommendations to the board of selectmen as he deems necessary or expedient. (k) He shall have full jurisdiction over the rental and use of town facilities, except schools and properties designated by by-law or other town meeting vote. He shall be responsible for the maintenance and repair of all town property, which he designated to be under his control or by the charter, by by-law or by other town meeting vote. (l) He may at any time inquire into the conduct of any office employee or department under his control. (m) He shall keep a full and complete inventory of all property of substantial value belonging to the town, both real and personal. (n) He shall be responsible for the negotiation of all contracts involving any subject within his jurisdiction and approve the awarding thereof. (0) He shall be responsible for purchasing all supplies, materials and equipment, except those items which fall under the school committee budget and shall approve the award of all contracts for a departments and activities of the town. He shall examine and inspect or cause to be examined and inspected, the quality, quantity and conditions of materials, supplies or equipment delivered to or receive by any town agency. He may examine services performed for any town agency secured through the purchasing procedure. (p) He shall perform any other duties required of him by the charter, by by-law, by other town meeting vote or by the board of selectmen.

Policy Several interviewees commented on the Town Managers hiring authority in section (b). In particular, there was some feeling that several department heads should have appointment authority over their subordinates, rather than the Town Manager having that authority. This applied primarily to the police and fire departments. With regard to the fire department in particular, it was raised that the 1985 charter created some ambiguity or even potential contradiction in the authority over hiring of deputy chiefs and subordinates. The Town of Dracut accepted the strong chief statutes (Sections 42, 43, and 44 of Chapter 48 of the General Laws) for the fire department at the annual town meeting in 1957. This would put the hiring of all department staff under the control of the fire chief. Contrarily, section (b) above seems to place that authority with the Town Manager. On the one hand, the language in the 1985 charter would seem to supersede the acceptance of the earlier statutes. On the other hand, section 1 of article 8 of the charter leaves it such that [a]ll general laws, special


laws, town by-laws, town meeti

Documents

A Report on the Charter of the Town of Dracut.11.27.12