HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-03-25 ad Hoc Charter Review Committee MinutesAd Hoc Charter Review Committee Meeting
March 25, 2004
The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Conference Room, 16 Lowell Street,
Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman George Hines, Members Bill Griset, Chuck
Robinson, Glen Hartzler and Bill Brown. Also present were Town Counsel John Gannon and
Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner.
Mr. Brown moved to approve the minutes of the March 11, 2004 meeting, and the motion was
seconded by Mr. Hartzler. After Mr. Hartzler corrected the last paragraph of p.2 to read "...there
shall be a Commission of Trust Funds consisting of five members...", the motion to approve the
minutes was approved 4-0-1 (Mr. Griset abstaining).
The committee then discussed a citizen request that the Town Meeting election system be
changed to a hybrid district-at large system.
Mr. Brown moved to require a minimum of ten votes for a write-in candidate to be elected, and
Mr. Robinson seconded the motion. The committee voted 5-0 on this motion.
Mr. Brown moved (seconded by Mr. Robinson) regarding Sec. 3.8 to approve the concept of
removing ad-hoc committee appointments from the 15 day posting/ 28 day delay rule, and this
motion was approved 5-0.
The committee proceeded to continue review of the Charter starting with Article 5 - Town
Manager. The following changes were agreed to:
Section 5-1, line 2 strike "office of so that the sentence reads "the Town Manager shall not be
subject to a personnel bylaw if any."
Section 5-1, Paragraph 2 change the wording "during his term" to "while serving as Town
Manager."
In this section, there was considerable discussion as to whether or not the Town Manager's
position should have a term. The current Town Manager indicated that it may make recruiting
for a new Town Manager difficult. He felt that the current Town Manager should be exempt
from any such language if the Charter is changed. This issue will be brought before the Board of
Selectmen for a review.
Section 5-2, Powers and Duties In Paragraph D, the term Civil Defense Director will be
eliminated in two locations.
Section 5-213 The word "any" is repeated.
Section 5-5 There was considerable discussion on Section D Severance. Town Counsel will - -
review modifications which would increase the maximum severance from three months to
Charter Review Committee Meeting - March 25, 2004 - Page 2
perhaps six months but there will be no severance for termination for cause. The current Town
Manager suggested that any change in the severance provisions not apply to the incumbent or
current Town Manager. Other suggestions were just to take some of this language out of the
Charter.
Article 6 The Town Manager will review and come up with proposed language on Section 6-1
through 6-3 dealing with administrative organization.
The committee talked about their next meeting on April 7, 2004 and agreed to postpone
discussion on Section 6-4 until that time. That discussion will be taken up first thing and
particularly the discussion on building maintenance.
Section 6-5 Town Counsel, under Powers and Duties Section B, the term counsel will be
changed to "advise". There were no other corrections in Section 6.
The committee set its next meeting for April 7th, April 22nd and May 5th.
On motion by Brown seconded by Griset, the Charter Review Advisory Committee voted
to adjourn their meeting of March 25, 2004 at 9:03 p.m. by a vote of 5-0-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Secretary