|Noreen Williams|
At its sixth regular meeting on September 27th, the Charter Commission heard reports and began to review in initial draft sections of the charter.
Public comment. The only public comment was an email from George Colby who reminded the commission that they should not be making policy based on comments from four or five people when there are over 4500 registered voters in the town.
Chairs report. Chair Ben Tettlebaum said he welcomed public comments on his role as facilitator for the commission through email (ngchartercommission@gmail.com).
Ben has spoken with the school superintendent Dr. King who is able to attend the October 25th meeting. Several questions were raised. Steve Libby asked if New Gloucester changed their School Board elections to November (as previously discussed) would that impact the Gray School Board elections. Linda Chase wondered if the New Gloucester Water District elections might also be changed. The second person able to attend the October 25th meeting is Mitch Berkowitz who has extensive government experience as a town manager and in Cumberland County boards. The commission agreed to having both of these speakers. Steve Libby will speak at the October 11th meeting concerning the budget process which is the week before the commission takes up the budget process.
Treasurers report. Steve Libby reported that they need to address the Fiscal Year 2023 budget by early October if the commission thinks that will be needed (above the $10,000 already budgeted). Steve drafted a budget and this will be discussed at the next meeting.
Public Engagement Committee. Penny Hilton talked about working on text and a design for the direct mailer. Peter Bragdon suggested the use of a professional graphic designer he knows to save time with the design which could then be printed at the town hall or elsewhere. Ben and Penny spoke about basic informational sessions that would be open to the town including one on Zoom. These meetings would be in the question and answer format. Penny and the Public Engagement Committee will work on an outline for the sessions and find possible dates.
Discussion of the first section of the Charter draft. The group briefly reviewed relevant survey responses from the Charter Committee. Steve Libby and Peter Bradgon presented their first draft on the beginning of the charter. The preamble came from Linda Chase and is in as a placeholder until later review. A short history of New Gloucester was included which was largely based on the one on the town website as reviewed and edited by Tom Blake. A number of edits were suggested. Ben wondered whether the history should be included and most felt it should be. Ben also asked whether the history should include the Wabanaki who were here before the European settlers arrived. Don Libby thought it depended on the intent of the history. John Salisbury thought starting at incorporation of the town was good for the purpose of the charter. Ben felt that the language of the current history is not very welcoming of the Wabanaki and they might view this history very differently. This led to some discussion about the use of Wabanaki vs. “Indian” and what is known about the inhabitants of this area before Europeans arrived. Peter Bragdon felt that they were there to write a charter not history. Some suggested that they return this history section to Tom Blake (town historian) for any editing. Ben suggested that they might have a historian from the Wabanaki come speak to the commission as an opportunity to learn. The commission will revisit this later.
The rest of the draft was discussed section by section.
There was considerable discussion over the use of a statement “The government of the Town of New Gloucester under this Charter has been formed under the “Town Manager Plan” as authorized by State law”. John felt the “as authorized by state law” should be removed since the charter covers this. Others felt it was needed and is present in many charters. Steve Libby suggested it be highlighted for the legal to look over. Ben also suggested that some of the legal jargon be removed in the later wordsmithing phase to make it easier to understand.
The town meeting was the focus of the next several sections of the draft charter. Penny wondered whether it would be useful to list (bullet points) the possible subjects that could be considered at the town meetings. Others thought that might be limiting of what could be discussed. Other issues discussed more extensively concerned setting dates for special elections and the way voters can call a “special” meeting based on a percent of voters at the previous election. In the latter case John felt that the percentage should be specified and Steve Libby thought listing the current state statute was sufficient. This led to a more general discussion of how much detail should be included. John thought enough information should be included so people don’t have to go searching out statutes. In this case the section will be amended by Steve Libby to include the specific state statute while John Salisbury will amend the text to include more information. Both versions will be discussed later.
The issue of whether voters should be able to increase a budget was raised. In the past that has been possible but more recently (last 25 years) that has not been allowed at town meeting. Steve Hathorne wondered why given that “it is the people’s budget” and he felt perhaps they should have the power to raise it. Don Libby said he used to feel that the people should be able to increase the budget but over time has changed his mind. A budget can be decreased in any increment but must be voted down and brought back to increase the budget. The example given was the recent library budgetary issues.
The next issue discussed was town bonds. Steve Libby and Peter suggested that the bond amount would be set at the town meeting and then sent to a referendum which takes 60 days. This could be a problem because of the need for a special election or if they have to act quickly. Bond issues could be brought to the town meeting to educate on what is to be voted on and then taken to referendum. One suggestion by Steve Hathorne was that the time of the vote might be written into warrant article.
John suggested a cumulative debt limit. Steve Libby reminded them that the town auditor recommends a limit based on complete information not all of which is available to the public. Don Libby wanted to know why the report is not easily available to the people.
Steve Libby was concerned about the Select Board lumping sections of the budget together which he felt could allow shuffling of the funds within the lumped group. Don wondered whether the warrants could be written so that the money stays where the voters intended. John asked why the budget articles are not presented by department. Don says this lumping was done in the past to speed town meetings. Penny felt the current reporting makes it difficult to see what a given department really costs.
Steve Libby added a section concerning the purchase of items which have trade-in value. He thought they are presented to the voters as a certain cost but that number may include a trade-in and actually allows a higher amount to be spent. Peter Bragdon said he had questioned this practice in the past as well. The proposed language says the gross purchase cost should be presented and the trade-in goes back to the town.
Draft sections remaining and who will be drafting them.
Town Manager: John and Linda
Budget: Peter and Steve Libby
Tax administration: John
Boards and Committees: Don and Penny
Elections: Mike and Ben
Town Meetings: Peter and Steve Libby (discussed today)
Initiative, referendum, and recall: Steve Hathorne and Steve Libby
Public Information, conflict of interest, and general provisions: Don and Penny
Next meeting. October 11, 2021 in the Town Meetinghouse. Agenda items include: Reports, Draft, Budget, Survey and Direct mailer, and Steve Libby’s presentation
Comments may be emailed to the Commission at ngchartercommission@gmail.com. Community members may also speak during public comment at the start of each meeting.
For more information.
Agenda and information package : https://www.newgloucester.com/vertical/Sites/%7BE9FFB5A1-D5A9-41DE-A9D8-FCFBE460957E%7D/uploads/Agenda_Packet_NG_Charter_Commission_2021_09_27_Sixth_Regular_Meeting.pdf
Link to Video of the meeting: https://newgloucester.viebit.com/player.php?hash=3shyHCUvWNHu
