Government Spotlight

Charter Commission sets cooperative tone at organizational meeting

Penny Hilton, Linda Chase, Steve Hathorne, and Peter Bragdon vote

|Debra Smith|

Getting started
The nine members of the New Gloucester Charter Commission met for the first time on June 28th in the Meetinghouse. Town manager Christine Landes had put together a proposed agenda to get them started. After brief introductions, the first item was to elect officers. Ben Tettlebaum was unanimously elected chair and John Salisbury vice-chair. Penny Hilton declined to accept nomination as secretary. This led to a discussion of the responsibilities of secretary, with Tettlebaum making a distinction between taking meeting minutes and other duties as clerk with an eye to procedure, public hearings and documents. He suggested seeking staff support or finding a community volunteer to take minutes, and the rest of the members agreed. Peter Bragdon will be interim secretary (and note taker), and Landes will consult with staff to see if someone is willing to take on preparing meeting minutes, using some of the commission’s budget to cover time. While not required, the commission also agreed to include a treasurer position, and Steve Libby agreed to take this on.

The group moved on to accept the proposed agenda, with the addition of a discussion of process added as the next item. Tettlebaum spoke to the role of chair, explaining that he sees himself as facilitator, working for all and striving to be objective, thorough and efficient. “Hold me and each other to account and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he encouraged. He then asked each member to introduce themselves, why they were interested in serving on the commission and how they view the purpose of the commission. Members spoke about wanting to serve the town, enjoying working with people, needing clear rules and processes and making sure interests of all of the community are represented.

Peter Bragdon spoke of the need to ”set clear guidelines and processes for the town.”

“The town is growing,” remarked Penny Hilton. “It’s getting too big to manage on history… We need processes and rules so that the public can trust town government.”

Steve Libby commented that “we need to differentiate between what’s broke and what we want… to fix what’s broke, and make sure that what we want truly serves the entire community.”

Don Libby called the charter “one of the most important documents that guides the future of the town. We could make or break the town in how we go forward with this.”

Tettlebaum concluded the round of comments, saying “I believe in public service. I thought this would be an interesting and enjoyable process. …. To form the best government possible to serve the interests of the town.”

Mike Arata looks on as Steve Libby offers a comment

Decision-making through consensus
Tettlebaum proposed that at least initially, the commission strive for consensus. “It will force us to listen to each other… and to work for what’s best for the town.”  Steve Hathorne moved to adopt Robert’s Rules wholesale, which led to a discussion of the importance of discussion. Linda Chase suggested that this could be addressed in the agenda by including “’Discussion on… motion on’… This would allow flexibility and a more iterative process.” The adoption of Robert’s Rules wholesale was unanimously voted down. The process for reaching consensus was debated, and there seemed to be agreement that the commission would first work toward consensus. If unsuccessful, the question could be put to the public, and then brought back to the group to try again to reach consensus. If that failed, then it would go to a super-majority vote (6 of 9). Adding an item to the agenda at the start of a meeting would also require a super majority. These guidelines were approved 9-0: the group‘s first consensus decision.

Tettlebaum suggested that Robert’s Rules could be used for motions, following a discussion. He also suggested drawing on pertinent Robert’s Rules for rules of conduct/ decorum among the members, including (paraphrased): not closing debate until everyone has had a chance to speak, no personal attacks on another member, confining statements and remarks to the pending topic, not attacking another member’s motives, not speaking on prior items that have been finalized, and no outlandish behavior. The group agreed to these. The group also agreed that a quorum will be 6 of 9 (50% plus 1). John Salisbury suggested documenting the rationale for each decision made by the commission.

Budget
The commission has a budget of $10,000 for its first year and $5,000 for the second. This will cover costs from photocopying to space rental and legal review. The statute requires legal review of the final product, noted Tettlebaum, but he suggested that the most cost-effective approach would involve getting an attorney involved early to help resolve conflicts and to ensure that the draft is consistent with state law. Steve Hathorne suggested hiring Scott Seaver, former North Yarmouth town manager, as a consultant on the “nuts and bolts” of developing a charter, but others felt it would be best to invite professional expertise as needed.

Public input
John Salisbury suggested setting up an email address that residents could use to send comments and questions to the whole group. The shared email idea raised some questions legally, but having an address that went to a staff member, then to the commission members, would work. The statute only requires one public meeting, but there’s a lot of flexibility in regard to process. The commission’s agendas will include public comment at the start of a meeting, and may shift later to inviting comments at the time that an item is being discussed. It might also consider holding public hearings at intervals to hear from community members. Minutes will be available on the town website, and the library will be asked to assist patrons who’d like to read the documents.

Peter Bragdon makes a point

Schedule
The first public hearing will take place on July 21st, which will include information about charters.  The commission will meet the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, with the target of completing a draft by March 2022.

Homework
Commission members were tasked by the chair to look at some existing charters that have the same current form of town government as New Gloucester (town meeting, select board and town manager), and at least one that has a different structure, and identify one or two that could serve as a decent template for the commission’s work.

The video of this meeting can be viewed here.

Videos of past informational sessions on town charters can be viewed here and here.

Commission chair Ben Tettlebaum collects meeting materials | photos: Joanne Cole