Opinion

Charter is the right path: Vote Yes

| Penny Hilton: Letter to the Editor |

Dear NG Voters,

Do you remember why we wanted a Charter in the first place? It was to assure a recall process and term limits, and to get the rules for our town government written down and available to the public. Vote YES for the Charter on November 8, and we’ll have all three.

Among other good changes will be:
• Big ticket items, bonding, and ordinances will require ballot votes for approval.
• Select Board liaisons will be non-voting members of town committees.
• If an article fails at town meeting, the Select board is required to make changes and bring it back for a vote. (If this had been in place a couple of years ago, our library would never have closed, with all the subsequent repercussions.)
• Upon institution of the Charter, within the first year, the Select Board will be required: 
— to see that a complete Administrative Code is created and made available to the public; and
— to come up with, and make public, a standard process for committee appointments.
And in 5 years, there MUST be another Charter Commission – 3 members appointed, and 6 elected, per state law – to review how it has worked and make revisions, with citizen input. The importance of this requirement is huge:  it guarantees the public time to discern what else needs to be changed, and time to create support for those changes.

This Charter gets us on the right path and promises that the path will continue. Please vote Yes on the Charter on November 8.

Sincerely,
Penny Hilton, Former Charter Commissioner

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