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Charter petition effort needs more signatures … pronto!

Another option is to contact either Steve Hathorne at 210-5423 or John Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcast.net by Sunday, June 21, to make arrangements to sign. Additionally, anyone interested in becoming a petition circulator should contact John Salisbury for a blank petition right away.

The group New Gloucester Citizens for a Town Charter is into the homestretch on collecting the required number of signatures on a petition to put the question of establishing a charter commission (the first step in the process) on the ballot this November.

If New Gloucester citizens vote to create a charter commission, a group of 6 elected and 3 appointed commissioners will draft a document outlining the structure and procedures of the town. Afterward, citizens will have a chance to vote on adopting the document, or not. The goal of having a Town Charter is to provide consistent and open government.

Last year, the question was defeated by a razor-thin margin. With the large voter turnout expected this November, we deemed it important to put the question before New Gloucester voters again in hopes of getting a definitive answer. In our effort so far, we have been really pleased to get signatures from residents of varying demographics and political perspectives.

The magic number is 600 signatures; and, as of Thursday, June 18, the number of signatures totals 547. If you are a NG registered voter who hasn’t signed the petition yet, you could help us meet our goal. How?

Members of the group will be staffing a table at the NG transfer station this Saturday, June 20, so you can get rid of your household trash and sign a petition during the same dump run.