The Charter Revision Commission is expected to complete its draft proposals this week, and with the aim of making revisions that make sense and will pass muster with local residents the recommendations are limited to a few.
Commission Chairman Matt Grimes said this has been a streamlined process with limited proposals because the town’s history has been one of too many proposed revisions that then do not pass muster with the voters.
The Board of Selectmen’s charge just after the first of the year was to consider automatic bifurcation of the municipal and education budgets, with the commission leaning toward a process similar to Newtown where the budgets pass or fail independently. The charter would also include advisory questions of too high, too low and adequate.
The selectmen also suggested the commission consider whether there might be a way to recall elected officials who are deemed unworthy of office for various reasons, but that was found to not be legal by state statute.
The commission is considering allowing the town’s elected land-use agenices to fill their own vacancies similar to other elected board. The commission is also considering whether or not to make the Police Commission an elected rather than appointed board and whether to change the composition of the Board of Finance from six to seven members.
The one new proposal is expected to be a recommendation for an elected town moderator once every four years beginning in the 2015 municipal election.
A public hearing on the commission proposals is scheduled for April 23 and then the charter revisions will be forwarded to the Board of Selectmen to begin their review process, which will also include a public hearing.
The intention is to have the revisions on the November ballot.