Committee Charge

Governance Study Committee

MISSION STATEMENT
The Select Board, at its meeting on May 25, 2021, voted to establish the Governance Study
Committee to advise the Select Board on matters related to the governance structure of the Town.
The mission of the Governance Study Committee is to review the current Town bylaws and to
recommend changes in governance to reflect best practices to assure effective and equitable processes
for reaching decisions with regard to policies and the delivery of public services.  

In July 2023, the Select Board charge the committee with the study of and to make recommendations that assure thorough deliberation and voter participation in the decisions regarding governance structures in the following specific areas:

  1. Complete research and recommend an article providing for the basis and process for Select Board removal of appointed members of boards and committees; 
  2. Complete research and recommend an article providing for the basis and process for voters to petition to recall an elected official; and,
  3. Consider a by-law to codify the term (3 years), powers and duties of Town Moderator, and restrict moderator from serving in any other elected office.

BACKGROUND
The formation of the committee is based on the idea that a comprehensive study of Town
government is necessary now more than a decade after the last effort that took the form of a charter
proposal that was defeated at the 2010 Annual Town Election. The Town has experienced
demographic changes and enhanced governance structures through by-law changes to assure best
practices managing the Town's finances and infrastructure. A number of the initiatives that were
included in the November 9, 2009 charter proposal have been addressed as separate items at Town
Meetings in the past decade:

  • The name of the governing board was changed from Board of Selectmen to Select Board.
  • The number of members of the School Committee was increased from six to seven at the 2017 Annual Town Meeting.
  • The Town established a Master Plan Committee that produced a master plan of conservation and development for the Town in 2019.
  • The Standing Building Committee, the Priorities Committee and Capital Outlay Committee were formalized and policies and procedures put in place to provide effective long-range financial and infrastructure planning.
  • Town general and zoning by-laws were updated and re-codified by vote of the 2017 Annual Town Meeting.

Some of the remaining items discussed during the charter process have been the topics of
intermittent conversations over the past several years including whether to appoint rather than elect
the Town Clerk, Board of Assessors, Library Trustees or Planning Board, the specific duties of the
Finance Committee in relation to warrant articles and fiscal oversight, and updating the personnel
by-law to reflect changes in employment law and to adopt best practices, the by-law for which has
not been evaluated or revised since at least at least 1990 and was not part of the general and zoning
by-law recodification approved at the 2017 Annual Town Meeting.

UPDATED COMMITTEE COMPOSITION

The committee shall be comprised of up to nine (9) voting members appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the Select Board for a term ending not later than February 28, 2024. The Select Board shall designate one (1) of the members to serve as the committee chair.

UPDATED COMMITTEE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND DURATION
The committee shall file an interim written report to the Select Board with recommendations on these items no later than November 30, 2023. Final recommendations shall be delivered by January 18, 2024 to the Select Board for consideration so that articles may be inserted into the May 2024 Annual Town Meeting Warrant.