HomeMy WebLinkAboutTGSCminutes20050926Town Government Study Committee
Draft Minutes, September 26, 2005
Land Bank Office
Call to Order. The fifth meeting of the Town Government Study Committee was
called to order at 4:00 pm by Chairman Allen Reinhard. Attending were members
Gardner, Lohmann, Reinhard, Sevrens and Willauer; Topham absent. Guests
present were invited consultant Tom Groux, and Barnes, Beck, Graziadei,
Lancaster, Sherman.
Minutes. The minutes of the September 12 meeting were approved. After some
discussion it was agreed to e-mail draft minutes to members, allow a couple of
days to respond, then, in the interest of fostering communication, distribute the
draft to interested members of the public even before official approval at the next
meeting. Contact information was exchanged.
Meeting Schedule. The meeting schedule of second and fourth Mondays was
agreed upon: October 10th and 24th, November 14th and 28th, and December 12th.
It was suggested not to meet December 23rd, but to try to schedule three meeting
in January.
Additional attendees. Member Miller and guest Marcavitch arrived during the
meeting.
Introduction of Mr. Groux. Reinhard introduced Tom Groux, who reviewed his
extensive experience in municipal governance and the offerings of his consulting
service to local governments. Mr. Groux had reviewed Nantucket's charter and
commented favorably on its foresight and thoroughness. He felt that no drastic
rewrite was necessary, but that fine-tuning could be accomplished by action of
Town Meeting and ballot questions, not requiring returning to the State
Legislature. However, a change in the size of the Board of Selectmen or in the
terms of the Selectmen and Administrator would require legislative approval, as
would a change to a representative form of Town Government.
There followed extensive discussion among committee members, guests and Mr.
Groux. Some of the points touched upon:
- The Charter provides the benefits of Home Rule.
- Nantucket is unique in the combination of Town and County government
charters.
- Certain elected boards can be changed under the charter to appointed boards
without seeking state approval. [The HDC, however, created by special
legislation, is not governed by the charter. Likewise with the NP&EDC].
- The difference between a Town Administrator and a Town Manager is in the
specific empowerments granted by the charter, rather than in the title. This the
voters can change by ballot.
- The Board of Selectmen can add to the responsibilities of the Administrator, but
not remove any empowerment granted by the voters under the charter.
- Although the Town and County Charters provide for overlapping
responsibilities of the Board of Selectmen and the County Commissioners, as
well as the Administrator, the question was raised whether this committee's
charge include the County Charter as well as the Town Charter, since Town
Meeting does not have authority over the County.
- With many major issues before the town, and many different bodies involved,
it may be necessary to provide some mechanism for key actors to coordinate
communication, policies and actions. [This is currently done sometimes for large
projects, but not always]. For example a "Project Oversight Group" as an
umbrella to review community development, capital projects, etc.
- Enforcement of town policies and professional responses should be
strengthened to protect the community.
- Groux suggested that a provision for initiating and approving structural
reorganization when needed be added to the charter.
Reinhard thanked Mr. Groux, who, along with member Miller, left the meeting
at this time.
Statutory distinctions. Reinhard had distributed a memo from Town
Administrator Gibson clarifying the differences between Executive Secretary,
Town Administrator, and Town Manager. Together with Mr. Groux's comments
this seemed to settle the question for the committee. Currently the Board of
Selectmen has veto power over appointments made by the administrator, but not
approval power. There was some discussion of the role of the administrator and
the chair of the Selectmen in setting the Board's agenda.
Mission Statement. There was brief discussion of the draft mission statement,
including suggestions submitted by Mr. Sherman. It was suggested to include
review of county governance in our mission statement and ask the Board of
County Commissioners to ratify it. Reinhard asked members to review and
consider the draft, taking the time to perfect the wording.
Next Meeting. With time running out, discussion of Article IV of the Town
Charter, as well as the mission statement, was postponed until the next meeting,
which will be Monday, October 10 at the Land Bank Office
Respectfully submitted, Pamela Lohmann