HomeMy WebLinkAbout_06242020-8644Town Government Study Committee
Minutes of the meeting of June 24, 2020. The meeting took place via Zoom. Members of the
committee present were: John Brescher, Curtis Barnes, Rick Atherton, and Tucker Holland.
1) Chair John Brescher called the meeting to order at 10:05 am with a quorum.
2) Agenda: Tucker Holland moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Curtis Barnes. All
voted in favor by voice vote.
3) Public Comment: None.
4) Discussion of remaining tasks in order to finalize report to Town Meeting and Select
Board:
The question was raised by the Chair about what we should be doing with the tasks of
the Committee in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and what the next steps for the
Committee are since many of the Warrant Articles at 2020 Annual Town Meeting would
be tabled, or at least not called and discussed at the June meeting.
The Committee also reviewed the results of the non-binding ballot questions that were
voted on by the electorate in June. Tucker commented that it appeared as though the
satisfaction with Town Government appears to be even. However, this may be
interpreted as approval and appreciation of our local officials during a truly
unprecedented time.
Curtis commented that while the satisfaction appeared to be relatively even, there was
overwhelming support for the Committee to continue to investigate other forms of
Government.
Rick suggested that one of our next steps should be to write a report stating where we
are and present it to the Select Board to see what they would like to do. Another critical
component of our discussion will be to see what the census numbers are when they
come back.
Curtis suggested that in the event we are tasked with investigating Representative Town
Meeting further, that we develop a matrix to analyze how precincts would be set up, how
the population would be divided, etc…and what the next steps for implementing any
change to Town Meeting would be. However, the next step would be to get on the
Select Board’s agenda. Also, Zoom could potentially help with Representative Town
Meeting.
Rick suggested that the Chair or the Committee reach out to the Town Manager to give
them an update on where we are and then request to be on an agenda to discuss our
progress and what next steps the Select Board would like our committee to take.
Tucker suggested using the update to get on the Select Board’s agenda. The report we submit
should be fairly comprehensive and identify what steps we still need to take.
5) Discussion of Non-binding Ballot Question Results
John opined that he assumed that the COVID-19 pandemic and the “shutting-down” of the
Town over the last few months would impact the results. Rick thought that the results could
be viewed as the Town doing a great job.
Tucker, however, was hesitant to draw conclusions from these simple questions - the only
comfortable conclusion is that the voters that turned out would like the options to be
investigated and presented to the community/
6) Discussion of Future Responsibilities of Committee and topics investigated
John asked the Committee what on earth our next steps should be in light of everything
that has occurred over the last three months. Curtis suggested that the next step is to
draft the report and circulate it to the Select Board. Rick commented on what other
Government Study Committees did in the past and that we should include the list of
issues that we've had and the discussion points we've made.
Rick also suggested that we not do a report by committee; let's get a report together and
then reconvene and discuss comments.
7) Other Business:
None.
8) Date and Time of the Next Meeting:
The next Zoom meeting will be held on July 8, 2020 at 10:00 am.
9) Adjournment:
A motion was made by Rick and duly seconded by Curtis to adjourn at 10:45 am.
Respectfully Submitted,
John B. Brescher, Chair