HomeMy WebLinkAbout_05062021-10058Town Government Study Committee
Minutes of the meeting of May 6, 2021. The meeting took place via Zoom. Members of the
committee present were: John Brescher, Linda Williams, Rick Atherton, Curtis Barnes, and
Campbell Sutton.
1) Chair John Brescher called the meeting to order at 10:00 am with a quorum.
2) Agenda: A motion was made by Curtis Barnes and duly seconded by Rick Atherton to
approve the agenda as written. All voted in favor by voice vote.
3) Public Comment: None. Curtis Barnes noted that Hilary Hedges reached out to him
asked what was going on with the Committee’s discussion re: the NPEDC. Campbell
Sutton asked if there was anything re: meeting in person and John Brescher noted that
he had not heard anything.
4) Meeting Minutes from April 13, 2021 and April 21, 2021: The minutes from April 13,
2021 had not yet been drafted and Curtis wanted to be noted as present to edit on April
21, 2021. A motion was made by Curtis Barnes and duly seconded by Rick Atherton to
approve the April 21, 2021 minutes as amended.
5) Discussion: unresolved items on topics to investigate list
a) List of topics discuss
Campbell noted that she did send a link to the Committee with other Town Government
Study Committees. Curtis commented that he had looked at those links. John chimed
in that he thought the Committee had already discussed and agreed not to pursue
anything further with the revisions to the Government Study Committee.
Campbell asked if there anything else that we can do to enhance the mission of the
Government Study Committee – in other words, a way to make it more efficient and
more effective. It would be nice to get a better response from Town Counsel and Town
Administration. There was too much of a stonewall trying to get access from Town
Counsel.
Campbell further noted that part of the challenge is that although we are accountable to
the legislative branch, the topics are really directed by Town Administration more than
anything else. Unfortunately. that weakens our report to Town Meeting because it
makes it less effective. It makes us wonder if our time invested had any real impact.
Are the issues that we’re concerned with the ones that Town is concerned with?
Rick added, that while he certainly didn’t disagree with anything Campbell, he wasn’t
sure what we do to make this more robust?
Rick suggested that the Committee take further votes on some of the discussion topics
so there is something more to present to Town Meeting. Thus far, the Committee has
only taken an action on the audit committee and the Town Meeting warrant articles.
Rick further suggested proposing the motion on the topics so the Committee can vote on
if we recommend making changes to the charter or if the Committee was fine leaving
things as-is. Rick also suggested seeing this as an agenda item at the Committee’s next
meeting.
The Committee agreed this would be a wise way to continue moving towards finalizing
the report for Town Meeting.
Campbell asked about the form of Town Government and Rick suggested we focus on
the results of the non-binding ballot question and recommend it be further studied.
Curtis also suggested adding the recommendation re: the parking commission and Rick
agreed the licensing commission should be included as well.
John asked if the Committee thinks it is possible to review these motions and review the
charter review Lauren submitted.
Linda Williams noted that she will look through the 2019 memo that the Committee
prepared and will work with Rick about any potential motions. Campbell agreed to work
with Tucker and John agreed to work with Curtis.
6) Other Business:
We need to have a date for the report done for distribution. We may need to meet more.
7) Date and Time of the Next Meeting:
The Committee’s next meeting will be Thursday May 13, 2021, at 9:00 am 2021 via
Zoom.
8) Adjournment:
A motion was made by Linda Williams and seconded by Curtis to adjourn at 10:42 am.
Respectfully Submitted,
John B. Brescher, Chair