2017 Info Night Presentation - Charter Changes - Town of Hartford, Vermont
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The Fourth Hartford Charter Commission is recommending six amendments to Hartford's town charter. The amendments include: 1) Eliminating the floor meeting after elections and moving discussion to the town meeting day before elections. 2) Having all public matters decided by Australian ballot for increased accessibility. 3) Having the town clerk appointed by the selectboard rather than elected. 4) Eliminating the office of town listers and contracting property appraisal services. 5) Having trustees of public funds appointed by the selectboard rather than elected. 6) Requiring three affirmative votes rather than two for selectboard motions to better justify actions. The school board and selectboard believe these changes will make town and school governance more efficient and up-to-date
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2017 Info Night Presentation - Charter Changes - Town of Hartford, Vermont
- 1. Proposed Amendments to the Hartford Charter Presented by Simon Dennis Fourth Hartford Charter Commission Chair Selectboard Member
- 2. A Town Charter: ○ is an optional body of laws which Vermont towns may adopt ○ applies to only the municipal and school governance of the Town ○ must be ratified by the Vermont State Legislature
- 3. Brief History ○ Hartford voted to adopt a Charter in 2009. ○ Since then, Hartford voters have decided on two sets of amendments.
- 4. The Fourth Hartford Charter Commission The seven members of the Fourth Hartford Charter Commission are: F. X. Flinn, Scott Johnson, Eric Michaels, Russell North, Gayle Ottman, Nancy Russell, and myself. The Hartford School Board and Select Board are recommending six amendments to the Hartford Charter.
- 5. Change #1 To eliminate the Floor Meeting after the election and move this discussion to the “Town and School Meeting Day” on the Saturday before the Election. Why? 1. The main reason for this meeting was lost when it was decided that defeated budgets would be decided by Australian Ballot. 2. It streamlines the town meeting cycle.
- 6. Change #2 “All public matters” would be decided by Australian Ballot. Why? Australian Ballot makes voting more accessible.
- 7. Change #3 The Town Clerk would be appointed by the Selectboard rather than elected via Australian Ballot. Why? This change will build greater accountability and increase the likelihood of hiring the most qualified applicant.
- 8. Change #4 To eliminate the Office of the Town Listers Why? 1. Property appraisal is more effectively accomplished by contracted services. 2. The Listers have not been doing property appraisal since 2008.
- 9. Change #5 The trustees of public funds would go from being elected to being appointed by the selectboard. Why? 1. These positions are viewed to be outdated. 2. The Town has not been filling these positions in recent years.
- 10. Change #6 Three, rather than two affirmative votes would be needed to pass a motion of the Selectboard. Why? It was viewed that two votes was too few to properly justify a selectboard action.
- 11. In order to move towards a more efficient and up-to-date functioning of our town and school government, the Hartford School Board and Selectboard ask for your support for these six Charter amendments.
- 12. Thank you
Editor's Notes
- First of all, if you are wondering “what the heck is a town charter”, you are surely not alone. (. . . ) And Hartford has one.
- And, you will recall, that there was one set of amendments, namely the LOT and the move to decide defeated budgets through Australian Ballot, You will notice that these amendments are marked on the amended Charter that you will find in the ballot box and in other locations. However, you will not be voting on these again at the March Election. How did we get here?
- In June of last year, the Hartford School Board and Select Board constituted . . . I will go through each of these changes in the order that they appear in the Charter.
- Note that passing this amendment will not eliminate the Floor meeting for this year. So don’t forget to come. Also, this change also involves changing the name of meeting that has been held on the Saturday before the election from x night to “Town and School District Meeting Day”.
- Another way to put it is making this change eliminates the need to come to a specific meeting in order to vote on matters that affect Hartford. The only exception to this is the pay for elected officials which will be decided at the Town and School Meeting Day
- Hartford’s Public funds are currently . . . The trustees of public funds could make decisions about how this money is spent. One important note about this change, is that, if a qualified candidate did not come forward, the Selectboard would now also have the right to delegate the responsibilities fo this position to the Town Manager.
- This is a very minor change affects only a relatively unusual circumstance, namely when a quorum of four Selectboard members is present and one member abstains. Under our current charter, in this circumstance, the question could be decided with two affirmative votes. This amendment effectively makes it a little harder to pass a motion. So those are the six proposed amendments. There will be two hearings to discuss these on date, date, and then on March 7th, they will be presented en mass for a vote. In conclusion . . .