Advocates for a town charter commission said this week they were confident they had collected the 626 certified signatures they need to place the issue before voters either at this year’s Town Election or should the selectmen fail to act in a timely manner, a year from now.
Worth Robbins of Mass. Ave. (a co-owner of The Harvard Press and initiator of the petition drive) said that he had submitted 700 signatures to Town Clerk Janet Vellante on Tuesday afternoon. As of Wednesday afternoon, Vellante reported that she had certified 606 but had dozens more signatures to review, making it likely that the required number would be met before the end of the week.
Commission advocates have been a common sight at the town Transfer Station on weekends and Wednesdays since before Christmas, while other supporters have circulated petitions among friends and neighbors. Petitions were also available at the General Store and town library. Robbins posted regular updates to Nextdoor Harvard, and through a dedicated website, Harvard Matters, he provided information and links for those who said they needed more information. As the three-week campaign came to a close Tuesday afternoon, Robbins reported that he had gathered 50 petition forms and handed them to Vellante.
The next step is up to the selectmen. By law, the town clerk has 10 days to certify the signatures on a charter petition, and the selectmen have an additional 30 days, once they have received her report, to decide whether to place the question on this year’s Town Election ballot. The law says that ballot questions must be submitted to the town clerk at least 60 days before a town election, so for the issue to appear on the ballot, it will be necessary for the selectmen to make their decision no later than Feb. 12. Although Vellante said she hoped to be done in the next day or two, she said that work on the town census and the processing of dog licenses were slowing her down.
Next move: Selectmen
So what will the selectmen do once they receive Vellante’s report? That question is likely to be taken up at their next meeting on Jan. 26, which is also the date on which a six-member governance working group chaired by Town Moderator Bob Eubank plans to submit its report.
The selectmen could decide to take no action and let the Feb. 12 deadline come and go, in which case, once their allotted 30 days have elapsed, the law requires the question to be on the ballot at the next town election, in this case in spring 2017. A friendly board, however, might not insist on waiting 30 days and order the ballot question prior to the Feb. 12 deadline.
Creating a draft
There is more than one way to update and clarify the workings of town government, but creating and electing a commission to draft a charter is an approach that several of Harvard’s neighbors and 130 municipalities in Massachusetts have chosen. That path can be a lengthy one, with lots of if-then statements. Once the selectmen decide to place the question on the ballot, voters must approve the measure and elect nine commissioners to lead the effort. Then the commissioners must hold hearings, deliberate publicly, and draft a charter, though conceivably they could decide that one isn’t needed. Once a draft charter has been produced, it must be approved first by the state’s attorney general and then by Harvard voters.
Nine commissioners
Clerk Vellante says the law specifies that the election of nine charter commissioners must be held at the same time as the vote on whether to create the commission. Candidates cannot be nominated at town caucus. Instead, a commissioner candidate must collect the signatures of 10 registered voters and submit them for certification to the town clerk. Should the charter commission question make it to the April 12 ballot, nomination papers for commission candidates would be due March 8, less than two months from now.
Reasoning of petitioners
Interviews with a small sample of petition signers suggest many were motivated by the perceived secrecy of the working group assembled by Eubank to advise the selectmen on ways to offload some of their duties. But there were issues other than town governance on some citizens’ minds. Robbins reported that at least one resident had refused to sign, thinking the petition was part of a statewide push, endorsed by Gov. Charlie Baker, to remove the cap on the number of charter schools in Massachusetts. And another, said Robbins, was all too willing to sign a petition that expressed dissatisfaction with the town’s cable provider, Charter Communications.
