In its first meeting since June, the Charter Commission met briefly Thursday, Aug. 11, to review its progress on creating a “mock” charter for the town, showing how a charter might look if the various state and local bylaws that define Harvard’s current structure were presented in a charter-like format.
The mock or “illustrative” charter, as commission Chairman Paul Cohen prefers to call it, is modeled on the Groton town charter, chosen because of that town’s proximity to Harvard and, in the view of the commissioners, its similar demographics. As a first step, Cohen created a two-column document for the commission in late May that reproduces Groton’s charter in one column and Harvard’s corresponding bylaws and practices in another.
The Groton charter consists of seven articles, several of them highly detailed, especially Articles 2 and 4, which describe Groton’s town meeting form of government and the position of town manager, respectively. Harvard’s version of that document, by contrast, is an assemblage of state law and town bylaws as well as notes on current practice. Harvard’s bylaws are notably silent on the town administrator’s role and duties and the organization of town departments and committees, and unlike Groton, leave preparation of the annual budget to the Finance Committee, rather than a chief administrator.
Last week the commissioners heard reports from the three two-member subcommittees documenting those portions of Harvard’s mock charter. Commissioners Charles Redinger and Stephanie Opalka are detailing Harvard’s administrative organization; Rick Maiore and George McKenna are handling financial procedures; and Peter Warren and Cindy Russo are assembling the town administrator section.
The commission hopes to have a complete document ready for review by the commission at its next meeting Sept. 1. Once approved, the commission will distribute its findings to key elected and appointed committees and begin meeting with them for review and comment, said Cohen. The current schedule follows:
- Thursday, Sept. 8: Planning Board, Board of Health, Conservation Commission
- Thursday, Sept. 22: Parks and Recreation Commission, Library Trustees
- Thursday, Oct. 6: Finance Committee, Capital Planning and Investment Committee
- Thursday, Oct. 27: Board of Selectmen, town administrator
The meetings will be open to the public. The commission plans to hold its next public hearing on Nov. 17 to report on its progress and hear from citizens.
