The milestone: Six months ago the voters of Harvard created the Charter Commission. At the beginning, we promised to keep the town involved in the process. Now we invite everyone to a public hearing Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall. We especially invite the 40 or 50 people who attended the first public hearing in June and spoke about their visions and concerns for Harvard to come back and talk with us.
The commission has spent the past six months reviewing the charters of towns similar to Harvard, creating a plan that will take us from the beginning to this first public draft and beyond; listening to key elected and appointed boards in town describe how they work and what they see as issues to be addressed to take the town into the future; and discussing how we perceive the charter and its role in our town government.
In its conversations, the commission reached a conclusion to share with you: A charter is a compilation of standards and principles by which government is administered as a whole. It relies on certain bylaws, regulations, policies, and procedures to manage the day-to-day operations and delivery of services to citizens of Harvard. We hope that specific concerns from residents will be addressed through the various layers that support the charter and the vision of the community.
Using the Groton charter as a model, the commission has incorporated what we have learned into a draft to share with the public. This draft is a snapshot of how the town government works today and may not immediately address concerns shared over the last six months. Keep an open mind, come, give us your feedback, and ask questions.
The homework: Visit the town website, go to the Charter Commission page, and locate the draft charter. We ask that you read it at least once, which will take a little time and concentration, and then join us Nov. 17 to ask questions, both general and specific, and to participate in a series of roundtable discussions. These roundtable discussions will last approximately 10 to 15 minutes and will assist the Charter Commission in defining its next steps.
Here are the six issues we’ll be asking the roundtables to discuss:
- Who should be responsible for maintaining the character of the town center?
- How should the town budgets—omnibus and capital—be prepared?
- Who should hire and direct town employees?
- Who should be responsible for maintaining town facilities and infrastructure?
- How are warrant articles to be developed and presented?
- How should planning be done for economic and community development?
Here are three questions we’ll ask each roundtable to consider during its deliberations:
- Who establishes the performance parameters? (goals, objectives, policies, etc.)
- Who manages the process? (leadership, coordination, transparency, etc.)
- What type and level of expertise is required?
Stephanie Opalka and George McKenna are members of the Charter Commission.
