Dismayed by the work of the Charter Commission, a dissident citizens group is working on a groundbreaking new proposal to streamline town government, make it more accountable, and establish an unprecedented level of good-natured leadership at Town Hall.
The proposal calls for the elevation of Bob Eubank, Harvard’s popular town moderator, to the new position of prime minister. Eubank would continue to appoint the Finance Committee, as he does now, but would also appoint all other board members and officials without exception. He would replace the Board of Selectmen with a new board of advisers, consisting of however many members he needed to help him coordinate and direct town operations.
Citizens for Affable Leadership (CAL) began working on this proposal because the town Charter Commission refuses to consider the likability of incumbent officials as a factor in restructuring town government.
“Who’s going to think the selectmen should have more power over appointments and town finances if they don’t like them or trust them with the power they’ve got?” said a CAL member. “At our first meeting we realized that the solution to most of the problems in town government was right in front of us. There’s nobody who doesn’t like and trust Bob Eubank, so why not put him in charge of everything and be done with it?”
The only problem with Eubank, CAL members admit, is that he flat-out refuses to consider being prime minister, even though it would make his job as town moderator much simpler. “He actually laughed at us the first time we called and hung up on us every time after that,” said CAL member Merry Newbie. But the group is counting on Eubank’s innate civility and commitment to public service as it continues to refine his new job description.
