Charter group online and new charter draft

In case you missed it, here's a link to the charter review committee online.

There are several discussion notes and this draft (which may be updated so check back).

Personally, I applaud their efforts and boldness to propose a town manager. I think many people in town recognize the potential benefits that a manager could provide by coordinating efforts among departments and arbitrating potential conflicts between them. I don't feel the residency requirement is necessary, although that's probably not a popular view. I think hiring a professional who takes pride in their work (and can be removed) would be enough to motivate them to do what's right for the town. Frankly sometimes an independent voice is needed to break up the logjam in town politics and infuse some new energy and ideas into what can be a very stale and stolid governmental process. Take a look at how long it took to get the Master Plan proposed (and now the implementation); it's years late and there's really no excuse.

As another example of why we need a TM in the first place - look at the recent TM article about storm water management. Some basic questions arise - who will administer the $350K+ that we appropriated? I'm not sure who gets it - the town engineer? Do they go back to the BOS? Finance committee? Storm water management involves several departments potentially including AWD, sewer, town engineer and highway. I think someone independent of those departments should guide these processes to ensure monies are used promptly and efficiently.