Resident urges removal of charter residency requirement amid enforcement concerns

Steve Walters, a resident of Sixth Avenue, used the general public comment period to ask the commission to remove a residency requirement from a proposed charter amendment. Walters said state law and state courts are clear that a person cannot claim residence in two places at the same time and argued that because the town has not enforced the residency rule consistently, the commission should remove the requirement rather than adopt a provision it will not enforce.

Walters said the commission had not had an opportunity previously to fully address his concern and asked commissioners to “remove from our charter amendment the residency requirement because this isn't the first time it's been ignored and it won't be the last.” The commission did not take formal action on the request during the special meeting; the item under discussion for the meeting itself was the SAFER grant application.

No staff or commissioner action on the charter amendment residency language is recorded in the transcript excerpt.