Medford City Council approves amended charter draft, restores mayor as voting school committee member and sets first review at five years

The Medford City Council voted 6-1 on April 15 to approve an amended draft city charter and send it to Mayor Bridal Lengo Kern for possible submission to the state legislature, approving changes that include restoring the mayor as a voting member (not chair) of the school committee and moving the first charter review to within five years instead of 10.

The vote advances a proposed charter that, if the mayor submits it to the Legislature and the Legislature approves it in time, would appear on the November 4, 2025 municipal ballot for voters to accept or reject. Councilors debated multiple late amendments at a special meeting called to consider a mayoral-submitted, council-amended draft.

Why it matters: The charter rewrite alters how Medford’s local government would allocate power between the mayor, the council and the school committee, and changes the schedule and composition of future charter review committees. Those structural changes must still be approved by the mayor and the state before reaching voters.

Council action and votes

- Motion to approve amended charter and forward to the mayor: Motion by Councilor Lazaro, seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. Roll-call: Councilor Callaghan — Yes; Vice President Collins — No; Councilor Lazaro — Yes; Councilor Lemming — Yes; Councilor Scarpelli — Yes; Councilor Singh — Yes; President Baerz — Yes. Tally: 6 yes, 1 no. Outcome: approved and forwarded to the mayor.

- Motion to restore the mayor as a voting (but not chair) member of the school committee: Motion by Councilor Lazaro, seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. Roll-call: Councilor Callaghan — Yes; Vice President Collins — No; Councilor Lazaro — Yes; Councilor Lemming — No; Councilor Scarpelli — Yes; Councilor Singh — Yes; President Baerz — Yes. Tally: 5 yes, 2 no. Outcome: passed.

- Motion to set the first mandatory charter review within five years (and every 10 years thereafter): Passed on a separate vote after a successful motion to sever; voice vote recorded in favor. Outcome: passed.

- Motion to add eight-term (16-year) limits for city councilors and school committee members and to remove the word "consecutive" from the mayoral term-limit provision: Motion by Councilor Lemming, seconded by Councilor Callaghan. Result: failed on roll call (2 yes, 5 no). Outcome: failed.

- B paper (council press release) to summarize the council’s action and distribute through city channels: Motion by Councilor Lazaro, seconded by Councilor Callaghan, amended to allow clerical updates to reflect the final vote; passed by voice vote. Outcome: passed.

What changed in the draft

- School committee membership: The draft as amended restores language that the school committee shall include seven members and that the mayor shall serve as the seventh member; the mayor will be a voting member but not the chair, per the council’s amendment.

- Charter review timeline and composition: Section 9-4 was amended so the charter is subject to review within five years of voter approval and every 10 years thereafter. The review committee composition was set at three appointees of the mayor, three of the city council and three of the school committee (3-3-3), restoring the council’s earlier vote.

- Appointment/referral language: The council directed leadership to work with the mayor to clarify cross-references in sections 2-9 and 3-3 (appointment/referral language) so that existing charter or ordinance methods of appointment would control where those are specified. The council recorded the intent that, if a method of appointment is prescribed by the charter or by ordinance, that method applies; where neither prescribes a method, the referral/notice process in section 2-9 governs.

- Minor procedural edits: The draft also included redline edits such as adding the city website to the list of places where special meeting notices must be posted and shifting certain election/petition filing references to the board of election commissioners.

Debate highlights

Councilor Lemming (motion maker on term limits) said she brought a late amendment to add eight-term limits for city council and school committee members and to remove the word "consecutive" from the mayoral term limit provision, referencing survey feedback about term limits. Councilor Lemming moved that motion but it failed 2-5.

Councilor Lazaro argued for restoring the mayor to the school committee so the mayor would be comfortable submitting the charter to the Legislature and because she wanted a compromise the mayor would endorse. Lazaro said the council had "agreed on 95% of what is in this document" and urged colleagues to forward a version that could advance.

Vice President Collins and other councilors urged caution, saying they had substantive concerns about the mayor’s role on the school committee and about the balance of power. Councilor Singh said voters had asked for increased representativeness and said she had not decided earlier whether to return the mayor to the school committee; she closed by advising that the council should not let "perfect be the enemy of good."

Mayor Bridal Lengo Kern (who submitted the revised draft to the council) spoke by Zoom and urged the council to keep the mayor on the school committee, saying her service there had informed budget negotiations and other school-related decisions. The mayor offered an additional compromise — to shorten the first required charter review from 10 years to five — which the council adopted.

Next steps and legal pathway

If Mayor Bridal Lengo Kern signs and submits the document as a home-rule (special act) petition, the draft must be approved by the Massachusetts Legislature before it can appear on the municipal ballot. The council noted that, in practice, obtaining legislative approval is more likely when local approval shows broad support; the council’s final vote was 6-1. If the Legislature enacts the special act in time, voters will decide the charter on the November 4, 2025 ballot.

Discussion vs. decision

Councilors explicitly separated discussion from formal action in the meeting: several councilors and members of the Charter Study Committee presented arguments and public commenters spoke during the public-comment period. Formal council decisions were recorded by motion and roll-call vote for the school-committee and final charter-approval motions; other items (the five-year review change, the press-release B paper and technical language clarification) were adopted as described above.

Community reaction and participation

Members of the public and multiple Charter Study Committee members spoke during public comment to thank councilors and urge passage. Committee members emphasized the committee’s outreach and the hours it spent drafting the initial proposal. Several speakers urged that, if approved by the state and voters, the charter changes would be a long-term structural change for Medford.

What the council did not adopt

The council rejected the late proposal to add 8-term limits for councilors and school committee members (a change that would have set a 16-year maximum) and did not adopt a change to remove the mayor entirely from the school committee.

Transparency note

Council leadership agreed to finalize technical wording in sections 2-9 and 3-3 with the mayor to reflect the council’s expressed intent about appointment procedures; that proposed technical cleanup will be documented and circulated before final submission.

The meeting record: the council advanced an amended charter to the mayor on April 15, 2025; if the mayor and legislature act in time, the measure will appear on the November 4, 2025 ballot.