Committee reviews proposed Morristown charter that grants town manager expanded appointment authority

Legislative counsel reviewed H.17, the bill that would adopt a charter for the town of Morristown, and the Senate Government Operations Committee discussed several technical and substantive items in the draft charter.

Tucker Anderson of the Legislative Counsel’s Office told the committee the charter designates the town manager as chief executive officer and head of the administrative branch, responsible to the select board for administration of municipal affairs. Section 3 states the manager “shall have the authority to hire, appoint, discipline, and remove all town employees subject to the provisions of personnel rules approved by a select board.” Anderson said that this appointment authority is not common in Vermont charters and noted Waterbury as the only other municipality that has adopted similar language recently.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about how the charter would interact with existing village or municipal structures (the village of Morrisville is part of the town of Morristown) and requested that town officials or the charter sponsors attend a future meeting to explain the local process and any votes the town held on the charter. Sponsors of the measure were identified in committee comments as Representative David Yacobone and Representative Sadia Lamont; members said they would invite a municipal representative and the bill sponsors back to a future hearing for more detail.

No committee action was taken on H.17; counsel said the committee could amend the draft and asked members to identify any technical corrections needed before final consideration.