Nantucket committee outlines draft charter to replace open town meeting with nine-member council

A Town Council Study Committee presentation on Nantucket described a draft charter to convert the town’s long-standing open town meeting form of government to a town council–town manager model and invited public comment at an information session.

Committee members presented the rationale for the change, the proposed timeline and key charter provisions, and responded to questions on representation, council compensation, districting, planning and citizen recourse. Residents raised concerns about pay levels proposed for councilors, the size and makeup of the council, enforcement and emergency authority, and how citizens would overturn council decisions.

The committee said the proposal grew from Article 81 of the 2023 Town Meeting, a citizens’ article submitted by Curtis Barnes that asked the town to study establishing a town council. Committee members said the review considered multiple municipal forms used in Massachusetts and ultimately focused on adopting a town council and town manager. The group outlined a conversion process that would require a town meeting vote to send a home-rule petition to the state legislature, legislative approval, and a returning local ballot vote; the committee estimated the full conversion could take two to three years from voter approval.

The draft charter the committee posted online proposes a nine-member council with staggered three-year terms and a council president. Committee presenters described the council as a continuously operating legislative body that would…