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Hebron board approves charter revisions and sends measure to Nov. 4 referendum, separates clerk question
Summary
After extensive line-by-line review and attorney-recommended edits, the Board of Selectmen on July 10 approved proposed amendments to the Hebron Town Charter and voted to send the package to referendum Nov. 4, 2025, as two questions: the general charter changes and a separate question to transition the town clerk from elected to appointed.
The Hebron Board of Selectmen voted July 10 to accept the Charter Revision Commission’s recommendations, incorporate attorney-recommended edits and submit the proposed changes to a townwide referendum on Nov. 4, 2025.
The board approved a two-question referendum: Question 1 asks voters to adopt the charter amendments as approved by the Board of Selectmen, and Question 2 asks whether the town should transition from an elected to an appointed town clerk. The board accepted a long set of editorial corrections and adjustments recommended by the town attorney and the Charter Revision Commission, and members debated specific provisions, including the standard for removing appointed board members “for cause.”
Why it matters: The changes are the most extensive charter revisions in years and will alter governance, appointments and some procedural rules if approved by voters. Several board members said they wanted final formatting and copy edits completed before the document was published to residents, and the board directed staff to prepare the final printed materials for the referendum.
Key edits and debates: The board accepted attorney suggestions to harmonize grammatical formatting throughout the document; to clarify references to state law and to align language among related sections (examples discussed included sections 2 0 3, 3 0 3 and 7 0 6). On the question of removal of appointed board members “for cause,” the board discussed whether to include a detailed definition and whether removals should require a simple majority or a supermajority. After debate, the board accepted attorney language with a local modification raising the affirmative threshold for removal in that section to four votes (rather than a simple majority), a compromise intended to protect appointed volunteers from arbitrary removal while allowing removal for specified reasons.
Board members also discussed procedural items such as deadlines for budget deliverables (suggesting calendar dates like Jan. 31, March 1 and April 1 in place of “150 days before fiscal year end”), consistent cross-references to other charter sections, and removal of transitional language that the attorney and staff advised was unnecessary.
Next steps: Staff will incorporate the agreed editorial changes and attorney edits into a final formatted document for publication and printing in advance of the Nov. 4 ballot. Several selectmen asked to receive the final formatted copy for review before publication. The board did not add additional referendum questions.
Votes: The motion to accept the charter revision as amended and send it to the Nov. 4 referendum (two-question format) carried on roll call; members recorded aye votes when the motion passed.
The board scheduled no additional substantive changes to the content tonight, but instructed staff to complete final formatting and to circulate the final proof to selectmen before publication.
