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Danvers review committee urges smaller town meeting, mandatory nomination papers for incumbents
Summary
The Town Meeting/Town Manager Acts Review Committee recommended shrinking town meeting membership from 18 to 15 per precinct, requiring all candidates (including incumbents) to collect at least 10 nomination signatures, formalizing moderator orientation, and holding periodic reviews to boost participation and clarity.
Sally Calhoun, chair of the Town Meeting/Town Manager Act Review Committee, presented the committee’s written report to the Finance Committee, laying out proposed redlines to the Town Meeting Act aimed at increasing active participation and clarifying longstanding language. The committee was established by a vote at the annual town meeting on May 20, 2024 (warrant article 7) and met 19 times between July 2024 and May 2025 to produce the report dated 05/13/2025.
Calhoun said the committee’s most substantive Town Meeting Act proposal is to reduce the number of town meeting members from 18 to 15 per precinct. “We recommend revitalizing and reemphasizing that…
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