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Everett Charter Review Committee Hears Public Input on Mayor’s Role, Term Limits and Ethics Changes
Summary
The Charter Review Committee opened a public hearing and heard residents propose wide-ranging charter amendments — from removing the mayor’s vote on the school committee to term limits, appointment approvals and anti-nepotism rules. The committee closed the hearing and said a business meeting will be scheduled for September or October.
The Everett Charter Review Committee on an evening meeting opened a public hearing to take input from residents on proposed amendments to the city charter and heard several speakers outline changes ranging from the mayor’s role on the school committee to term limits and ethics rules.
Chairman VanCampten opened the hearing and confirmed it had been advertised in the Everett Independent. Members were told the hearing was a traditional public comment session and that speakers would have up to three minutes to present their views. "Anyone wishing to appear before the Charter Review Committee to offer comment is allotted up to 3 minutes," VanCampten said.
In the first public comment, Paul Streati urged many changes to the charter, including expanding public-comment time, placing charter changes on a citywide ballot, basing recall thresholds on the percentage of actual voters rather than registered voters and increasing the filing window from 28 to 90 days. Streati also proposed that "the mayor be removed as a voting member" of the school committee because, he said, that change was made "without proper hearing." He also called for council approval of city appointments, limits on elected officials holding city jobs, term limits, tighter rules on hiring family members and elimination of stipends for appointed positions.
Mary Fortin said she also supports removing the mayor as a voting member of the school committee and asked that agendas be posted on the city calendar rather than only in meeting minutes. She urged restoring a two-year mayoral term aligned with council and school committee elections and recommended residency requirements for firefighters and police to live in the city for at least five years.
Frank Parker, who identified himself as a long-serving former school committee member, presented historical context and research on peer municipalities. Parker said he had opposed the mayor’s addition previously on process grounds but that many similarly sized cities include the mayor on the school committee with voting authority. "In my research, all but two had the mayor on the school committee," Parker said, adding that an odd-number requirement had not been mandatory in comparable cities.
JP Beck offered a factual clarification, saying the mayor has long been a member of multiple municipal bodies and that the 2014 charter already placed the mayor on the school committee; the recent change, Beck said, made the mayor a voting member.
After hearing public comment, the committee closed the public hearing by voice vote. Chairman VanCampten announced the committee is scheduling its next business meeting for either September or October and said an agenda with business items will be posted in advance.
No formal charter amendments were adopted at the hearing; the meeting served to collect community input for future committee deliberations. The committee adjourned following routine closing motions.
