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Select Board to hold public meeting on changing citizens' petition signature threshold
Summary
The Select Board set a public meeting for Sept. 17 to solicit input on a possible increase to the number of signatures required for citizen petitions (discussing home rule petition options and precedent), with staff to provide a draft article in advance.
The Westborough Select Board agreed July 22 to hold a public meeting on September 17 to discuss whether to change the number of signatures required to place a citizens’ petition article on the town meeting warrant.
Town staff explained that a change to the petition threshold would typically be implemented via a home‑rule petition and noted precedent in other communities such as Weston, where the signature requirement was raised. The town manager advised that staff would prepare a draft article and background materials for board review prior to the public meeting so the community could react to a specific proposal (for example, raising the threshold from 10 signatures to 50 or another numeric standard). The board asked staff to note potential complications, including whether the legislature would accept certain formulations and whether a percentage‑based threshold (rather than a flat number) would be preferable as the town grows.
The board instructed staff to advertise the September public meeting and to bring a draft article back for board review so the Select Board can decide whether to place a home‑rule petition on the fall town meeting warrant.
