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Plymouth Charter Review Committee accepts renumbered draft, approves editorial changes
Summary
The Town of Plymouth Charter Review Committee on June 4, 2024, voted unanimously to accept a renumbered and reformatted draft charter and approved a series of editorial changes to chapter headings and section titles ahead of presentation to Town Meeting.
The Town of Plymouth Charter Review Committee on June 4, 2024, voted unanimously to accept a renumbered and reformatted draft of the town charter and approved multiple editorial changes to chapter headings and section titles.
Alan Costello, Chair of the Charter Review Committee, opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. at Plymouth Townhall’s Ropewalk Meeting Room. A subcommittee comprising Costello, Vice Chair Steve Bolotin, Clerk Len Levin and member Laurence Pizer met earlier with Town Counsel and circulated a 26-page, renumbered draft intended to make the charter easier to navigate. Levin said the group plans to provide a companion document linking current sections to the proposed numbering so Town Meeting members can more easily compare versions.
The committee approved a series of motions, each by recorded vote. Vice Chair Steve Bolotin moved to add the words “TOWN WIDE” to the Chapter 2 heading; the motion passed 8-0-0. Martha Vautrain moved to add the Town Moderator to section 2-1-1 (seconded by Joseph Hutchinson); that motion also passed, 8-0-0. The committee approved adding new Sections 2-6 and 2-7 to Chapter 2, and voted to reverse the order of Sections 2-5-2 and 2-5-3.
Member Mike Hanlon moved to delete Section 3-1-3a; the committee approved the deletion by unanimous vote. The committee retitled Chapter 4, Section 4 to “REFERENDA” and retitled Chapter 4, Section 5 to “TOWNWIDE ELECTED OFFICEHOLDERS.” The committee also approved a motion to replace the text of Section 5-1(d) with the text of Section 5-4. Finally, members voted to retitle Chapter 6 to “STATUTORILY REQUIRED PUBLIC BODIES.” Each of these motions passed by recorded vote with an 8-0-0 tally.
During public comment, Al Denardo of Precinct 17 thanked the committee for its vote on proposed changes to School Committee language (Chapter 4, Section 3) and said he will support the change at Town Meeting. The committee noted that the reorganized charter is intended to be user-friendly and that the Town Clerk will present the finished product at Town Meeting.
The committee scheduled its next meeting for Tuesday, June 18, 2024. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Minutes were submitted by Michelle A. Turner and were approved on June 18, 2024.
