BRISTOL — Selectmen expressed support for the establishment of a charter commission to develop a hybrid approach to town meeting that would combine elements of both the traditional town meeting and the Official Ballot Act commonly known as SB2.
Voters at Bristol’s 2020 Town Meeting had asked the selectmen to consider the creation of a charter commission after defeating petitioners’ latest attempt to have the town adopt the provisions of RSA 40:13, which calls for splitting town meetings into two parts, the first being a deliberative session to discuss and amend articles and the second being a ballot vote on those articles.
Tom Caldwell, a former planning board member who also served on the committee promoting the building of Newfound Regional High School, briefly outlined his proposal for a town charter at that meeting, and on Nov. 5, he appeared before the selectmen to discuss the idea in more detail.
Noting that it would be up to the hypothetical charter commission to develop a recommendation, which might differ from his proposal, Caldwell provided his vision of what town meeting would be like under a Bristol charter. Like SB2, there would be two sessions, but with the possibility of a third to resolve any outstanding issue. Unlike SB2, the first session would not only allow voters to amend warrant articles, but also would have them vote on each article. Those decisions would go onto a ballot for ratification on election day. If voters at the polls ratify every article, that would be the end; but if they fail to approve one or more articles, the defeated articles would go to a third session for a final decision.
Caldwell said that, while he likes the current traditional town meeting process, he appreciates the arguments of those who want to expand participation in the decision-making process. He acknowledged that young people with families, elders, and those who spend the winter in warmer climates may find it difficult or impossible to attend town meeting, and having the questions on a ballot allows them to vote without having to sit through a long meeting or attend a meeting during a pandemic.
The problem with SB2, he said, is that participation at the deliberative session drops because people know they will not be voting at that time, which leaves fewer people to make the decisions on what form an article takes when it goes onto the ballot.
Bristol’s John Root, who helped craft SB2 and get it through the legislature, also was looking at it as a way to better control spending. Caldwell maintained that it hasn’t worked out that way because of flaws in how the process works. RSA 40:13 provides for a default budget to take effect if voters turn down the proposed budget, but the formula for determining the default budget is vague and often results in the default budget being higher than the originally proposed budget. Voters who want to control spending are left with little choice.
The Newfound Area School Board has exploited a provision in the law that allows the preparers of the default budget to determine what constitutes an ongoing expense, deciding to include capital improvement items that voters have never had a chance to approve. The state legislature has made several attempts to amend the law to better specify what constitutes a default budget item, but Caldwell maintained that it has not been successful in closing the loopholes.
While SB2 contains a provision to hold another meeting to address a defeated budget, no Official Ballot community has taken advantage of that opportunity, relying instead upon the default budget.
Caldwell’s proposal would eliminate the default budget entirely by having voters return to decide what figure to approve if they do not go along with the proposed budget. The same would hold true for any article that voters fail to ratify.
While the third session would require people to attend in person, by addressing only defeated articles, the meeting would not be as long, and probably would be taking place in better weather, which means more people would be able to participate, Caldwell said.
Process
RSA 49-B outlines how to establish a home-rule municipal charter. Selectmen may place an article on the warrant, or a group of citizens obtaining 25 signatures by Dec. 15 could have it placed on the warrant as a petitioned article.
The question to the voters would simply be “Shall a charter commission be established for the purpose of establishing a municipal charter?”
Should the voters approve the article, the town would set a date for a special election to seat a nine-member charter commission, and interested candidates would file for the position with the town clerk. Once established, the charter commission would have until Oct. 15 to develop a preliminary report, holding at least two public hearings prior to submitting the report. The commission has the option of recommending that no charter be adopted, or it would submit a draft charter as part of the preliminary report.
State officials would review the preliminary report to ensure that it meets all legal requirements, and if there are any objections, the charter commission would have 30 days to make any necessary changes. Once approved by the state, the commission would file a final report by Jan. 15.
The charter commission would continue to exist for 60 days after it submits the final report to municipal officers, or until the vote on the charter takes place. The law provides that the commission could continue for another year if it was unable to meet the deadlines for submitting reports in its first year, but it could not exist beyond a second year.
The commission’s home-rule municipal charter would appear on the town warrant for voters to decide at town meeting. In Bristol’s case, if voters agree to establish a charter commission at the March 2021 Town Meeting, they would have a chance to approve or reject the charter in March 2022.
Selectmen expressed support for the home-rule charter option and said they would place the question on the next town meeting warrant.
Author’s Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I am the Tom Caldwell referred to above, so feel free to view the official video of the meeting at https://vimeo.com/476147350.
