Charter Review Committee Agenda1
August 10, 2016, Beginning at 7 PM , Town Hall, First floor Meeting Room
Votes may be taken at any time during the meeting.
Admin
? Review Minutes of August 3, 2016
? Tally
Remaining To Present ................................. 8
Remaining To Complete .............................. 6
Completed ............................................... 201
Total ........................................................ 215
? Completed:
Accepted .................................................... 55
Referred ..................................................... 14
Previously addressed or dismissed .......... 132
Presentations
Sub #
Page
Submitted By
Summary
1
184
7
Michael McCoy
Add a sentence to the end of Section 3-2(d) along the lines of:
The Board of Selectmen shall also appoint department heads, officers,
subordinates, employees, and other appointed members of town government that are nominated by the Town Manager, as provided in Section 4-2(c ). The current wording of Section 3-2(d) does not provide for BoS appointment of department heads, officers, and employees.
2
185
8
Michael McCoy
Clarify wording of Section 4-1(a)The current charter specifies that “The office of the Town Manager shall not be subject to the town’s salary administration plan.” This language is
ambiguous: does “office of the Town Manager” mean only the Town Manager, or does it extend to those employees working for the Town Manager?
If the language read “the office of the Town Clerk,” one would reasonablyassume it applied
3
186
8
Michael McCoy
Revise Section 4-2(e) to read “To conduct or review annual performance
evaluations of all town employee’s subject to appointment by the Board of Selectmen…
The current language of Section 4-2(e) states “To conduct or review annual performance evaluations of all employees subject to his or the Board of Selectmen’s appointment… However, the CRC has already determined that the Town Manager nominates employees, who are then appointed by the Board of Selectmen, so discussion of appointment by the Town Manager is misplaced.
1 The listing of topics that the Chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting is not intended as a guarantee of topics that will be discussed. Not all topics listed may, if fact, be discussed, and other topics, not listed, may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.
Charter Review Agenda for Aug 10, 2016 – page 2 of 3
Sub #
Page
Submitted By
Summary
4
187
8
Michael McCoy
Merge Section 3-4(d) with Section 2-2 and delete Section 3-4(d)
Section 3-4 of the Charter addresses the term of office and responsibilities of the Town Moderator. However, Section 3-4(d), entitled “Deputy Moderator” overlaps and extends Section 2-2, “Presiding Officer”, and describes how Town Meeting should be run in the absence of the Moderator and Deputy Moderator. If Section 3-4(d) does not describe the scope and limitations of the Town Moderator, then it doesn’t belong in a section entitled “Town Moderator.”
5
188
8
Michael McCoy
Revise Section 4-2(f) to read “To fix the compensation of town officers and employees within the limits established by the town budget…
The CRC has determined that the Town Manager nominates, so “appointed
by him” is misplaced. If striking the “appointed by him” term is too broad, consider replacing it with “appointed by the Board of Selectmen.”
6
189
8
Michael McCoy
Revise Section 4-4(b) to reconcile the qualifications of a temporary TownManager when chosen by the Town Manager (“a capable officer”) with the qualifications when chosen by the Board of Selectmen (“a capable person”).
There is no practical benefit to restricting the Town Manager to “officers” when choosing a temporary replacement if the BoS can choose any Groton citizen. Section 4-4(b) should use either “officer” or “person” in both scenarios.
7
190
9
Michael McCoy
Strike "utilize modern concepts of fiscal presentation so as to" from Section 6-4 of the current Charter.
The term “mod

The listing of topics that the Chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting is not intended as a guarantee of the topics that will have been discussed. Not all topics listed may in fact be discussed, and other topics not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.