NS Council revisiting charter, considering changes

NORTH SMITHFIELD — The Town Council will take on a last-minute review of proposed revisions to the town’s charter during two meetings scheduled for Monday and Thursday.

Any proposed changes accepted by the council must be prepared for submission to the Secretary of State’s office by an Aug. 8 ballot deadline for the Nov. 6 general election.

That said, the town council appears to have its work cut out for it with the two separate recommend- ed charters submitted to the panel by the Charter Review Commission.

Paul Vadenais told the council this week that the first recommendation offers a charter based on the town retaining an elected town administrator with some additional charter changes. The second pro- posed charter would enact a change to an appointed town administrator and all the governmental changes that would be needed under that form of local government, according to Vadenais.

“The other has changes that

would be made only if you are going to an appointed professional administrator,” Vadenais said.

The revisions include converting the town to a town council led form of government with that panel holding the authority to appoint the town administrator in charge of town administrative duties. The town president would also serve as the head of town government “for ceremonial purposes.”

The proposed changes include boosting the town council’s membership to seven under one scenario or keeping it at five members, and other revisions reducing the current hybrid seven member school committee to a five member elected body with four year terms.

The charter changes also include revised options for recall petitions, a restructuring of the school committee, and the adoption of a term limit of no more than 8 years for elected officials.

Town Council President John Beauregard said the panel would review the proposed changes at a special meeting scheduled for Monday and a Thursday meeting to be held for required public hearings on negotiated contracts with Council 94 of municipal employees union and the North Smithfield Teachers Association.

The charter recommendations include a statement of the form of town government under both charter proposal options.

The first states:

“The form of town government provided by this charter shall be the administrator-council form of government. Subject only to the limitations imposed by the state constitution and by this charter, all powers of the town shall be vested in an elected town council, which shall enact local legislation, and in an elected town administrator who shall be responsible for the execution of the laws and the administration of the town government. The second states: “The form of town government provided by this charter shall be the administrator-council form of government. Subject only to the limitations imposed by the state constitution and by this charter, all powers of the town shall be invested in an elected town council which shall enact local legislation, and in an appointed town administrator who shall be responsible for the execution of the laws and the administra- tion of the town government.

The town’s recall provision would see the addition of several specific reasons for removal of an elected town official including “(1) willful violation of any provisions of the Town Charter or Ordinance, (2) conviction of a crime, (3) willful neglect of duties, (4) corrupt of willful malfeasance in office and (5) willful misconduct to the injury of the public service.”

The activation of a recall petition would also be made easier by a change from a qualifying threshold of 30 percent of the town’s registered voters under the current provision to a requirement of 30 percent of the “votes cast in the most recent election for the office held by the official named in the petition.”

A provision added to the section pertaining to the appointment of a town budget committee states the panel “shall act in an advisory capacity only.” The panel would continue to be appointed by members of the town council for staggered 3 year terms. The budget committee would also be required to submit is recommendations to the town council on the second Monday of May as opposed to the first Monday in June under the current rule.

Another change proposes that town capital requests would be considered by an asset management commission instead of the planning board as is now the case.

Under the make up of town government, the town council to serve with an elected town administrator would be boosted to a total of seven members serving four year terms, all at large. The panel’s terms would be staggered under groupings of four members and three members coming up for election at one time.

Under proposed changes for the school committee, now a panel with five elected members and two appointed, one member named by the town council and one by the town administrator, the committee would be reduced to five elected members serving staggered four year terms.

In the charter proposal with the option of an appointed town administrator, the town council would be retained at five members serving two year terms. The council would need a twothirds majority to name a town administrator for a three-year initial term. The appointed town administrator would also lose the option of a line item veto on budget matters and also no longer be considered the ceremonial head of local government.