Town Charter Amendments – Which Should You Approve Or Reject?
Changes to the Town Charter should be made with care. This year there is only one charter amendment on the ballot that should be rejected. The same amendment was rejected in the 2024 election, but the Town Council is asking us to vote on it again.
Please Reject Charter Question 7
7) PLANNING COMMISSION
Shall the Town Charter be amended at Part 14, Commissions and Boards, Article LIII, Planning Commission, §C-172 Establishment and organization; compensation, to provide for a Planning Commission composed of five (5) members elected at large on a non-partisan basis for terms of four (4) years with staggered terms, plus two (2) alternate members elected on a non-partisan basis for terms of two (2) years, subject to ratification of these amendments by special act of the RI General Assembly?
Reject
Why Reject?
If this sounds familiar, it should. Voters rejected this same amendment two years ago, for good reason.
State law requires Planning Commission terms to be staggered so that fewer than half the members are replaced in any one election. Charlestown’s current six-year terms meet that rule. Four-year terms would not: some elections would put three of the five seats on the ballot, enough to replace a majority at once. Long, staggered terms let the same commissioners review a large development through from start to finish. If one election can flip the majority, developers have every reason to back friendly candidates and work to unseat those who protect our neighborhoods and natural resources.
If the voters approve this question, our town will need the state legislature to approve an exemption from state law to allow Charlestown to have faster turnover of its Planning Commission members.
Consider Approval of Charter Questions 8, 9, and 10
8) ORDINANCES
Shall the Town Charter be amended at Part 2, Town Council, Article IX, Ordinances, § C-33, Introduction, to provide, when allowable by law, a summary of the proposed ordinance, including a description of the matter under consideration and the intent and effect of the proposed ordinance be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the Town, with the full text of the proposed ordinance made available on the Town’s official website? The summary shall include directions on where to locate the proposed ordinance.
Approve
Why Approve?
In 2024, the Town Council placed a question on the ballot to entirely “remove the requirement that a proposed ordinance shall be published in a newspaper having distribution within the town and to allow the Town Council to determine the method and nature of such publication in such manner as the Town Council shall prescribe by ordinance to be effective upon passage.”
Last year’s question was criticized because it removed public notice of a new or changed ordinance from the newspaper, and did not define how information would be distributed to the citizens of the town. This year’s version requires at least a summary of the new ordinance language to be published in the newspaper, with clear instructions on where and how to access the text changes.
This will save the town advertising costs, while still providing newspaper notice of ordinance changes.
9) PURCHASING
Shall the Town Charter be amended at Part 6 Finance, Article XXVII Purchasing, § C-103, Policy, Paragraph C, For construction purchases and Paragraph D, For all other purchases, to be increased or decreased annually hereafter at the same rate as the Boston Regional Consumer Price Index, as per R.I. Gen. Law § 45-55-9, as amended?
Approve
Why Approve?
The Town Charter contains fixed dollar amounts such as $3,000 or $5,000 that are spending limits over which the Town must go out to bid for goods or services. These limits are many years old and are not tied to inflation, so the town may have to seek bids even for very small purchases. This Charter change will adjust these limits based on inflation.
10) CHARTER REVISIONS
Shall the Town Charter be revised in the following Sections to remove and/or insert words, terms, and/or phrases to remove scrivener’s errors and/or clarify, correct word usage, terms, and phrases
Consider Approval
Why Approve?
This amendment will fix grammar, remove references to organizations that no longer exist, and make other text changes that we find harmless. We believe if this question passes or fails, it will not make any difference to meaning or interpretation of the Town Charter. If you are not comfortable voting on something without fully reviewing every word, you could simply skip this question.
What is the Town Charter?
It starts with “We the people of the Town of Charlestown, in order to secure for ourselves the right of self-government in all local matters, pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, do adopt and establish this Charter.”
The Town Charter was adopted in 1980 and spells out how the town will be run. Changes to the Town Charter must be approved by the citizens of Charlestown before being adopted by the town. If the amendments are approved, they become part of the Town Charter.