9.25.23 Special Charter

Fall River Government TV Sep 26, 2023 YouTube Report Issue

The Special Charter Review Committee convened on September 25, 2023, with Vice Chair Dan Robillard presiding. A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to public input regarding recall provisions, with a resident proposing several amendments to Section 8.5 of the charter, including changes to the timeline for recall elections and the eligibility of recalled officials to run again. Committee members discussed First Amendment rights and past legal decisions, ultimately deciding to maintain the current approach to recall elections, which separates the recall vote from the subsequent election to fill a vacancy. The committee also approved the August 28th meeting minutes unanimously. A key discussion revolved around a legal opinion from Corporation Council clarifying the difference between public meetings and public hearings. The committee decided, by a unanimous vote, to hold at least one public hearing on the final draft of their recommendations before submitting it to the City Council. Additionally, the committee made several amendments to the charter draft, including expanding the definition of 'emergency' to include specific examples like inclement weather and natural disasters, clarifying the definition of 'year' to 'calendar year (January to December),' and adding a definition for 'fiscal year (July 1st to June 30th).' They also voted to reduce the City Council's confirmation period for mayoral appointments from 45 to 30 days and to explicitly state that candidates for Mayor and School Committee must be 'residents' rather than just 'voters.' Further changes included striking an archaic sentence from Section 2-3 regarding city employees vacating positions to serve on the City Council and modifying the first sentence of that section to state that no City Council member shall hold any other compensated City position. These prohibitions were also mirrored for the School Committee. The committee also clarified the City Council's access to information, adding 'budget' to the scope of investigations into city agencies and specifying that school committee members or employees can only be requested to appear before the City Council for budgetary issues. The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for November 6th or 20th.

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