Here is an article from the Courier online. It is clear that since at the first meeting, this committee, according to its minutes, chose to research alternative forms of government, that our form of town government may be at risk. We need to have our voices heard.


Charter Review Committee starts town dialogue
By Charter Review Committee
Fri Aug 14, 2009, 05:02 PM EDT

   
Wareham - The Charter Review Committee, having been given the task of reviewing the current charter and recommending any changes that are deemed helpful, is working on a proposal to appear on the warrant at the spring Town Meeting, 2010. We believe that the voters of Wareham should be informed ahead of time of not only the content of that proposal but the thoughts and considerations that went into it.

We believe, also, that you should have an opportunity to ask questions or ask for clarification, make comments, express concerns and hopes and worries, etc., before being asked to vote “aye” or “nay” on the warrant article.

Therefore, the Charter Review Committee has planned a program of information and interchange that all can participate in.

We will start by informing you, both on the town’s Web site and in the local papers, how the committee approached the options available to us, and our thinking and in-process decisions. Beginning the first week of September, we will outline the recommended changes to the charter. We will offer a variety of different ways for you to give feedback to and get responses from the committee, so that your comments can be shared, your questions answered, and your concerns addressed.

In addition, the committee will be using our local cable TV station, WCTV, as another means to provide you with information, as well as to ask questions and give feedback. We are also planning to hold public meetings at different times to meet the voters’ differing schedule and needs.

The purpose of all this is to keep the committee in touch with voter sentiment and ideas and to help you, the voters, to make an educated decision as to the future of our town.

Look for an explanation of the original options available to the committee in next week’s newspaper.



Wareham Charter Review Committee

Alan Slavin, chair, Mary Ann Silva, clerk,
Leie Carmody, Linwood A. Gay, Jack Houton,
Michael Jones, Edward J. Pacewicz, David Smith

Editor’s note: The Charter Review Committee will run regular informational columns in the Wareham Courier about its progress as it prepares for the annual Town Meeting.

Last edited by Molly (2009-08-15 09:54:18)