A ballot question to consider: are 15 councilors too many? what do you think?

June 22, 2007 at 6:58 am | In 15 precincts, ballot question, barnstable, barnstable charter commission, barnstable town council, cape cod, centerville, charter, charter ballot, city charter, council, councilor, councilors at large, hyannis, janet joakim, janet swain joakim, marstons mills, municpal politics, osterville, politics, population increase, precinct councilors, seven villages, town charter, town manager, town of barnstable |

Thanks to the hard work of a group of citizens the option to put a non-binding question on the ballot was voted favorably by the town council last night. This means the question will appear on the November ballot asking for input regarding the make-up of your town council.

This was prompted by the understanding that the next federal census might bring us to a population count that will increase our precints from 13 to 15.  Meaning, 15 councilors would be sitting on the council.  It is at this point that many cities and towns review their charter and consider alternatives.

The commitee that set forth to find an alternative came up with the following formula.

Five councilors would represent three precincts each, while 4 councilors would be “at large,” representing the entire town.

This means that you would vote for a councilor for your precint, and then vote for 4 others.

The question is non-binding as any changes must go to the state legislature, but the question gives direction to the council.

The question would appear on the ballot as such:

“Shall the Town Council petition the general court for an amendment to the town charter establishing a town council composed of nine (9) members for four-year terms, four members to be elected at large and five members to be elected from districts initially to be composed of three (3) precincts?”
  YES □
  NO □

I am interested in your feedback on this question. 

The council also approved a question for the ballot that places a question regarding the establishment of a charter commission.  More on that, later.

2 Comments »

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  1. I have had several emails on this - many want to know what my feeling is about the council being made up of 9 with four at large and five precinct councilors.

    I personally have very mixed feelings about it.
    It certainly gives each councilor MUCH more ground to cover with regards to civic/village associations etc. There would also be more liaison and other responsibilities- can a councilor be as effective if they are spread out this much?

    The other side of the coin is that so many decisions are now made based on village centricity and that is not always good for the town as a whole.
    In some cases that mean that what might benefit the village and not be in the best interest of the town becomes the direction of many decisions. Is that harmful to our population as a whole?

    Again, I would love to hear more about your thoughts.

    I personally am not sure whether 15 councilors can still work as effectively and at any level of efficiency as 13 as we often find ourselves in late meetings when we are in hearings and debates that call for each councilor speaking to multiple items.

    send me your thoughts! either post here, or shoot me an email as many seem to be doing.. janetjoakim@aol.com

    Comment by jjcc — June 23, 2007 #

  2. This is a good idea IF we have to go to 15. I like the council precinct set-up we have now.
    The charter commission will be a joke if the wrong people are selected to particpate. I don’t want to do it, but I am asking around. Good, reasonable people need to be on that committee for it to work.

    Comment by lesrmore — June 27, 2007 #

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