Charter Commission Public Hearing--Wed, March 16 at 7PM

The Newburyport Charter Commission has released a preliminary report containing proposed changes in the city’s governance and management structure.

The Commission will hold a public hearing on the draft on Wednesday, March 16, at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Auditorium.

The elected Charter Commission has put in a tremendous amount of effort and thought into revising the framework by which Newburyport is governed. They are seeking input before sending a preliminary report to the State for legal review. After review of compliance with existing Massachusetts General Law, the proposed charter would then be on the November ballot for a yes/no vote by the citizens of Newburyport.

Here is what the Charter Commission is proposing:

http://nbptcharterreview.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/5/3/3153072/preliminaryreport_aka_draft_charter_2-28-11.pdf

Here is a link to the current Charter if you need to be reminded what a mess it is:
http://library.municode.com/HTML/11344/level2/PTICHRELA_ARTITHCH.html

If the charter is approved by voters, its provisions would take effect November 2013.