Voters will also be asked to approve a change that would transfer chairmanship of City Council meetings from the mayor to the council president.
NORTHAMPTON – The City Council voted Thursday to add a ballot question on the proposed charter changes to the Nov. 6 election, though it appears it will be at Northampton’s expense.
The question asks residents if they approve of a number of changes to the charter under which Northampton operates, a document created in the 1880s. More notable changes include the extension of the mayoral term from two to four years and the transfer of chairmanship of council meetings from the mayor to the council president.
The original plan was for the state to put the question on the Nov. 6 ballot along with the presidential and senate races, but the Secretary of the Commonwealth informed the city last month that it had missed the June 1 deadline for submitting such a question. The charter changes must be approved by the Legislature before they can go before the voters. The House of Representatives is still studying the document.
Although the state insists it told the city clerk and city solicitor of the deadline in May, Northampton officials maintain that they were notified long after the fact. Mayor David J. Narkewicz has sent a public records request to Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin seeking proof of the May notification. There has been no response to date.
City Clerk Wendy Mazza told the council she will have to hire additional poll workers to oversee the ballot question, but officials have not yet ventured an estimate of the cost.
The council rejected a request by the Department of Public Works to include a question about plowing private ways on the charter change ballot. The city has historically plowed a number of streets that are not public rights of way, but the state has ruled this practice illegal.
However, City Solicitor Alan Seewald has advised the council that the plowing question cannot be included on a special ballot. The earliest it can come before voters is the next municipal election in 2013.
The council is scheduled to take a second and final vote on the charter ballot at its next meeting on Sept. 20.