The Town Council still needs to finalize the wording for the non-binding referendum that will be on the June 14 ballot and will poll voters about what kind of government they prefer.
David L. Hale of PalmerPALMER –The fiscal 2012 budget and a non-binding question asking residents if they want a return to selectmen and town meetings were some of the matters tackled by the Town Council at its meeting Monday.
Councilors had little to say about the fiscal 2012 budget, which features two new part-time positions for $12,000 – a recreation director and economic development director – and the elimination of a police officer.
The total proposed budget for next fiscal year is $30.34 million, a decrease from this year’s appropriation of $31.69 million.
Acting Town Manager Patricia A. Kennedy said there are no layoffs on the municipal side, and that the police officer reduction is due to an upcoming retirement. She said the municipal side was cut about $45,000, the library was cut $24,000, and the schools were cut $442,728, bringing that department’s budget to $14.1 million.
Kennedy cautioned that numbers could change, as the town has not yet received its local aid numbers. She said she included the recreation director to satisfy the charter requirement; the town has not had a recreation director in the six years the charter has been in existence.
Regarding the charter, David L. Hale’s request to place a non-binding referendum on the June 14 election ballot asking voters if they prefer the former selectmen-town meeting form of government was approved unanimously by the council, although it still needs to decide on the exact wording. Only councilor Michael R. Magiera was absent.
At-large Councilor Paul E. Burns said there should be three questions: Do you favor the current town manager-council form? Do you want a return to selectmen and town meetings, or do you want a mayor and town council? Voters could check yes or no to each question.
Burns, who chaired the last Charter Commission, said he thinks the mayor question is important, and cited communities similar in size to Palmer such as North Adams and Easthampton that have mayors.
He also told Hale that having the question on the ballot does not resolve the issue, and that Hale would once again have to collect enough signatures to get a charter review question on the ballot, the first step in the process.
Three years ago, Hale led a successful petition drive to get a question on the ballot asking for a charter revision. The question passed, and a nine-member Charter Commission was elected to review the charter. That review led to a reduction in town councilors from nine to seven, and moving the annual election from November to June. Meanwhile, Hale has maintained that the majority of people who signed his petition wanted to return to selectmen and town meetings.
Hale objected to Burns’ idea of adding the mayor option.
“The town’s too small for that, and nobody wants it,” Hale said.
Raymond P. Domey, who also served on the Charter Commission, supported Hale’s request, saying he thinks the commission may have been “rushed” in its decision to move forward only with the town council-manager form. The council will take up the wording of the non-binding referendum at its April 11 meeting.