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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2021-05-03 Minutes Preamble Subcommittee Meeting Watertown Charter Committee Preamble Subcommittee Councilor Palomba, Councilor Feltner, Member William Oates Committee Report May 3, 2021 The Committee convened on Monday, May 3, 2021 at 5:30 pm by Zoom, in accordance with the Governor's Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c.30A, §20, relating to the 2020 COVID- 19 emergency. Individuals could join by zoom or phone by finding the links on the Town's website. Questions or comments can be sent to woates(-r watertown-ma.us. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a Preamble to the Watertown Town Charter. Present were Committee members Councilor Tony Palomba, Councilor Lisa Feltner, and CRC Member William Oates. Also present were Deborah Peterson, Marcy Murninghan, Tyler Kemp-Benedict, Jacky van Leeuwen, Janet Jameson, and Jane Imai. Councilor Palomba opened the meeting with a roll call vote of the Committee members which passed 3-0. Councilor Palomba began by reading an email (attached) from Mike Ward that reviewed the proposal from Marcy Murninghan. In terms of process/timeline his team felt that the magnitude and detail of the preamble would require a review period that the CRC does not have the time for and that if approved by the CRC it might not be approved by the voters, thus "leaving the charter with no preamble and negating all the Committee's work". The team also mentioned that it was too long and provided examples of other preambles noting that a 400 word preamble would be unprecedented. Finally, they expressed concern that the charter should not include specific principles. The Committee then discussed the 2nd draft of a preamble from Councilor Palomba(attached-376 words) as well as articulated a few general points about the purpose of a preamble. These included: 1) While it was a good effort to merge some of the key principals from Marcy Murninghan's draft into Councilor Palomba's original draft, the outcome did not hold together and felt disjointed. 2) Using the principles is a good idea and we should keep the format. 3) We need to remember we want to give clear indication to the reader of what we want our town government to accomplish. 4) We should highlight what is most on people's minds, as expressed at CRC meetings and in comments submitted to the CRC webpage, and incorporate those. 5) We should keep in simple, with simple wording; the wording in the principles is too formal. 6) If we want to use principles we can make them much shorter, maybe capturing the idea in three or four words. 7) One approach would be to see the preamble in three parts—process—principles—priorities/outcomes. 8) There is a commitment to create a new preamble for Watertown that is not simple copying of an existing preamble from another city or town. -2- The Committee and the residents present decided that everyone should draft one final preamble that we would review prior to the next meeting. Everyone was urged to incorporate what they felt were the best elements of the existing preambles previously reviewed at prior meetings. Councilor Feltner made a motion to adjourn which was seconded by CRC member Bill Oates and passed 3-0 on a roll call vote. The meeting ended at 6:30 PM and minutes were prepared by Councilor Palomba. Apologies for the delay. This is in response to your email with the potential draft preambles. For now, we will just address Marcy's draft submission, as you requested that be the priority. While there is some very good text in the opening paragraph of the submission, I discussed the declaration of principles with the full charter team, and we all believe that they are too long to be included in a charter preamble, both as a matter of suitability and process/timeline. On the process/timeline side, getting anything of that magnitude approved by the committee and the council in the short time left would be challenging. In addition, even if it were approved by both and got to the ballot, it will need to pass the voters, and we have concerns about how the voters would react to a detailed set of principles that they may be reading for the first time. We believe voters would be more inclined to vote no, leaving the charter with no preamble and negating all of the committee's work. As a matter of suitability, the length of the full text as a preamble would be relatively unprecedented at about 400 words. For some context, the Preamble to the US Constitution has 52 words. The Massachusetts Constitution's preamble is 263 words (https://male2islature.2ov/laws/constitution#preamble ). The longest Massachusetts municipal charter preambles we are aware of are Framingham (123 words) and Harvard (156 words). We would strongly suggest that Framingham and Harvard are probably at the high end of what should go into a municipal charter preamble. We say all this without comment on the substance of the specific principles themselves. We just don't believe the preamble is the right place for them. Finding a way to incorporate principles like the ones proposed could be valuable as part of a longer vision-setting process, and we can help you and the Committee on ideas for other pathways to that, either within the charter or outside it (assuming there is interest on the committee). Please let me know if you have any questions on this. Sorry again for the delay. We will review the other preambles and provide further comment on them later. Tonv's Second Draft for presentation at the Mav 3 meetinq of the Preamble Subcommittee We, the people of Watertown, acknowledge that the residents of Watertown live on land that is the traditional territory of the Pequossette people. With this Charter we seek a more perfect union to preserve the blessings of live, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and a local government that takes the fullest advantage inherent in the Home Rule Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth. We recognize that common principles provide the foundation for the Charter's goals. Thus the Charter endorses the following principles. The principle of safety and health assure that the basic levels of human and ecological well being are protected and nurtured and that this is paramount to active participation and engagement in government and to carrying out the obligations of self-government. The principle of equity assures that civic conditions and practices provide for the fullest expression of individuals traditionally excluded from power and participation are cultivated and maintained, and that the traditional social and legal practices that have disenfranchised members of some groups from active participation in public life are removed. With these principles in mind we establish this Charter to provide the residents of Watertown vibrant and welcoming neighborhoods, quality and inclusive schools, excellent municipal services, and thriving local businesses. We seek the fair distribution of government resources and guarantee the opportunity for all residents to reach their full potential while caring for one another and promoting the health, safety and welfare of our community. We recognize the impact of our decisions on future generations and commit to practices that foster a sustainable environment. To achieve these goals, we establish a Charter that places a premium on diversity and equity and citizen participation and community involvement. A Charter that calls for the highest standards of good governance and political leadership including integrity, openness, transparency, responsiveness, collaboration, evaluation, and prudence, and ethical, honorable conduct. We place a high priority on continued education and learning, creativity, independent initiative and the application of new ideas and practices in the service of increase performance, adaptive resilience, and the common good. With these practices in place, the residents of Watertown will live and grow in dignity and tranquility.