Natick's Form of Government

A charter commission is a multiyear project. First, 15% of the town's registered voters must sign a petition to put the question of whether to elect a Charter Commission at a regular local election. On that same ballot, voters will elect 9 candidates to serve on the commission. The commission then must hold public meetings, publish a preliminary report in a local newspaper, provide reports to the Attorney General and, within 18 months, submit a written report to the Select Board. They could recommend the same form of government with some structural changes, a town council form of government or a city form of government.

Although the Charter and Bylaw Review Committee has worked assiduously to make necessary reforms through charter and bylaw changes, I wonder if this form of government is efficient enough for an enterprise with a budget of almost $200,000,000.

On the legislative side, Natick has a record of numerous town meeting members running in uncontested elections. Of those who are elected, some don't attend at all, and some do not attend the entire multi-night meeting. There are varied reasons for this: for some, Annual Town Meeting is a social gathering and they do not return after the first night; there are no penalties for missing town meetings, as there are in six other Massachusetts towns with representative town meetings; we have a good number of people who have moved to Natick in the last ten years from outside New England who do not understand this form of government or how it works.

On the executive side, I have had conversations with residents about the reasons they will not run for office: too much time; do not understand what the Select Board (or Planning Board, for example) does; do not believe their participation makes a difference. The town must do a better job educating its residents about opportunities to serve and volunteer, and time involved. The Natick 101 series is a great first step, as will be the digital "welcome" kit for new residents.

If we don't have enough volunteers to sit on boards and committees and run for town meeting, we may have to look at another form of government. I'd like to see if we can't respond to some of the issues mentioned above (including welcoming new residents with a description of how our government works and what boards and committees have vacancies), and encourage more participation from residents.