Link back to Government Study Committee page
August 16, 2010
Chair Judith Cole called the meeting to order at 7:14PM in the Town Hall Building.
Chair Cole introduced Thomas T.P. O’Donnell, Hingham Town Moderator for over forty years. Tom provided comments on town government and Town Meeting based on his forty plus years of service to the Town.
• Register voters have increased from approximately 9,500 in 1968 to over 15,000 today.
• The complexity of the issues Town Meeting deals with has increased, especially zoning. Many new issues to deal with: CPC; “affordable housing”; cable TV, etc.
• Tom tries to balance the warrant articles to accomplish Town Meeting in two nights to
keep attendance as high as possible. The longest in his memory was a five night Town Meeting.
• The number of people attending Town Meeting has remained essentially flat, even though the population has grown to over 21 thousand. Single issues can still bring out substantial numbers of voters such as the Ward Street Fields, School issues and the purchase of Lincoln School Apartments
• Tom is optimistic with respect to the current form of government. While moving to a “Mayor” may be more efficient, it dramatically lowers the participation by voters and citizens.
• He still sees a high degree of very qualified volunteers wanting to participate in Town government despite increased pressures on families. He began hosting an “Open House” for potential volunteers in 1970 and the Selectmen joined him shortly thereafter.
• There are as many one issue groups today as there were in the past 40 years, in Tom’s opinion.
• Tom’s favors an Advisory Committee vs. a plain “Financial Committee”. He recognizes the time commitment of the people that serve. He has experienced no issues finding qualified people to serve.
• Moving Committees/Job Titles from elected to appointed may be difficult to accomplish.
• Commenting on the proposed Charter effort of 1973, Tom said it was probably too many and too drastic changes to do at one time.
• Tom was very complimentary of the work done by the League of Women Voters and looks forward to discussions of their proposed initiatives concerning Town Meeting.
• Tom indicated consideration should be given to changes to the speaking limits at Town Meeting to facilitate the meeting. Current limits are 10mins/5mins and potential proposed limits might be 7mins/3mins.
• Some Committees may have gone beyond their “useful life” and perhaps should be discharged with thanks.
Chair Cole thanked Tom on behalf of the Committee for his time and for his long and distinguished service to the Town.
Chair Cole introduced Rocco Llongo, the Town Administrator in Marshfield. Rocco has a long as respected history in various positions in town government in Massachusetts.
Rocco provided a substantial amount of reading material for Committee members.
Rocco provided the Committee an extensive overview of his background and the pluses and challenges of working in different communities with different governing bodies.
• Rocco has worked in communities with and without Charters. Charters come in various forms: Special State Act or Town By-Law.
• Charters become outdated as time passes and communities grow and change. They often need to be updated and this can be an arduous process. Charters run the gamut from excellent and strong to needing significant updating. Rocco provided a number of
examples.
• NE is unique in its forms of government.
• Municipal government has evolved and needs to have certain expertise that in past years was not as critical. For example, with society becoming more litigious, Town Counsel now requires a broader critical skill set.
• Each community has its own culture and the government reflects that.
• Communities are moving away from elected boards to appointed boards.
• Titles can be confusing and need to be clearly defined by a job description/charter or
by-law. Examples given were: Town Administrator; Town Manager; and Chief Administrative officer. In Rocco’s opinion, Town manager is an “attractive title”. It assumes that Town Manager is a “strong manager”, and has the hiring/firing authority; financial responsibility and ability to reorganize departments.
• A “Town Administrator” is a “weaker manager” since it is not codified. The authority of a TA is somewhere between Town Meeting and an “Executive Secretary”. TA positions potentially may attract a weaker pool of candidates should an opening occur.
• The ICMA has a Code of Ethics that all municipal officials are expected to honor. This is in addition to any Code a Town may or may not have.
• Hingham has a reputation as an “affluent” and well-managed community.
• Regionalization is a very significant step for a Town and it is important to carefully select potential partners. Opportunities to investigate are: Board of Health; Police; Fire; veteran’s Services; sharing of large equipment. When questioned about regionalizing of Schools, Rocco indicated that this was an area for potential regionalization; however, would take years of study.
Chair Cole thanked Rocco for his insight and information he shared with the Committee.
Chair Cole informed the group that the next meeting will be September 13, 2010, at 7PM. In addition, the meeting with the Board of Selectmen is currently scheduled for the September 21st BOS meeting. She will inform the Committee of the exact time.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:23PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Irma Lauter