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Government Study Committee
Meeting Minutes

Town of Hingham
Government Study Committee
September 13, 2010 Meeting Minutes

Present:  Judith Cole; Phil Edmundson; Edna English; Scott Ford; Irma Lauter; Alec Macmillan; Eva Marx

Chair Judith Cole called the meeting to order at 7:14PM in the Town Hall Building.

The Committee approved the minutes from the July 22nd and August 13th meetings.

Mrs. Cole announced to the group that she has selected Edna English to be her Vice-Chair.

Mrs. Cole welcomed the Advisory Committee liaisons: Jon Asher, Greg MacCune and Dennis Friedman.

The Government Study Committee web site is up and running.  It can be found by going to the Committees page under “Town Government and Services” and following the links.  Phone messages will be transcribed by Lynn Phillips and forwarded to Mrs. Cole and emails will also be forwarded to Mrs. Cole.

Mrs. Cole and Mrs. English presented a draft of study areas for core government. After an extended discussion the Committee members favored a survey of all departments; development of a process to examine findings of the survey. This would be followed by a more in depth examination of selected areas with expectations and metrics to define success.  There was discussion of the possibility of having a warrant article ready for the 2011 Annual Town meeting but there would not be a requirement to have one.

A suggestion was made to contact Kitty Ward to discuss the proposed survey.

Members were asked to submit suggestions for questions to be asked of all department heads to the Chair before the next meeting.
Kate Boland, representing the Hingham League of Women Voters, presented the results of a two and a half year study by the League of Town Meeting.  The study objective was to address best practices to encourage voter participation and informed decision making at Town Meeting.

Ms. Boland reviewed the methodology used:

• An initial questionnaire concentrating on twelve communities’ Town Meeting practices
• Further questioning into practices addressing Town Meeting conduct such as: speaking time; microphone usage; quorum;  the Warrant development process, and whether articles are voted as listed in the Warrant or by lottery
• Hingham’s voters’ responses to the following questions: What changes would encourage you to attend Town Meeting? What resources would be helpful for you to be a better informed voter at Town Meeting?
• Extensive data gathering during the 2010 Town Meeting.  Data was gathered on many items including: the time quorum was reached and lost; number of citizens who spoke vs. elected or committee members, redundancy in comments, and demonstrated need for clarification

She then reviewed the League’s current recommendations:

• “A Citizen’s Guide to Town Meeting”
• A permanent Town Meeting link on Hingham’s website
• A planning calendar for citizens, boards and administration leading up to Town Meeting
• Firmly closing the Warrant on January 20th
• Posting the Warrant publicly on the Town Website ten days after closing

Ms. Boland said the League’s goal for this year, if possible, would be a Warrant Article, sponsored by the LWV of Hingham to amend the Town By-Laws to encourage earlier and more efficient information dissemination concerning Warrant articles.  The proposed article is being finalized and requires the LWV Board to vote before it is shared with the public.
Mrs. Cole thanked Ms. Boland and the LWV for their dedication and hard work over the past two years and the GSC would look forward to a continued working relationship.

Mrs. Cole informed the group that the meeting with the BOS is still scheduled for September 23rd and that she would post a meeting for the entire GSC for 7Pm to continue discussion of the study process the committee will use.

Mrs. Cole informed the group that the next meeting will be September 23, 2010, at 7PM.  In addition, the meeting with the Board of Selectmen is currently scheduled for the September 23rd  BOS meeting.  She will inform the Committee of the exact time.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:23PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Irma Lauter