Non-binding ballot question could affect Gardner City Charter - what you need to know

Voters will be asked to weigh in on proposed changes to the Gardner city charter when they head to the polls on Nov. 7.

A non-binding ballot question will ask voters whether they support a measure that would request the City Council to submit a home rule petition to the Massachusetts Legislature to approve pending amendments to the city charter.

A “yes” vote would mean the voter would like to see the City Council send the home rule petition to the state for a vote of approval by that governing body. A “no” vote would indicate the voter would not like to see the home rule petition be submitted to the state legislature.

The city’s charter was drafted in 1921 and took effect two years later. The charter has been amended a handful of times since then. The pending changes were approved by the City Council on Aug. 29.

Voters can compare the current city charter with the proposed amendments.

Why are changes to the Gardner city charter being proposed

The majority of the proposed changes are aimed at updating the language in the City Charter and ensuring that city laws are not in conflict with state law.

In an informational video posted on the city’s website, Mayor Michael Nicholson said he established a Special Act Charter Drafting Committee in August 2022 and tasked the members with reviewing the document and soliciting public input on any proposed changes or updates.

“It’s a good document overall, it’s just (we wanted to determine) is there anything that could be updated to fit our modern times now that we’re 100 years into the document’s usage,” Nicholson explained.

How many changes are being proposed

After 52 changes to the document were suggested during a public hearing, the committee voted to put eight before the City Council. The City Council accepted seven of the eight amendments and added an additional one.

Why the city is recommending an amendment for gender-neutral language

The City Council's amendment would make the City Charter a gender-neutral document.

“This (change) is actually something that, according to our City Solicitor and our law department, that the state is requiring all municipalities to do when they put forward acts like this to change their city charters as a way to make the documents more inclusive,” Nicholson said.

Two proposed changes to city elections

One of the amendments related to the city election would change the length of time between a city’s preliminary election and general election from four weeks to seven weeks in order to mimic the timeline for state and federal elections.

Advocates say this would put all of the city’s elections on a consistent schedule.

The second election-related amendment would allow for greater flexibility and provide for using online options, including the city’s website and other social media platforms, for publishing the results of the preliminary election.

The current requirement states the City Clerk must publish the results of any preliminary election in a “conspicuous place” in City Hall and in a newspaper published within Gardner.

“That means if we lose The Gardner News, we can’t even go to the Worcester Telegram, the (Fitchburg) Sentinel, the (Boston) Globe or anything like that because the charter specifically says it has to be published within the boundaries of Gardner,” Nicholson explained,

He added that another consideration is City Hall is only open to the public during certain hours. “And for a document like that, you want to make sure the public has as much access to it as possible,” he said.

Additional proposed changes

The other five proposed amendments are to:

1 - Add specific language the mayor needs to file with the city clerk when appointing a person to a position. No such language exists in the charter at this time.

2 - Amends language requiring the full text of ordinances being voted on by the City Council to be published in a newspaper to allow the ordinance to be published "in any manner that may be provided by ordinance."

The amendment would allow a summary of the ordinance to be published after final passage instead of the full text.

3 - Allow the City Council President to serve as Acting Mayor for up to a year, where the previous limit was six months. The amendment would also allow the council president to collect up to 75% mayoral salary if the vacancy is due to resignation or death prior to the end of the term.

4 - Revises two out-of-date sections on public contracts for construction and procurement to compile with the state law.

5 - Revises language to clarify the Superintendent of Schools is appointed as a contract employee by the School Committee, rather than an elected official of the city.

A full list of the proposed amendments can be found here.

Why is this a non-binding question?

The City Council voted to have this question appear as a non-binding question on the ballot following the recommendations of the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office.

The vote on the ballot does not change the city charter, Nicholson stressed.

The vote in Gardner will provide the City Council with the opinion of residents and a ballot vote in Gardner is not required by law. The City Charter can only be changed by an affirmative vote of the state legislature and the signature of the governor.

“The vote that actually changes the city charter is the vote in Boston with the House of Representatives, the State Senate, and (which) needs the governor’s signature,” Nicholson explained. “Even if the voters pass the question on the ballot, the House could fail the question, the Senate could fail to pass the question, or the governor could veto it, in which case the charter doesn’t get changed.”

Because it’s a non-binding question, the City Council could vote to submit the home rule petition even if a majority of residents vote against it. However, there are safeguards in place to ensure that the will of the voters is followed.

Will of the voters to be followed, says Mayor Nicholson

Following the election, the proposal will return to the City Council for a vote to submit the petition to the area’s legislative delegation so they can file it with the state legislature. This would require a two-thirds majority vote on the Council.

If the City Council votes to submit the petition, Nicholson has 10 days to decide to either sign or veto it. A veto ends the process because state law does not allow the City Council to override that.

“If the voters do not pass this question at the election (and) if the City Council were to still vote to send the Home Rule Petition to Boston, I will veto it,” Nicholson said. “That would kill the process completely.”

The city’s legislative delegation isn't under any legal obligation to file the bill with the state, whether the ballot question was binding or not, Nicholson said.

What is a Home Rule Petition?

In Massachusetts, cities have limited powers under state law. A Home Rule Petition is a request from a city for a new type of power from the state legislature. If a proposed Home Rule Petition is passed locally, the city government sends the bill to its state representatives and senators, who seek to pass the bill as a state law that would only affect that one municipality.

More information about the ballot question can be found here on the city's official website.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner City Charter non-binding ballot question to go before voters