Should Taunton mayor's term be doubled? Voters will decide fate of charter changes.

TAUNTON — Taunton voters will head to the polls in November to decide the fate of an updated city charter.

Mayor Shaunna O’Connell said the state legislature approved and former Gov. Charlie Baker, in one of his final actions as governor, signed off on Taunton’s proposed revisions for its charter.

“The proposed charter is the result of countless hours of robust discussion, consideration and evaluation. Charter Advisory members, city councilors and Taunton residents grappled with the issues contained within the charter and delved deeply into the changes needed to support our vision of an engaged citizenry and a responsive city government,” said Mayor O’ Connell, in a statement to The Gazette.

The city charter is essentially Taunton’s constitution.  If passed by this November’s ballot, this will be the first update to the city charter since 1909.

Councilor Chris Coute, who sat as chair of the Charter Advisory Committee, said in the written statement, “These changes were well overdue and 100 years in the making. This great achievement will bring Taunton up to the 21st Century, where it belongs!”

Not a good time for everyone involved

Back in August 2021, a divided City Council voted to pass changes to the charter proposed by Mayor Shaunna O’ Connell. This was after months of deliberation and going through the charter with a fine-tooth comb by Council for recommendations.

The vote was 5-3, in favor of the changes, with one councilor recusing himself.

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Councilor Barry Sanders was one of the three dissenting votes back in 2021, with ex-councilors Donald Cleary and Deborah Carr being the others.

Sanders recalls the months of meetings with the Council reviewing the charter and debating the proposed changes, only to later be told the recommendations from the Council were non-binding, and it was all up to the mayor.

“We were just there in an advisory capacity, which was shocking to hear, after all the time we spent,” Sanders said.

He said his view on the charter hasn’t changed since the 2021 vote. He explained while he likes the clean up of some language in the charter, and would have voted for specific individual changes, he doesn’t accept the whole package.

“At a minimum, I would have approved of something on a smaller scale, with less changes,” he said.

Changing the elected game

What are these updates being proposed and how do they differ from the original charter?

The most noticeable changes concern establishing term limits, longer terms for elected officials and staggering elections.

Currently, the mayor and councilors serve two-year terms, with term limits only being for the mayor at 12 years (six consecutive terms.)

The updated charter proposes increasing the mayor’s term to four years, with a limit of three consecutive terms, still equaling 12 years.

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All elected boards, including the City Council, Taunton School Committee, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Board of Health, would increase to three-year terms, and not exceed four consecutive terms, also equaling 12 years, under the proposed new charter.

With the changing of term lengths and establishing of limits comes the proposal to stagger elections, making them annual occurrences in the city, instead of every two years, and thereby greatly reducing the number of candidates elected at once.

In the Council’s case, three of the nine seats would be up for election every year instead of all nine every two years.

O'Connell explained the rationale for increasing the mayor’s term from two to four years.

"It gives the mayor the ability to better manage the government as a whole. You've got four years. You can impose financial stability, financial practices, better coordinate departments and policies. So it's better time management,” O’Connell told the Gazette back in 2021.

With the changes proposed to the Council and other elected boards, the logic explained on the City of Taunton’s website is staggered elections annually makes for increased and greater competition among candidates, as well as allows voters to become more knowledgeable about the candidates by thinking of who the best three are, instead of voters trying to determine who the best nine will be each election.

Sanders called a staggered election system “chaotic and unnecessary,” adding that the Council and other elected boards always have a healthy mix of old and new members after every election due to members not running for re-election and officials being defeated by newer faces.

With establishing term limits, proponents for the new charter say it allows for greater opportunity for new candidates with new perspectives.

The proposal for term limits was one of the main bullet points Sanders is against.

“I don’t support term limits in general. I always say we have term limits. It’s called ‘vote for somebody else.’  I think it’s unfair to voters,” he said.

The term limits are consecutive, meaning former elected officials can be reelected after a gap in their tenure, if the voters so choose.

Sanders adds he sees any term limit as detrimental to the ruling board or council who risk losing seasoned political veterans with valuable knowledge, insight and experience, like understanding budgets and other financial processes.

“If the voters decide they want the same person to serve, that’s the right of the voters.  When they get sick of them, they vote them out,” he said.

Oversight by everyone, for everyone

Another big series of proposed changes to the charter is meant to increase accountability and check and balances, as well as give a greater voice and more power to the citizens, supporters say:

• Recall elections for the mayor and elected officeholders would now be clearly defined as possible in the new charter.

• The City Council would gain more oversight by being allowed to conduct investigations and get information from city officers, an ability the Council does not currently possess.

• All vetoes by the mayor have the possibility of being overwritten by the Council through a 2/3 majority vote.

• Referendum and citizens petitions garnering signatures from 15% of the registered voter base would now be allowed to come before the City Council or on a ballot.

This proposed change is one that Sanders likes.

“I liked having some formal process for citizens to be able to put initiatives on the ballot. That makes a lot of sense,” Sanders said.

In addition, a provision would be in place mandating the charter be reviewed every 5 years, instead of every century.

The 24-page proposed new city charter is available to read on the city's website.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton City Charter changes will come before voters in November