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City Council ponders possible charter change By Christopher Roberson
D
irector Stephen McGoldrick of the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management and his colleague Marilyn Contreas recently went before the City Council to discuss the possibility of updating the City Charter, which is now 102 years old.
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Gov. Baker addresses North Shore Chamber on housing, opioids and land redevelopment
nine” members who would meet “10 to 12” times and develop a 30-page charter document to present to the council. The council would then forward that document to the state legislature for final approval. “It’s complicated stuff, but we know what you can do and what you can’t do,” said McGoldrick. Contreas underscored
Gov. Charlie Baker (center) with members of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce at their recent breakfast meeting. The governor addressed the chamber on many key issues for the commonwealth, including housing and the opioid epidemic. (Advocate Photo by Christopher Roberson)
By Christopher Roberson
D Stephen McGoldrick and Marilyn Contreas of the Collins Center at UMass Boston met with the City Council on May 10 to discuss options for revising the City Charter. (Photo Courtesy of PAT)
During the May 10 meeting, Councillor-at-Large David Gravel said City Solicitor Michael Smerczynski had offered two options for charter revisions. The first option would be to elect a Charter Commission. Gravel said that option “had a lot of tripwires in it in terms of being able to move forward.” The second option would be to form a committee of appointed members to write a Special Act. “Going the Special Act route is a lot more efficient,” said McGoldrick. “You don’t have to go through the election of a nine-member commission.” He also said Special Acts are much more common. “We’ve seen hundreds of Special Acts,” he said. McGoldrick also said the Collins Center is currently assisting Lynn and Methuen with charter revisions and both of those communities have appointed committees. He said the committee would consist of “seven to
the gravity of implementing a charter change. “It’s not like an ordinance where you change it as conditions change,” she said. “It’s very difficult to go in with a scalpel and extract certain things. These survive administrations – many administrations.” Contreas said revising the charter is the only way to keep the document specific to Peabody. “If you rely on state law, it’s kind of like generic cereal: It comes in one flavor and that’s what you get,” she said. “This is a chance for you to add fruit or something.” Contreas also said the council itself could vote to make some changes de pending on where they are in the charter. In addition, McGoldrick said the process would also involve reviewing and possibility repealing prior Special Acts if they are outdated. He
COUNCIL | SEE PAGE 5
uring his recent breakfast meeting with the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Gov. Charlie Baker spoke to members about housing, the opioid epidemic and redeveloping unused state-owned land. Regarding land redevelopment, Baker said an inventory
was conducted and found numerous tracts of land that were vacant. He said one location in Beverly went from a project proposal to a brick-and-mortar development in less than one year. “For Massachusetts, that’s like Star Wars speed,” said Baker. He called attention to another site in North Reading that had been dormant for 20 years
– now there are 400 units of senior housing. “We’ve probably done 100 of these projects over the past three years,” he said. “Over time, it creates momentum where there wasn’t any.” Speaking about the opioid epidemic, Baker said Massachusetts was the first state in the
GOV. BAKER | SEE PAGE 2
Lady Tanners softball win 13 straight
Peabody’s Kelsie Blake slides in safely at second base against Beverly during the Tanners’ 8-1 blowout over the Panthers. Monday’s win brought the Tanners softball team’s flawless season record up to 13-0. See story and photos on page 8. (Advocate photo by Greg Phipps)