The majority of voters rejected the Charter Commission proposal in yesterday’s election, with 10,912 voting in favor and 12,519 voting against.
We sincerely thank all the members of the Charter Commission for their years of dedication to the study, research, and discussion of the city charter, and hope that they will continue to engage the community in discussion of how to make our local government work better. We also thank the leaders of the Yes for a New Charter campaign for their hard work, positive attitude and focus on this one issue. And of course, we thank all the volunteers who knocked on doors, wrote cards, made phone calls, held signs, and did many other tasks important to the campaign. Despite the loss, we believe this led to important discussions about how our government works and what we value in our representation.
We urge our members to attend a public hearing tonight (Wednesday) in the Council Chambers at Newton City Hall, starting at 7 pm. The Programs and Services Committee of the City Council will begin public discussion of their home rule petition to reduce the size of the City Council to 8 at-large councilors (with residency requirements) and 8 ward councilors. According to the agenda, this is a public hearing.