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| By Courtney Llewellyn Reminder Assistant Editor EAST LONGMEADOW Residents of East Longmeadow: are you happy with the town's charter? Do you want to see it changed? The Charter Review Advisory Committee wants to know. The Board of Selectmen established the committee in January 2008 with the purpose of collecting data, questions and suggestions from the public and other sources regarding the present structure of town government. The committee was also to research, discuss, debate and propose possible alterations, modifications or reconstitution of the town's municipal government. "We've been getting no interest," committee chair Jack Claffey said. In the nine months since the committee was formed, the members have only received one e-mail and one letter concerning the charter. "The Board of Selectmen established the committee because the last charter change proposed in 2005 was defeated soundly [by voters]," Claffey explained. He said it wasn't because of changing the charter itself but because voters didn't agree with certain changes. Those voters have not been sharing their opinions, however. "The silence from the residents in town is deafening," Claffey said. "There's been no will to make substantial changes ... because they're either satisfied or just complacent with the current charter." The Charter Review Advisory Committee met twice a month from February through June and once a month from July through September, and all meetings save one were broadcast on ELCAT. Claffey said it's been disturbing for both himself and the committee to get no input in that time. Not a single resident attended a public meeting which took place June 16 to gather input. "Being a former selectman, I had concerns about efficiency in town government," Claffey stated. "The format we have in East Longmeadow is basically self-governance, through things like Town Meeting. We're looking for [input for] incremental changes [to the charter]. My term as a selectman gave me insight into where our government works and where it could be streamlined." Members of the committee will be meeting with the Board of Selectmen on Oct. 7 to seek direction. Claffey said from that meeting, the committee will decide what to do next -- continue trying to gather information, disband or something else. "There is a level of disappointment," Claffey said. "There were no preconceptions about what we wanted changed. We're disappointed with the high level of complacency and apathy." Citizens are still encouraged to submit recommendations and questions to the Charter Review Advisory Committee via e-mail at charter@eastlongmeadowma.gov. |