Resident proposes regular review schedule for Charter

Date: 9/25/2014

AGAWAM – The last time the Agawam Town Charter was reviewed was back in the early 1970s. Since then, the town has switched to the mayoral/council form of government. A resident has posed the idea to implement reviews as part of the regular duties of the City Council.
   
During the Citizen’s Speak Time at the Sept. 15 City Council meeting, resident Susan Pettazzoni read a letter she sent to the council and Mayor Richard Cohen on Aug. 27 requesting a charter review. She serves as the Clerk for the West Springfield Town Council that conducts a regular review of its Home Rule Charter.
   
“Nothing will harm a community more than ignoring continuous evolution,” Pettazzoni said. “[I propose that the town] institute that the charter be reviewed in every year ending in a zero or six.”
   
Before reading her letter, Pettazzoni acknowledged that many attempts have been made to initiate a review, but that none succeeded for various reasons.
   
Her letter states, “Our Charter was adopted in 1972. Our government went through a major change in 1989, when our current mayor/council form of government was instituted, and to date we have not had a comprehensive review of our Charter. Researching other towns and cities, it has been found that within their Charter(s) there is a provision for reviewing every 6 years or so.  This regulation/law is pertinent for each town relative to adaptation, along with direction, for the future.”
   
It continues, “To continue to serve our community with the best possible governing practices and the assurance of being relevant within the current times, it is time for a Charter Review. The Charter Review Committee should be comprised of a balance of an equal number of members appointed by the following: the Mayor, the Council, and members of the Chamber of Commerce. This would insure an equal balance of areas which impact the stability and growth of Agawam. A suggestion would be three members from each group thereby achieving the desired odd number for the entire group insomuch as there would never be a tie vote.”
   
Reminder Publications asked Council President Christopher Johnson for his reaction to the proposal.
   
He said, “I’m in favor of it. I think that Mrs. Pettazzoni’s suggestion is a very good suggestion. I think the problem that’s happened in the past is that every time you bring up Charter revision everyone jumps to the conclusion of ‘I want to change x and y and z,’ and then you get people that say ‘Well, I don’t agree with x or y or z,’ and then it just stalls. Our Charter was written in 1972. It hasn’t been changed since they switched to the mayor form of government. All they did was substitute ‘mayor’ for ‘manager.’ It really needs to be looked at and updated.”
   
Johnson continued, “I think it’s a good idea to set in, to put into the Charter an automatic review mechanism every five or 10 years. There’s a commission that looks and it and says, ‘Okay it’s up-to-date, or it’s not.’ Like I said, our Charter’s now what, 42-years-old, and it’s gone through two different forms of government and it’s pretty much the same as it was in the beginning.”
   
Cohen declined to comment.