1. Northampton Charter
Review Committee
Councilor Jesse M. Adams(Vice-Chair)
Colleen Currie (Secretary)
Councilor Marianne L. LaBarge
Councilor David A. Murphy
Alan Seewald (Chair)
Margaret Striebel
Marc
Warner
1March 7, 2011
City Council
City of Northampton
212 Main Street
Northampton MA 01060
RE: Report of Charter Review Committee
Dear President and Councilors:
Please accept the following as the report the Northampton Charter Review Committee,
which was formed in accordance with Chapter 22b(4) of the Ordinances of the City of
Northampton. The Ordinance provides as follows:
At least once in every 10 years, in every year ending in a zero, the City Council
shall conduct a comprehensive review of the City Charter via a special Charter
Review Committee comprised of three Councilors and four residents to be
appointed by the City Council President. Within one year following the
appointment of its members, said Committee shall file a written report to the City
Councilor outlining its review and recommending any changes to the City Charter
that it deems necessary or desirable for the effective function of government in
the City of Northampton.
The Northampton charter, adopted in 1883, establishes and defines the structure of our
city government. Over the intervening one hundred and twenty eight years,
Northampton, the administration of its government, and the provision of government
services have changed, but the fundamental structure of the charter has not. While the
charter has been amended incrementally through special acts of the state legislature, the
fundamental organizing elements of the charter have not been modified to reflect
contemporary complexity, practice, or procedure. Two proposed charter revisions, in
1973 and 1995 were unsuccessful. The current Charter Review Committee (CRC),

2. City Council
City of Northampton
March 7, 2011
Page 2 of 5
convened in April, 2010, has gathered information, held public hearings, and reviewed,
studied and debated our current charter. The recommendation of the Committee is that
the City Council appoint a committee to revise and rewrite a special act charter
addressing the existing charter’s archaic and inadequate aspects. Also noted by the
Committee was the recommendation of the Best Practices Committee that the charter be
reviewed, revised and rewritten for accessibility and transparency.
The Charter Review Committee met initially with Marilyn Contreas of the Department of
Housing and Community Development to understand the Committee’s mandate, and the
statutory and recommended public processes for effecting charter revision. Ms. Contreas
outlined the two processes open to communities for such revisions: (1) a Home Rule
Charter process, which requires a petition by fifteen percent of registered voters to
request the election of a Charter Commission, a vote by the electorate on the question of
whether to establish a Commission and, to the extent that the voters decide in favor of
that question, the election of Commissioners, and final electoral acceptance of the
proposed charter; and (2) a Special Act Charter, which involves the City Council
appointing a Charter Committee, and Council, state legislature, and, in most cases, city
electoral approval of the proposed charter. Ms. Contreas also provided examples of
recent charters from communities across the Commonwealth. The Committee reviewed
those charters to understand contemporary models, approaches, and the scope and detail
of modern charter content.
The Committee requested written comment from Northampton’s department heads to
better understand the charter’s application, relevance, and deficiencies as they pertain to
departmental operating procedures. The written responses of department heads were
sent to the City Council President and/or Council clerk, and are therefore available to the
Council. Comments and concerns included incorrect or outdated statutory references,
archaic mandated intra-departmental relationships or accountabilities, outdated and
incorrect references to stipulated procedural requirements or current law.
The Committee invited current and prior mayors, city councilors, school committee
members and trustees of the Smith Vocational-Agricultural High School to a public
forum to gather input concerning issues with the existing charter, its impact on city
governance, and thoughts as the best approach for revising the charter. The Committee
also held a public forum to gather the same information from residents of the City.
Neither forum was well attended. However, in addition to the written comments from
department heads, the issues raised by Committee members, past and present public
officials, and members of the public included:
● The charter is an anachronistic document, inaccessible to the average
citizen.

3. City Council
City of Northampton
March 7, 2011
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● There are numerous provisions that are outdated and inaccurate in their
content, internal inconsistencies, and operational detail more appropriately
left to the legislative process. Simply put, there are numerous provisions
in our charter that do not belong in a charter.
● A charter should provide the basic framework of a government’s structure,
identifying positions to be elected or appointed, the size, term and
composition of the legislative body, appointing authority, operating and
capital budget responsibilities, and organization of departments.
● A charter, like a constitution, should assure an appropriate separation and
allocation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. In
particular, review should address the present practices of the Mayor
chairing City Council and School Committee meetings.
● The current structure is disjointed, with the charter specifying mayoral
authority, and the City Council’s authority being more fully described in
ordinances. There should be one integrated document outlining our city
government.
● Given the significant statutory and public accountability associated with
city administration, consideration should be given to whether certain
professional positions in city government should be appointed rather than
elected.
● Frequent re-election campaigns do not allow sufficient time to become
familiar with and effective in office, pose financial burdens on candidates
and city finances, and deter broad participation in city government. A
review should include the length of terms for the mayor and councilors, as
well as the number of terms which may be served.
● Consideration should be given to the appropriate Council leadership
structure, in particular whether there should be a president and vice-
president to ensure leadership continuity.
● The number of signatures required for candidates to be placed on the
ballot was thought to be inadequate, and is recommended for review.
After consideration of the two processes available for charter revision, the Charter
Review Committee recommends a special act charter. The home rule charter process
requires a special election to constitute a Commission and another to vote on the final
charter. The time line for a home rule charter is also stipulated: within eighteen months of
its election the Commission must file a final report, which is then submitted to the

4. City Council
City of Northampton
March 7, 2011
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Attorney General for legal review prior to its being placed on the ballot. The process is
highly structured, lengthy and costly.
A special act charter, on the other hand, provides for the City Council to appoint a charter
committee. The committee drafts and recommends a revised charter to the Council, and
the Council requests its approval by the state legislature. It is common for the charter to
also be presented to the voters for approval.
The Charter Review Committee would further recommend to the Council that the charter
committee:
● be a large committee with broad representation, geographically,
economically, racially;
● have a strong educational component for the community;
● provide broad notice to the community of meetings, public
hearings, etc.;
● be transparent in its constitution and proceedings.
The committee recommends that the approval of the state legislature be subject to
ratification of the new charter by the voters. Finally, we would recommend that the
charter committee be provided with a budget, staff, and the ability to hire consultants.
In conclusion, the Charter Review Committee recommends a new charter, and a charter
review process of broad outreach, one encouraging community engagement in how we
govern ourselves. The current charter is opaque and inaccessible, inflexible and
inadequate to meet the contemporary complexities of governing well and responsibly. It
is time for change, and the Committee urges the City Council to take action on our
recommendations with a sense of the opportunity charter revision represents for our
community now and in the future.
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Seewald
Chair

5. City Council
City of Northampton
March 7, 2011
Page 5 of 5
xc: Northampton Charter Review Committee