Kennebunk Charter Commission proposing town council government: Here's why.

KENNEBUNK, Maine — The Charter Commission soon will present its final report to the Select Board and recommend a new form of government for the town and a more structured process for recalling elected officials.

The commission is expecting to approve its final report on July 24 and deliver it to the Select Board on Aug. 6. The Select Board that evening is expected to have its first read of the proposal and, from there, hold public hearings and decide whether to advance the commission’s work to the voters in November.

Earlier this summer, the Commission approved the charter proposal it recommends putting before voters.

Commission Chair Christian Babcock, Vice Chair Richard Smith, Secretary Janice Vance, and Town Clerk Merton Brown recently outlined their group’s proposal during an interview at the Kennebunk Town Hall.

The proposed revised charter is the product of a process that began in early 2023 and involved bi-monthly meetings, research of many other municipalities, and opportunities for public input, including a poll earlier this year that Babcock said proved influential on the commission’s final recommendations.

“None of this has been a closed-door process,” Babcock said.

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Charter Commission recommends Town Council form or government

In its report, the commission recommends a town council-town manager form of government, albeit one in which voters would retain their final word when it comes to municipal budgets and proposed borrowing.

Currently, Kennebunk has a Select Board form of government, in which voters approve budgets, borrowing, and land-use measures.

“The commission felt it was important for voters to continue to make these financial decisions for themselves at the annual municipal election, so it opted not to give the Town Council this ability,” the report states.

Under this proposed new form of government, the Council would be given new authority to approve or reject land-use proposals, something that is currently in the voters’ domain. As a “guardrail,” however, voters would be provided with a process to overturn such decisions, if they see fit, according to Vance.

“You can get a petition,” Vance said. “It’s not like the Town Council would be the king of the hill, making a final decision. There’s still a mechanism for the members of the public.”

The Council would also be given limited power to draw from the town’s undesignated fund balance during emergencies – an ability the current Select Board does not have and could have used right after the two storms in January that caused significant damage in the community, according to the commission members.

The new charter would call for the Town Council to have a plan for replenishing any funds it would withdraw to address an emergency, according to Babcock.

The proposed charter revisions also provide more detailed descriptions of such municipal positions as town clerk and finance director.

Some aspects of municipal life would not change if voters approved the proposed new charter in November. For example, voting days would be held the same way they are held now, but they will be called town elections, instead of town meetings. As well, the duties and responsibilities of the town manager will be “virtually unchanged,” according to the commission’s report.

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Commission recommends changes to recall process

The commission also recommends four steps for recalling elected officials.

“The big change is really around the recall,” Babcock said. “We spent a lot of time formulating a process and procedure for running a recall where very little process and procedure exists today.”

Indeed, it was the recall of an RSU 21 School Board member in 2022 that provoked the formation of the commission the following year.

Voters handily rejected that recall effort, and the School Board member continued to serve out his term. However, the process leading up to the election divided the community, exposed deficiencies in the Town Charter, and even led to a legal battle in which the town of Kennebunk bested RSU 21 in court.

In its report, the commission says it created the four-step process to ensure all proposed recalls are justified and fair and to give the public the opportunity to be fully informed about the facts of the situation.

For the first step, the person seeking a recall – the “agent,” according to the report – would need to file with the town clerk a notice of intention, complete with 500 signatures from registered voters and an explanation of why the elected official should be removed.

Secondly, a public hearing would be held so that residents and the Town Council can hear and discuss the agent’s reasons for filing the notice. If, after this hearing, the agent still decides to proceed, the town clerk would issue petition forms.

Thirdly, on those forms, the petitioner would need to collect 1,000 signatures and would have to abide by strict deadline requirements. Once the signatures are submitted at Town Hall, the Town Clerk would validate and certify them.

If the signatures are successfully validated, the town would put the recall to an official vote, either during a special election or an upcoming regularly scheduled election. The election would be required to have a minimum turnout of 3,000 voters to be official, the commission states in its report.

Smith called these steps a “much more well-defined process than was there before.”

“Hopefully, we covered all the bases,” Smith added. “I think we certainly addressed most of what caused the great consternation the last time.”

During their interview, the commission members expressed satisfaction with the result of their efforts. Add everything up – the meetings, the research, the discussion and debates, the public forums and polling, the crafting of recommendations – and you have a process and final product for which Vance provided a memorable description.

“If nine people could give birth to one baby, that is it,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk Charter Commission proposing town council government: Here's why.