Ogunquit News
Ogunquit residents: Charter Review Commission wants your input
Jan. 31
By Melissa Wood
OGUNQUIT - Members of the Charter Review Commission would like to hear from you as they take a look at the charter to determine if any changes should be made.Every five years, the commission is charged with reviewing and recommending revisions. The current charter was adopted in 1991 and has been revised four times since.
The commission will hold a public meeting on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at the Dunaway Center to solicit feedback from residents about issues they would like to see addressed in the present charter.
The Charter Review Commission held its first meeting on Jan. 3, identifying what Chairman Herbert Hoffman called a "laundry list" of issues. The group decided there were four major issues that it should focus on in its review.
Those issues are accountability, meaning who is responsible for charter items to be carried out; the tax schedule and whether payments should be divided up and how that would impact the fiscal year; whether committees such as the Budget Review Committee should be elected or appointed, and whether the charter should address the town's hiring process by specifying things such as the interview process and job descriptions.
According to the commission's secretary, Lesley Matthews, an example of the accountability issue is that although the charter requires the town have a purchasing agent, it doesn't have one at the moment. A purchasing agent is being trained, but at the moment departments are responsible for their own purchasing.
Matthews said the accountability issue did not mean that anyone was at fault, but rather that people don't know what is required by the charter.
"Whose responsibility is it to make sure people are aware that something's in the charter?" she asked.
At that first meeting the members also outlined their process for review, deciding that the commission would address two sections at a time, starting with the preamble and first two sections.
Hoffman said the group encourages input from all citizens during the review process.
In an effort to get feedback from residents, the commission has set up an email account, charter@townofoqunquit.org, for citizens to send comments to the commission.
"Every member of the commission has access to those emails," said Hoffman.
He added that there would also be a comment box at Town Hall and that all public hearings would be televised on local public access channel, WOGT.
"We're operating this commission in a totally transparent fashion," said Hoffman, who said that residents can also speak to commission members at any time that's convenient.
Joining Hoffman and Matthews on the Charter Review Commission are elected members Vice Chairman Bernie Spears, Dale Dickson, Michael Score and Greg Titman, and appointed members Selectwoman Jackie Bevins, Don Wunder and Roger Brown.
The review is a year-long process. The commission is required to file a preliminary draft after nine months and a final draft within 12 months to the Board of Selectmen. The selectmen then determine how the changes will be addressed on the next warrant articles.
The first Ogunquit town charter was approved by the Maine Legislature in 1913, officially forming the Ogunquit Village Corporation, which became the town of Ogunquit in 1980.
The document not only established Ogunquit, but, according to the current preamble, also clarifies "the rights and responsibilities" of the town and adds others as "required by present need and by changes in State Statutes." Among the rights and responsibilities it outlines are the powers of the town, procedures for meetings and rules for elections.
The current charter is available for review online at the town of Ogunquit's website, www.townofogunquit.org.
