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Will Vote No

I’ve lived in this wonderful town of Chester for 70 years and witnessed many changes; some good, others we may have been better without. As your “homegrown” selectman, I’ve been asked to publicize my perspective on the proposed charter. I do not support it and will vote no.

I do thank the Charter Commission for the time and effort they’ve given over the past year on this challenging exercise. Charters are common in cities and large towns, uncommon in small towns like ours. The benefits any charter can provide are contingent, of course, on how it’s crafted.

This proposal will not correct poor attendance at town meetings or lack of desire to serve on boards. For the record, all boards and commissions are over 97% full. Do we really want the potential for three of five selectmen choosing who will serve on critical boards or passing ordinances without a town vote, which can shape the future of our town? I would hope not! Such decisions should be the choice of the taxpayers! Let’s keep the alternate positions and critical boards as elected.

With close to a year under my belt as a selectman, I’m most comfortable with the budgeting process and the oversight of the Board of Finance. Let’s keep our checks and balances.

Do we need a town administrator? Debatable, but if we do, that can be done without a charter. Be prepared to add $150,000 to the budget, though ($175,000 including overhead, less the decreased first selectman cost, and add two selectmen).

I feel it’s obvious that our town is very split on this. That deeply troubles me, and tells me it’s not right. I’d hope such a significant change in government would only be made if supported by 80 to 90% of the voters.

Paul Radicchi

Chester

Paul Radicchi is a member of the Chester Board of Selectmen