Is the Town of Madison’s government structure working well? The newly formed Ad-Hoc Charter Revision Commission will spend the next year reviewing and possibly recommending changes to the town’s charter that would be voted on during the November 2020 elections. The town is required to review its charter every 10 years.

With the process now initiated, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) has set itself a deadline of 30 days to appoint members to the commission, which will deliberate and hold public hearings over the next several months as its members mull any potential changes to Madison’s charter.

According to the charge, the commission will “produce an impartial legislative tool that is practical, clear, concise, and upholds the commitment to government transparency.”

The last time a charter review commission was convened was in 2015. Voters rejected a new draft of the charter that year, with about 62 percent voting to reject the changes.

The charter changes rejected in 2015 would have swapped the current Town Meeting, which requires a minimum of 75 voters attending (a historically rare occurrence) with a multi-day opportunity for voters to weigh in, as well as increasing the level of spending that triggers a requirement for Town Meeting approval.

According to Selectman Bruce Wilson (R), the BOS had been speaking informally for some time about possibly appointing a commission.

“There was some concern that we shouldn’t form this commission in an election season,” said Wilson, “but [the commission] is an apolitical body. It’s not driven by party politics.”

The town was not required to review the charter until 2025. One reason for starting the process now, Wilson said, was to take advantage of the presidential election year, which drives overall voter turnout.

“Wherever possible, we try to position important questions in referendum that are going to have a big turnout,” said Wilson.

State law requires that the commission be made up of between 5 and 15 members, only one third of whom can be elected officials. It also requires a balance between political parties.

There is no limit as far as what the commission can or must consider as it looks through the town’s charter, though the BOS is likely to offer its own recommendations.

The commission is required to hold at least one public hearing “prior to the beginning of any substantive work.” A timeline handed out to members of the BOS at the meeting, which town Executive Assistant/Risk Manager Lauren Rhines emphasized was preliminary and could change, indicated that first hearing would take place on Monday, Oct. 21.

BOS members offered some of their own ideas on what might be relevant or important things for the commission to look at.

Wilson said that he hoped the charter might better codify ways that the BOS worked with other boards, particularly the Board of Finance. He said that while he thought the current boards worked well together, it would be good for long-term cooperation in the town if there was a concrete spelling out of how the boards would collaborate and settle their disagreements.

“We might imagine a different set of elected officials where they are unwilling to talk to each other, and in the worst case, the boards could really hold each other hostage,” he said.

Selectman Jean Ferris (R) said that Madison’s growth raised the question of whether or not the town might consider altering its form of government, and possibly look at having a town manager.

“Should we look at having a professional, not an elected person, but hire a professional, based on the size of our town?” she said.

Ferris emphasized that her ideas were not a reflection on the performance of any current or past town officials, but merely the natural evolution of growth.

Selectman Al Goldberg (D) said that lack of turnout essentially made the town meeting format irrelevant, with BOS recommendations passing almost always due to lack of quorum.

The BOS is tentatively scheduled to approve commission members at its regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 23.