The Tiverton Town Council heard objections from at least one resident Monday to a charter commission proposal that would double council members' terms from two to four years, according to the Tiverton Town Council's published meeting recording. The plan, along with more than a dozen other proposed charter changes, would go to voters as a ballot question if the council finalizes the language before the election.
The proposal, part of Article 4, Section 401 of the town charter, would extend council terms to four years and stagger them so that not all seven seats turn over in the same election. A resident who spoke during the public hearing said he supported the idea of staggering terms but not lengthening them, arguing that a four-year term doubles the time before voters can hold a council member accountable at the ballot box.
The Charter Review Commission's chair, Michael Janick, told the resident the proposal was meant to align council terms with other elected town bodies, including the school committee and budget committee, which already serve four-year terms. He said the commission chose a staggered structure — split between four-year and three-year terms in the initial transition — specifically to avoid a situation where the entire council could be replaced in a single election.
Local sponsorWorld-class website design at a small business priceCompany 50A council member, Burk, moved to approve the charter amendment language for the section after the debate, acknowledging that some residents felt they hadn't gotten enough advance notice about the change. Burk said the proposal, like every other item on the ballot, would ultimately be decided by voters and noted that all seven council seats are up for election this November regardless of the outcome. The council approved the motion by voice vote, along with a related motion to send the four-year-term question to the ballot as written.
The measure is one of many charter amendments the council also voted to send to voters, and the ballot language itself is not final until the council resolves related questions raised during the meeting about the town treasurer, town clerk, and town planner positions and other charter sections. Residents who want to weigh in on the four-year-term proposal or other charter questions before the ballot language is finalized can watch for the item on a future council agenda or contact the town clerk's office for the meeting record.