PEABODY — A proposed change to the City Charter would double the length of the mayor’s term and cut the School Committee tenure in half, but officials are fighting back.
If the City Council agrees and voters give it a thumbs-up in the November election, the mayor will serve a four-year term, up from two. The school panel’s members, who now serve for four years, will be reduced to two. The changes would take effect in 2021.
“Many of us felt it would be better to have a longer term for the mayor so he can focus on the day-to-day operations of the city,” said Joseph Travaglini, chairman of the Charter Review Committee.
The argument to trim the School Committee term in half is about voter participation, he said.
“In off-year elections, voter turnout is light, but going to two years would see more voters go to the polls,” he said.
The new charter would keep the city councilors at two-year terms.
“Being a councilor is more of an oversight role,” Travaglini said. “Only a handful of communities have a four-year council term. A frequent turnover provides a better opportunity for a more diverse group of people getting a chance to serve.”
But the changes could be an uphill battle.
City Councilor-at-Large David Gravel, one of the councilors who pushed to revise the 103-year-old document, said he is opposed to the changes.
“If we are going to make any changes, they should be consistent,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to have the mayor for four years and the council for two. If the mayor can’t get anything done in two years, why not apply that same principle to the council?”
City Councilor-at-Large Anne Manning Martin said she too will oppose lengthening the mayor’s term.
“I think it serves the city well for the mayor and council to serve for two years,” she said. “It’s good for the mayor and the council to answer to their constituents every two years.”
On the change to the School Committee, she will keep an open mind, Martin said.
School Committeewoman Beverley Ann Griffin Dunne said reducing the panel’s term to two years is a mistake.
“I should know,” she said. “I was first elected to complete half of a four-year term and it easily takes four years to get a complete understanding of the job.”
Mayor Edward Bettencourt Jr. declined comment.
The charter panel was assisted by a consultant from the University of Massachusetts’ John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies in Boston.
While the seven-member group considered doubling the City Council term to four years, the panel rejected the idea.
The committee also rejected a suggestion that the School Committee be elected by district instead of at-large.
“We decided against it because the districts are not representative of where the schools are located,” Travaglini said.
The other changes were minor. Travaglini said they tried to make the document consistent. For example, the trustees of the Peabody Institute Library and the Peabody Municipal Light Plant were reduced to four years from six to put them more in line with the city’s other boards and commissions.
The original 23-page charter’s references to the mayor as “he” and a prohibition of women from seeking a seat on the City Council have been removed.
“We fine tuned and updated the charter to make it more contemporary,” Travaglini said.
