MARBLEHEAD — The newly formed Town Charter Study Commission now has a chair and vice chair.
The Select Board appointed Amy Drinker as chair, while Rossana Ferrante will serve as the commission’s vice chair. The decision depends on whether Drinker and Ferrante are “willing to take on these duties,” Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer said.
After the town announced earlier this year that the Select Board was looking for interested parties to apply to sit on the commission, the board met with the Collins Center for Public Management, which helps municipalities that are starting the process of incorporating a charter.
In total, 11 applicants were selected for the commission, two more than the recommended number. Due to the number of qualified candidates, the board decided to expand the amount of seats.
Out of more than 20 applicants, the board selected the commission’s members using a rank-order vote. Both Drinker and Ferrante received the “highest number of cumulative votes,” according to Select Board member Moses Grader.
“We decided to select the chair and vice chair to really jump-start the operations of the committee and get it going,” Grader said. “We took a very methodical approach to it and we couldn’t be happier with the selection we have.”
According to Kezer, the commission will spend roughly a year reviewing the town’s governmental structure before potentially bringing forth a proposed charter to Town Meeting in 2025.
Many of the commission’s tasks will be distributed between the chair and vice chair, however, Kezer mentioned that there will be plenty to do for the other nine members.
