RUMFORD — Despite a snowstorm that might have limited participation at Tuesday night’s public hearing on the town charter, the Charter Commission got plenty of feedback from four residents.

Selectman Frank DiConzo urged the commission to make changes to the charter without removing rights from the people.

“You have to act for progress and not create further actions that will add to our decline, and make changes that will help consolidation (with Mexico) or merger possibilities that are now in progress,” he said.

He suggested removing the Finance Committee, Park & Recreation Commission, Board of Library Trustees and Planning Board from town ordinances and leaving their governance “totally within” the charter articles.

“These groups have a say in how our town government runs in some way or another,” DiConzo said. “If you incorporate them properly, it will help make it easier for consolidation or merger happening. If you do this, the select board will assist by repealing them from the ordinances.”

He also said he wants to see the Finance Committee made into an advisory group to the selectmen so that only one budget article recommendation is made seeking a Yes or No vote.

DiConzo also wants the committee to be reduced from nine to five members.

He also provided several edits to various charter articles, including preventing budgetary articles not approved by voters from being taken through the process as many times as needed to get approval. Instead, he suggested allowing selectmen to establish for the failed article a new budget of 15 percent less than the previous year.

Fire Chief Bob Chase went through his notebook copy of the charter and suggested many more changes. Among them, he wanted the secret ballot voting process on municipal budgets simplified.

“I find the budget process in particular, pretty laborious as it relates to the secret poll vote itself,” he said. “I’m not advocating for or against the secret poll… but it doesn’t mean we can’t improve the process.”

Chase also said he found it awkward that the Fire Department is the only town department created by the charter.

“I don’t want to see the fact that the Fire Department being created by the charter hinder our possible merge or consolidation (with Mexico) to share resources,” Chase said. 

“If it’s in this charter, I’m afraid by that fact that if it’s established by charter, that means we would have to do another charter change and charter changes can be very hard.”

He suggested changing the establishment of a Fire Department to ordinance form since they’re easier to change, or simply defer to state law.

Chase also mentioned a change to allow department heads to pursue multiyear grants. Currently, the charter doesn’t allow that because that allows one select board to restrict future select boards.

Resident Candice Casey said she had no problem with Chase’s change if the grants were for equipment only and not for extra personnel. She said that if voters want to downsize departments, such a grant would make that impossible. Chase said it isn’t impossible, just cost prohibitive.

Casey sought changes related to the petition process, like the number of signatures needed to put a candidate on the ballot. She also wanted a citizens’ petition restriction changed that requires signatures of 10 percent of the number of people on the voter registration rolls at the last gubernatorial election.

Casey said there are voters listed on the rolls who have been dead for many years. She suggested changing it to 10 percent of the number of people who voted at the town’s last secret-ballot election.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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