Haverhill City Council Seeks Resident Comments on Possible Local Government Changes

Haverhill City Councilor John A. Michitson. (Courtesy photograph.)

The Haverhill City Council wants to hear your thoughts on possible changes to the city’s charter.

To that end, Councilor John A. Michitson made a proposal at last night’s council meeting to have the Council’s Public Outreach Committee set up a public meeting to discuss a number of issues including Mayor James J. Fiorentini’s plan to change the City Council from a nine member, at-large, body to an 11-member group with one councilor each from the city’s seven wards, and four at-large councilors.

The mayor is proposing putting that question on the ballot this November and Michitson wants to make the public aware of the pros and cons of such a change. He also said other possible charter changes should be discussed.

“Some of the items that citizens may want to consider. Should school committee board representation be part of this? Should city councilors and the mayor have four-year terms? Should there be term limits?” Michitson asked.

It was noted there are already four questions on this November’s ballot and that there may be a need to condense the question or create a separate ballot to keep from overwhelming the voting public

The council passed the proposal by a vote of 8 to 0, with one member absent.

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