Opinions Appear Evenly Divided
On Granville Charter Change
By Martha Slater

Despite slippery roads, more than 30 Granville residents gathered at the town hall last Thursday for the first of two public hearings on proposed amendments to the town charter. The amendments would allow the town the option of choosing a town clerk and treasurer who is not a Granville resident.

Granville’s current charter states that "the town shall choose from among its legally qualified voters a town clerk for a term of three years." The first proposed amendment would change that to read "the voters of the Town of Granville may elect a town clerk who is not a legally qualified voter in the town of Granville, but who is a legally qualified voter in the State of Vermont." The second proposed amendment uses the same language to apply to the position of town treasurer. The changes will be voted on by Australian ballot Jan. 9.

Chris Sargent of the Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission facilitated the hearing. Granville selectboard chair Norm Arseneault said his "whole aim in proposing the change was to have professional and accurate reporting of the town’s finances, including town and school taxes, expenditures, etc."

The town clerk-treasurer position in Granville is a part-time job (24 hours per week at about $14.82 per hour or $13,000 annually).

Arseneault noted that a petition in 2005 had suggested the same change that the new proposal does, but would have had the board appoint the clerk. The board at that time felt the position should be elective, and the petition was withdrawn.

He said the currently proposed charter change does leave the position an elective one, but gives voters a broader array of candidates to choose from.

Selectboard member Kristi Tate pointed out that the move would actually create a charter, since the town doesn’t technically have one.

The new interest in a charter change comes after a difficult time in filling the office.

Last March, when the previous town clerk had moved out of town, the selectboard received three letters of interest, but by Town Meeting had only one. Michael Cunningham was elected, but resigned in November.

"We had one applicant before, but what if we had none?" Tate and Arseneault asked.

Opinions expressed seemed pretty evenly divided between those in favor of the proposed charter change and those opposed to it, although most people who spoke seemed to agree that some changes were needed in the hiring and training process.

Kate Stauss said she had "a philosophical problem with the person who is the most visible person in our town not being a resident and voter in our town."

Richard Poole, though, noted that, "you need conscientiousness and concern in a town clerk, but they’re more a function of that person’s character than of their address. What I want from a town clerk is for them to do their job efficiently." He added that he would certainly vote for a local person over a non-local one if they were both well qualified.

"We would still have to elect them, no matter where they came from, so the choice would still be ours," said Vivian Valtri.

Sandy Poole said she was in favor of the idea "because it’s about giving us choice, which is what democracy is all about."

Tammi Beattie said she’d like to see "a happy medium," with candidates presenting qualifications prior to town so meeting, so that voters could know ahead of time what qualifications a person interested in that position has.

"The bottom line is that the position has to be both a bookkeeper and a paralegal," said Robin Hagerman, chair of town auditing committee. "We need to hire someone who has the proper qualifications and pay them properly for what they have to do. It’s a complicated operation."

Kate Stauss suggested raising the salary another $5,000 or so might help attract a qualified candidate. She added that more support and training were needed.

Kristi Fuller pointed out that "this change would allow us to be proactive. We not really changing anything, we’re just giving ourselves the opportunity to have a choice."

Alan Moore thought perhaps the geographical area proposed could be restricted to someone from the five valley towns, since they work together on many other things.

Sargeant said the board can make revisions in the wording of the proposed charter up until 20 days before the date of the Australian ballot vote. All suggestions should be made in writing to the selectboard.

Anyone who missed the meeting and would like to give their input is urged to write to the board at PO Box 66, Granville, Vt. 05747 or e-mail norma@together.net or kirstabello@yahoo.com.

A second public hearing will take place Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. at the town hall. An Australian ballot informational meeting will take place as part of the Monday, Jan. 8 selectboard meeting.

The Australian ballot vote will take place Tuesday, Jan. 9 at a special Town Meeting. If voters say yes to the proposed changes, the amendments will then have to be approved by state legislature.

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