Low Turnout For First Harwich Charter Hearing

July 03, 2025

by William F. Galvin

Noreen Donahue testifies before the charter commission on its first public hearing. WILLIAM F. GALViN PHOTO

HARWICH – Brief would be an accurate description of the charter commission’s first public hearing. The session lasted six minutes and 46 seconds. Four people attended.

Charter Commission Chair Linda Cebula opened the session explaining that the purpose of the hearing was for the commission to obtain testimony on the current town charter. The nine member commission was elected in May to review the document that was originally put in place in 1987 and consider amendments designed to improve the function of town government.

Of the four people in attendance two spoke briefly.

Noreen Donahue, chair of the water/wastewater commission, thanked the commission members for taking on the task, adding it will be a lot of work. Donahue also said she thought it was early in the process for the commission to be holding a public hearing.

Cebula said that Massachusetts General Laws require the commission to hold a public hearing within 45 days of election. Another public hearing will be held in about six months to explain where the commission is at, and what the taxpayers and residents want to see from the commission.

“The purpose for us tonight is just to listen,” said Cebula.

Donahue encouraged the commission to delve into what she called “the earth shaking issues,” including representative town meeting, the roles and title of town administration, and the number of select board members. She said that will wake people up and get people involved in the process.

“I really hope you have these discussions,” said Donahue. “I really hope there’s some way your agendas can have some of these giant topics listed. I hope we have the opportunity to have fun with these topics and beat them to death.”

She also cautioned that some of the topics can serve as “lynchpins” for the work the commission is doing.

Finance committee vice chair Robert MacCready praised the commission members for stepping forward to serve.

“I know I’ve seen over the years a number of times where there have been interpretations of the charter by both the select board and town counsel that seem inconsistent with the wording of the charter,” MacCready said. “So I really appreciate a group getting together to try to deal with that.”

With no additional comments from the attendees, the hearing was closed.