Two ballot measures aim to modernize the city’s 126-year-old charter and extend the mayor’s term to four years.
Two questions will appear on Somerville’s Nov. 4 general election ballot: one proposing to extend the mayoral term from two years to four, and the other proposing updates to the city charter, which has remained largely unchanged since 1899.
If approved, the mayoral term extension would take effect beginning in 2028. The charter would be approved upon passage by city residents.
The mayoral term extension ballot question, while initially included in the proposed city charter and later removed, will be voted on separately from the charter. Although Mayor Katjana Ballantyne was in favor of including the extension in the proposed charter, the City Council ultimately voted to exclude it.
“This change would bring Somerville in line with other regional communities that have four- year mayoral terms … to create a foundation for better advancing multi-year efforts with consistent leadership,” Grace Munns, deputy director of communications for Ballantyne’s office, said.
The new charter features modern language, the elimination of outdated policies, increased oversight powers for the City Council, a reformed budgeting process and a requirement for regular charter review every 10 years, among other changes. It also mandates the creation of two committees: one to explore the potential implementation of ranked-choice voting and another to explore publicly financed campaigns.
“We did a wholesale rewrite of the charter,” Ona Ferguson, a member of the Charter Review Committee, said. “It’s organized completely differently, and it uses modern language, whereas our existing charter is over 100 years old.”
The simplification of the charter’s language is intended to enhance government transparency in Somerville, a shared priority of both the mayor and the City Council.
“I think if you went and tried to read the charter … you’d probably have a hard time understanding what it even means,” Ward 1 Councilor Matt McLaughlin said. “We’re trying to use plain language now to make it accessible to everyone.”
The current charter also reflects outdated practices, such as failing to recognize women as voters and defining the census as counting only voting-age men.
“That alone is a good reason to think about redoing this,” McLaughlin said.
Councilors also sought to increase their authority in the new charter. The current charter provides the council with limited checks on the mayor, leaving their oversight powers largely ineffective.
The proposed charter mandates annual independent audits by certified public accountants, conducted on a set schedule and presented to the City Council. In the existing charter, the mayor had discretion over whether to conduct an audit and who performed it.
“Let’s say we have a mayor who is corrupt … one way the mayor is going to hide that if they’re stealing city funds is by having their own audit, having their own person do it,” Beverly Schwartz, a resident chosen by the City Council to serve on the Charter Review Committee, explained. “The independent audit is incredibly important for an accountable government.”
If the proposed charter is adopted, it will also grant the City Council greater power in confirming mayoral appointments. Under the old charter, the council’s confirmation rights were largely ineffective, as the mayor could extend temporary appointments indefinitely and leave vacancies open.
“The charter has very explicit deadlines, and the City Council can choose to extend a temporary appointment if that’s needed,” Schwartz said. “But if it’s just the mayor trying to get around confirmation, the City Council can say, ‘No, time to put somebody real in there.’”
“In the past, we’ve rejected an appointment and the mayor got to keep them indefinitely,” McLaughlin said.
He added that even with expanded oversight powers, Somerville will still operate under “a ‘strong mayor’ form of government, with some [provisions] to make sure that the City Council is not completely ignored.”
If approved, the charter will also create a committee to develop a ranked-choice voting system for future Somerville elections, a reform widely supported by residents. In 2020, 72.6% of Somerville residents voted in favor of ranked-choice voting in a statewide Massachusetts ballot question, which ultimately did not pass.
The Charter Review Committee considered directly adopting ranked-choice voting in the revision but instead chose to mandate the formation of a committee to discuss implementation.
“We didn’t think we had enough information about how [ranked-choice voting] would play out,” Ferguson said.
The new charter would also create a study committee to prepare recommendations for the public financing of elections in Somerville, with the goal of “making running for office in the city more accessible to potential candidates,” Schwartz said.
The proposed charter will also reform the city’s budgeting process. It will require two public hearings, one at the start of the process and one at the end, giving residents an opportunity to provide input both before the budget is drafted and when it is presented.
The ballot is expected to provide voters with a summary of the charter changes, and the city will also conduct outreach, according to McLaughlin.