| The Somerville Times |
SOMERVILLE, MA. — City charters serve as a city’s local constitution, and after an intensive community process and collaborative work by the Ballantyne administration and the City Council, Somerville’s charter is getting a significant update. The new charter now includes greater transparency, more opportunity for public engagement, important resources for the City Council, and a pathway to ranked choice voting, as well as other modernizations, like officially recognizing women as voters.
The Charter also states that a committee will be created to develop a plan to implement ranked choice voting, which allows voters to rank multiple candidates rather than vote for only one.
Increasing transparency, strengthening democracy
“With these reforms, we are delivering on key priorities for Somerville. We are increasing transparency, strengthening democracy, supporting the City Council in their work, and ensuring that our charter reflects the values of justice and equity that define our community. It also builds in a key priority of mine, which is inclusive leadership that supports our community members helping to shape our future,” said Mayor Ballantyne.