The Portsmouth Charter Review Committee (PCRC), established to consider four specific amendments proposed by the Portsmouth Concerned Citizens (PCC) as well as an overall analysis of the Town's guiding document, submitted their final report to the Town Council today, according to an e-mail from PCRC secretary Mark Katzman. You can download it here (70k PDF). The report was submitted by Chair Sal Carceller on behalf of the 28-member committee which has been meeting every month since early 2011.

According to Katzman, the Town Council is scheduled to consider the report at the meeting of May 29. They will decide which of the proposed amendments from the PCRC would be placed on the November, 2012 ballot.

The full report has the detail, but here are the high-level recommendations:

• Establish an eight-year Charter review cycle
• Provide a mechanism for the Town Council to discipline its members
• Require the Town Administrator to produce an annual "state of the town" report
• Reinstate the possiblility of appointing a Town Engineer
• Create a Municipal Court
• Remove the requirement that the Department of Public Works Director be a resident
• Allow for the creation of a Parks and Recreation department
• Move the date for the submission of the school budget to the Town about one week later
• Fix an incorrect reference to RI General Law in the Planning Board section of the Charter
• Require yearly advertising for Planning and Zoning Board positions
• Protect open space and recreation areas from sale or leasing without voter consent

For those who recall the origin of this committee, it is worth quoting from the conclusion of the report at length:

[W]e note that not long before the creation of the PCRC, and as an apparent stimulant for the Council’s creation of the PCRC, the Council had received four proposals for charter changes from the Portsmouth Concerned Citizens group, and one group of proposals from the Lower Glen Farm Preservation Committee. Because of that history, this report will conclude by specifically addressing these five proposals:

1. Proposal for a Charter rule to require review of the charter every six years. [Previously submitted to the Council by the PCC]. As cited in this report, this matter was considered and a decision made to approve a change to Charter Section 103 to require the formation of a Charter Review Committee every eight years.
2. Proposal to eliminate “straight party lever voting” from local elections. [Previously submitted to the Council by the PCC]. This proposal was rejected. There was considerable debate about how such a proposal would be worded, and concern about what the Town is authorized to do versus what election matters are solely within the authority of the State of RI.
3. Proposal to add to the charter a procedure allowing for recall of local elected officials. [Previously submitted to the Council by the PCC]. The proposal was debated at length and rejected.
4. Proposal for two-year terms for School Committee members. [Previously submitted to the Council by the PCC]. The proposal was rejected. Of concern was that its adoption would prohibit staggered terms of office, and that the educational aspects of the office is sufficiently complex that continuity on the School Committee was needed in order to serve the best interests of the town.
5. Proposed changes to section 912, Property Transfer. [Previously submitted to the Council by The Lower Glen Farm Preservation Committee]. The proposals submitted resulted in the approval of suggested changes to section 912, as noted in detail in this report.

That last item is the change to the open space language that tightens up the existing restriction on sale of land over two acres.

Full disclosure: Both my wife and I are appointed members of the PCRC. If you want to want to ensure that the Council gives appropriate consideration to the work the the two dozen citizens on the committee have done over the past year, I'd ask you to read the report and think about attending the May 29 meeting.