by John Dowd, Editor
For the past year, the Darby Study Commission has been looking into the town government, checking to see if there are any changes needed. Earlier this year, the commission released its preliminary findings, and has since made suggestions on things to be changed. Now, the decision goes out to the people, and on the upcoming election ballot, citizens of Darby will cast their vote on which changes they deem appropriate for their town.
The Darby Study Commission recommendations will be on this election ballot. However, there will be no positions up for vote as all the elected positions in Darby are unopposed.
According to Nate Robbins, current Darby Council Member and Darby Study Commission ex-officio member, there are five main points Darby community members will need to decide upon.
The first, overarching decision will be a vote on adopting the proposed revisions the study commission has recommended for the Darby Town Charter. These are available in detail through the Town of Darby website and via a flyer that was sent out to Darby registered voters. The basis of most of those changes are related to updating general language in the charter. Some of this updates the charter to better align with state code, and some is meant to make the running of the local government of Darby smoother. Robbins said voters should look into specific changes before they vote.
The next decisions are best broken down further into four sub-points. The first of these is a vote on whether or not to change Darby election protocols, making all five council member positions elected “at large.” Currently, four council members are elected to represent wards, and one is elected at large. In the past, the argument for this change has been the low population in Darby, and the need to pull from the greater Darby community. Opposing that thinking, there is an opinion that representation could become stacked in favor of a particular area if elected officials can come from anywhere in Darby.
The next sub-point to be voted on would change where executive powers reside. Since the 1990s, all executive and legislative powers have been placed in the council. This point focuses on returning executive powers to the mayor, and would return the charter to more in line with how the original Darby Town Charter was written. Robbins believes this was done to remove powers from the mayor at the time.
The third sub-point to vote on would be to extend the mayor’s term to four years. Currently, the mayoral term is two years.
The final sub-point to vote on would determine how the changes voted on above would go into effect. This vote regards holding another new election, as would be consistent with the current charter. According to Robbins, if the people vote not to hold a new election this year, the council and mayor positions would finish out their terms, which is the recommendation from the Darby Study Commission.
Once up, a new election would take place, rolling into the new rules. This would mean that in another couple years, the first set of council members will be voted for at large, if that is what the community chooses.
The other choice would be to hold another, new election, this year. According to Robbins, this may not be the best choice. It would prove to be “more expensive and more burdensome on everyone.” Each candidate would have to file their name again into the voting pool, and all the proceedings that go with a standard election would need to take place. This means ballots would be sent out, recounted, campaigns may need to be run again, etc.
However, the argument for this decision would be that, assuming the public votes for at-large elected positions, the voting pool would then be opened to more in the community.
Currently, the council members sit on “staggered seats,” meaning that two or three come up for election every couple years, while two or three would be elected the next year. This keeps institutional knowledge of proceedings continuous as the council turns over to new people. Since council terms are four years, if a new election is decided, it is likely they would need to draw lots. After the new election is held, two council members would serve for four years, and three council members would serve two years.
Robbins wanted to remind people that ballots must be received by November 4. He said the flyers the town sent out to the community went to registered voters and have more detailed information than that contained in this article. According to Robbins, this was done to clarify a lot of questions that could arise about the recommendations made by the Darby Study Commission, and to simplify their recommendations. But, “sending out the whole final report would be like sending out a novel,” said Robbins. He also wanted to remind people that the information can be found by contacting town hall, or by reaching out to the Darby Study Commission members: Sam at (406) 369-1316, Terri at (406) 360-0002 or Christina at (406) 239-0546.