Why does Framingham need a Charter Commission?
There are two majors reasons for commissioning a Charter commission.First, Framingham does not currently operate under a Charter. By not having a Charter all Framingham bylaw changes have to be approved by the State Legislature. Simply put, the representatives of other towns (such as Cambridge, Natick, Sudbury, …) have a say in the laws your Town Meeting representatives create.As a specific case, Framingham Town Meeting passed a bylaw change (House Bill HR3140) which provided for greater scrutiny over Framingham’s Housing Policy Plans. Town Meeting felt the Town’s proposed Housing Plan might have a negative impact on the investment Framingham residents have made in their properties. Even though Town Meeting overwhelming passed the bylaw change, representatives from other municipalities were not in favor of what Framingham was attempting to do and did not approve the bylaw change.Simply put, we DO NOT HAVE COMPLETE local control of our government.The second reason for a Charter Commis
