A majority of the Town of Danvers Town Manager Act Review Committee voted on Jan. 15 to accept a package of revisions to the town's recall-election language and adopted edits to several sections of the Town Manager Act ahead of a report the committee plans to deliver to the Select Board in mid-March.

The committee approved the recall-election revisions by a 7–2 vote, recording the result during deliberations on updates the panel plans to forward to the Select Board. Committee members also approved changes to sections 1 through 7 of the draft Town Manager Act, clarified vacancy language for several elected boards and commissions, corrected a statutory citation for the conflict-of-interest law, and changed a small investigatory appropriation provision so the cap is calculated as a percentage of the annual town budget rather than a fixed 1979 dollar amount.

Why it matters: the committee's edits will be packaged with its report to the Select Board. If the Select Board and then town meeting accept the recommendations, the town would have amended procedures for vacancies, clarified how recall removals are handled, and removed out-of-date statutory citations. The change tying the investigatory appropriation to a share of the annual budget is intended to avoid a fixed-dollar limit that has lost purchasing power since it was first written.

The recall revisions and related motions
The committee debated and then approved a set of edits that add recall explicitly to the list of reasons that can create a vacancy for elected bodies (death, resignation, change of residence from the town, disqualification, recall, or otherwise). The recall package was presented to the committee as the product of votes the panel had previously made; after discussion a motion to accept the document as revised carried 7–2.

On that vote, the transcript records the committee chair calling for the tally: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, yes, 2 no.” The committee noted one member’s continuing substantive objection: that the grounds for recall are written too broadly in the draft and so he would vote no.

Key statutory and language changes
- Vacancy language: The committee agreed to make vacancy language consistent across the Select Board, School Committee and Peabody Institute Library trustees sections: vacancies will be listed as caused by “death, resignation, change of residence from the town, disqualification, recall, or otherwise,” and the remaining members will fill vacancies until the next annual election at which voters elect a successor for the remainder of the unexpired term. The committee also removed the phrase “other disability” and replaced it with “disqualification” or “otherwise” to avoid stigmatizing language.

- Conflict-of-interest citation: Members corrected the draft’s incorrect statutory reference and agreed to cite the Massachusetts conflict-of-interest provisions properly as M.G.L. chapter 268A (rather than the earlier, incorrect citation that appeared in the working draft).

- Investigatory appropriation (section 7): The committee replaced the historical fixed amount in the text ("not exceeding in any year the sum of $10,000") with a formula: a sum equal to 0.02% of that year’s town budget, or such larger sum as may be appropriated by town meeting. The committee discussed alternatives (linking the cap to the Finance Committee reserve or using a flat-dollar figure adjusted for inflation) and settled on the percentage language to “future-proof” the provision.

Other approvals and decisions
The committee voted to accept the minutes of its Dec. 18 meeting as modified. Members also read and accepted a number of section-by-section edits (sections 1–6 were approved in separate motions during the meeting). For example, members approved edits to the language describing the regular/annual town election date (first Tuesday in May) and to the related provision that all non-ballot warrant articles be considered at the annual representative town meeting on the third Monday in May.

Discussion and unresolved items
Committee members debated whether the town manager should be required to reside in Danvers. The chair proposed removing an explicit residency requirement from the draft, while some members argued for a residency radius (adjacent towns or a mileage radius) to ensure prompt local availability during emergencies and to support civic engagement. Others said a residency rule could unnecessarily narrow the candidate pool for a professional town manager. The committee did not adopt a change on residency at this meeting; members agreed to continue the discussion at the committee’s next meeting.

A brief historical note and apology
During the meeting John Almeida recounted a past corruption case and apologized to a resident, Mr. Webb, for earlier comments he said misstated Webb’s role. Almeida said Webb "went to the authorities," "ended up wearing a wire and testifying and leading to the conviction of these guys who tried to bribe public officials," and the committee thanked Webb’s conduct as part of the record.

What’s next
The committee confirmed two follow-up meetings at Town Hall on Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, and said it intends to finalize a report to the Select Board in mid-March. The committee chair asked members to send any further suggested edits by e-mail ahead of the next meeting.

Ending note
Members closed the meeting after agreeing to continue work on Section 8 (town manager appointment and contract language) at the next session. The committee adjourned after a final motion to adjourn.