Danvers Special Town Meeting Debates Town Manager Residency Requirement, Recall Votes

DANVERS, MA — Town manager residency requirements and a long-campaigned attempt to add a recall procedure for townwide elected officials were the primary topics of debate during a Danvers special town meeting to approve updates to the town charter related to town meetings and the town manager act.

A paper-thin margin of 52-49 approved an amendment that struck any residency requirements from the hiring of a town manager.

The residency requirements came into focus during months of debate after those opposed to requiring town managers to live in Danvers argued that the requirement could deter qualified candidates from applying to the position.

The debate that followed then centered around what, if any, residency requirements would be in place to make sure that a town manager could respond to the town in a timely manner in case of an emergency.

The proposed charter change entering Monday night's special town meeting called for residency within the state of Massachusetts. But an amendment was put forward to strike that, arguing that it did not make sense, for instance, to open the position to anyone across the state, but exclude those who may live right over the border in New Hampshire, and also be much closer to the town than someone on the South Shore, MetroWest, or Central Massachusetts.

Ultimately, that argument won with the amendment passing by three votes and the overall town manager act passing overwhelmingly.

Another familiar bylaw proposal that finally passed town meeting voters was a provision for a recall of elected officials approved in the waning moments of the three-hour town meeting.

Starting with a proposal that was rejected during the 2023 annual town meeting, town meeting member Michael Trainor persisted with the recall proposal that he argued had an intentionally high bar for success and that would only be used effectively in "extreme circumstances."

The proposal requires 350 signatures to trigger the start of the recall process, 20 percent of registered voters on a petition within 20 days — which would be 4,377 registered Danvers voters as of the 2023 election — to trigger the recall ballot vote, and a majority of voters at that townwide vote to
recall the elected official.

Other amendments approved at the special town meeting were one that struck a proposal for town meeting members to get nomination signatures as incumbents, and one to streamline the process and timeline for the potential termination of a town manager for cause.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)