Article One of the Worcester Home Rule Charter with Joshua Croke (That's Right, We're Diving In)

This episode aired on 11/13/24 on WICN 90.5FM

In this first installment of our City Charter series, we examine Article 1 of Worcester’s Home Rule Charter, the foundational document that defines our city’s governance structure. This episode is all about making this often overlooked document accessible and engaging so we can better understand the rules guiding how our city is formed and functions.

We cover key concepts like the roles of the city manager, city council, and mayor, as well as terms like “fiscal,” “prudential,” and “municipal” affairs. Plus, I share some thoughts on why it's so important for residents to be familiar with these rules—especially as we think about making Worcester a more equitable, democratic, and participatory city.

Key Topics

• Introduction to the City Charter
  • What it is, why it matters, and how we’re going to explore it section by section.
• Land Acknowledgment and Invitation to Connect
  • Honoring the Nipmuc Nation and an invitation to connect for future conversations on land stewardship.
• The Structure of Worcester’s Government
  • Worcester’s unique city manager form of government and what it means to have a “weak” mayor system.
• Article 1 Highlights
  • Incorporation: Recognizes Worcester as a municipal corporation.
  • Distribution of Powers: Division between the executive (city manager) and legislative (city council) branches.
  • Powers of the City: Worcester’s broad authority to govern as long as it aligns with state and constitutional laws.
  • Definitions: Key terms like “emergency,” “full council,” and “general laws” to clarify government functions.
• Voting and Civic Participation
  • Why it’s essential to participate in local elections and get to know the officials who make key decisions for Worcester’s future.

Chapter Markers

• [00:00:00] – Introduction and Land Acknowledgment
• [00:02:40] – Overview of the City Charter
• [00:03:43] – Section 1.1-1.2: Incorporation and Title
• [00:04:41] – Section 1.3: Distribution of Powers
• [00:06:32] – Section 1.4-1.5: Powers and Construction of the City
• [00:09:48] – Section 1.6: Intergovernmental Relations
• [00:10:05] – Section 1.7: Definitions
• [00:18:41] – Voting in Worcester and Civic Engagement
• [00:23:10] – Preview of Upcoming Articles

Join me on this journey to break down the City Charter and better understand how our government operates. This episode is an essential primer for residents curious about civic engagement and how Worcester’s government functions on paper—versus how it plays out in practice.

SOURCES

1. Worcester Municipal Election 2023 Full Results (Tom Marino, November 7, 2023, This Week in Worcester)
2. City of Worcester’s Document Center

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Learn more and follow at QueerForCities.com/PublicHearing

Created & Hosted by Joshua Croke.
Our Audio Producer is Giuliano D'Orazio.

Available anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Transcript

PH005_Worcester-Charter_001_11.13.24

[00:00:00] Joshua Croke: Hello, Worcester and the world. You're listening to Public Hearing. I'm your host, Joshua Croke, and we're taking you on a journey diving deep into, bum bum bum, Worcester's City Charter, the document that governs how our city operates. Quick disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, so nothing here should be taken as legal guidance.

[00:00:22] This series is all about learning together and exploring how our city runs. Also, the views and opinions on public hearing do not reflect any official positions of WICN or its affiliates. Now that sounds pretty lawyer y, huh? I, I'm not a lawyer, I just play one on the radio. Just kidding, okay, just kidding.

[00:00:39] I also want to acknowledge that what we now call Worcester sits on the unceded land of the Nipmuc Nation, a people with a rich heritage in this area that spans thousands of years and who continue to be present in this region today. At some point in the future I do want to do More discussion around land stewardship, land, and all of those things.

[00:01:01] So, if you are listening and are like, Oh, I have the perfect person for you to talk to about land, indigeneity, in what is now Worcester, or What some people call Worcester. I'd love the connection. Thanks so much. 

[00:01:14] So it is also Monday, November 4th here in the studio. I'm recording this literally the day before the election, and you're probably listening to it on Wednesday, November 13th, a full week after what is expected to be regardless of the outcome, a historic time in American history.

[00:01:32] So Hey future. I hope you're doing okay. I figured this would be a good time to start this series on reviewing the city charter. One, because I'm thinking a lot about democracy, about governance, and change, both at local and national scale, but really everything is local. And this is where so many of us can have a significant impact on how our communities are built, how and if our families and neighbors are supported, and how we agree to hold each other accountable.

[00:02:03] Especially our elected officials to the agreements we make as a community. So I hope you'll join me on this journey. I hope you'll send me voice memos and messages with your thoughts and opinions as we talk about the governing document of our city, the second largest city in New England. You can send all that stuff to us at queerforcities.com/publichearing. 

[00:02:24] Alright, our guest today is the Worcester Home Rule Charter. You're listening to public hearing on WICN 90. 5 FM, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joshua Croke. Let's dive in

[00:02:40] . All right. So I created a Google document where I copy pasted and reformatted the entire Worcester Charter, which was a feat in and of itself. So, I am jumping into that and I'm hoping that as we explore the charter in what is going to be a question mark, number of episodes so far today we're gonna jump into Article one out of the 10 articles in the charter plus an appendix with a few amendments. And then there's also guiding documents for the city council, the school committee.

[00:03:15] So we'll see how far we go in this succession of conversations, but we are going to get through this charter. And so I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to read through this, not put you to sleep at the wheel and provide a little bit of information about That makes this a little less legalese, kind of jargon heavy because it was written a really long time ago.

[00:03:39] So we're going to just jump right in. 

[00:03:43] Section one one incorporation, the inhabitants of the city of Worcester within the territorial limits established by law shall continue to be a municipal corporation, a body corporate and politic under the name city of Worcester. So this is essentially like the city's birth certificate. It's like, just an acknowledgement that this thing being called the city of Worcester is recognized by Massachusetts as a legal entity and can operate as a city with all the powers a city government can have, which we'll get more into those things as we keep going down this rabbit hole. 

[00:04:19] Okay, section 1 2, short title. This instrument shall be known and may be cited as the Worcester Home Rule Charter. So this instrument, fancy way of saying this document, is known as the Worcester Home Rule Charter. So to make it even shorter, I'm gonna say charter, city charter, or Worcester's charter most of the time. 

[00:04:41] Section 1. 3 Distribution of Powers The administration of the fiscal, prudential, and municipal affairs of the City of Worcester, with the government thereof, shall be vested in an executive branch headed by a city manager, and a legislative branch to consist Of a city council. So essentially what this is saying is that Worcester's government. Let's say it works like a company with two main departments. There's a city manager, which is effectively the CEO who handles the day to day operations, budgets and management, the executive branch. Then you have the board of directors or the City Council, which sets policies, makes big picture decisions. That's the legislative branch. It also talks about fiscal prudential and municipal affairs. 

[00:05:30] Fiscal affairs is anything to do with money, budget, spending, financial planning. City manager handles the city's finances. Proposes and gets a budget approved by the city council to make sure that the city has the funds to operate, hopefully improve, etc.

[00:05:47] Prudential affairs, essentially is like, think of this as good judgment. So, in this context, it's really about making wise decisions for the city's resources and operations, like balancing short term needs and long term goals. 

[00:06:00] Municipal affairs are the day to day activities and responsibilities specific to running the city like maintaining public services, managing city employees, and addressing local needs. So, together, fiscal, prudential, and municipal affairs cover the finances, judgement, and operations required to manage Worcester effectively and one could argue whether or not Worcester is being managed effectively, but these are the rules that guide how that is supposed to go down. 

[00:06:32] All right section 1 4 Powers of the city subject only to express limitations on the exercise of any power or function by a municipal government in the constitution or general laws of the Commonwealth, it is the intention and the purpose of the voters of Worcester through the adoption of this charter to secure for themselves and their government, all of the powers it is possible to secure as fully and as completely as though each such power was specifically and individually enumerated herein. I hate everything about that statement. It is like so just over the top and unnecessary. Well, maybe it's necessary. I legalize drives me nuts. So essentially the city of Worcester wants all the power it can legally have to get things done as it sees fit, as long as it doesn't break any state laws or the constitution So the voters who approve the charter wanted the city to have as much control as possible over local decisions and policies So much so that they don't have to list each individual power here. So this way the city can make decisions on a wide range of issues without having to ask for extra permission each time As long as it's within legal boundaries.

[00:07:53] So in short Worcester's charter is like a blank check for local power You only limited by the bigger rules set by the state and the constitution. So all of that, blah, blah, blah, that I just read, that's essentially what that means. 

[00:08:08] Section one, five construction. The powers of the city of Worcester under this charter are to be construed liberally to its benefit and to, and the reference herein shall not be construed to limit the general powers of the city.

[00:08:26] As stated in section 1. 4. So I think when it comes to this section, when it comes to Worcester's powers under this charter, they should be interpreted as generously as possible to help the city do its job. Even if specific powers are mentioned, it doesn't mean that those are the only things Worcester can do. Instead, those examples are just part of a bigger toolbox that gives the city flexibility to use all of its powers as broadly as it can for the city's benefit. 

[00:08:56] Section 1 6. Subject only to the expressed limitations in the Constitution or general laws of the Commonwealth, the City of Worcester may exercise any of its powers or perform any of its functions and may participate in the financing thereof, jointly or in cooperation, by contract or otherwise, with the Commonwealth or any agency or political subdivision thereof, or with the United States government or any agency thereof. 

[00:09:28] So essentially, Worcester can team up with the state, the fed, the federal government, or other agencies to get things done as long as it doesn't break any big rules. Whether it's pooling money or working on projects, the city can collaborate to make things happen. So, section 1-6, intergovernmental relations, collaboration to make things happen.

[00:09:48] Section one seven definitions, and this is actually the last section in article one. So section one seven begins with the following words and phrases as used in this charter shall. Unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings.

[00:10:05] So there's going to be a bunch of words that I'm going to read through definitions of, and then provide clarity to those definitions when the definitions don't make total sense. So the first is charter. The word charter shall mean this charter and any amendment to it hereafter adopted. 

[00:10:22] B, city. The word city shall mean the city of Worcester. Ta da! 

[00:10:30] C, city agency. The words city agency shall mean any multiple member body, department, division, or office of the city. 

[00:10:41] D, city bulletin board. The words city bulletin board shall mean the bulletin board in City Hall on which the city clerk posts official notices of meetings and upon which other official city notices are posted.

[00:10:57] It shall also mean any other bulletin boards as may be designated city bulletin boards by the city council. Josh jumping in here, this is not written in the charter, but I don't believe the city council has explicitly defined a digital equivalent to the city bulletin board in the charter. However, the city clerk's office does maintain an online document center where various documents, including ordinances, regulations, public meeting guides are available for public access. And so I'll make sure to share that in the show notes, but you can find that at Worcester, ma. gov slash city dash clerk slash document dash center. 

[00:11:39] All right, jumping to. E, city officer, the words city officer when used without further qualification shall mean a public officer as defined by law and shall also mean a person having charge of an office or department of the city who in the exercise of his slash her powers or duties exercises some portion of the sovereign power of the city, and come on his slash her they could just say their although I'm sure a lot of people, specifically women fought for the her to be included there. So let's say his their her; insert neo pronoun here because we are getting louder and queer and elected more, so let's make it gender inclusive this charter. One thing I am going to be talking about specifically as we continue talking about the charter and one of the reasons I'm even bringing the charter forward in this way is because I feel that we need to really reevaluate the structure of our municipal government.

[00:12:45] A lot of folks don't know, and I have this conversation on a regular basis with people, is that we don't have a strong mayor form of government. We have a city manager form of government, which as we continue reading through this charter, you will learn more about if you're not already familiar, but essentially the city manager is an unelected CEO of the city that manages this executive branch and makes all of the decisions about hiring, firing, puts forward the budget, etc. Which is unlike many other cities, especially large cities that you may be familiar with, right? The mayor, they're elected, they run the city, they make the decisions. Worcester has what some refer to as a weak mayoral system, which means that our mayor is an elected representative who is an at large member of the city council, as well as plays the role of mayor. But, it doesn't really mean the mayor has any additional power than the city council other than what might come with kind of the social status of holding that title. The mayor also sits as the president of the school committee. So whoever is sitting in the seat of mayor is Both represented in the city council as well as the school committee.

[00:14:07] All right Jumping back into the charter: F Emergency the word emergency shall mean a sudden unexpected unforeseen happening occurrence or condition Necessitating immediate action or response. I'm sure we'll figure out how that gets included as we continue reading 

[00:14:27] G full council Full multiple member body: the words quote full counsel or quote full multiple member body end quote, shall mean the entire authorized complement of the city council, school committee, or other multiple member body, notwithstanding any vacancy which might exist.

[00:14:48] So, that's pretty straightforward, but I was like, "notwithstanding any vacancy which might exist." So I was like, how do we frame that better? So that phrase, Means that even if there are open seats or unfilled positions on the council school committee or other group The term full council still refers to the entire group as it's supposed to be Like in other words, they're treated as a complete body regardless of any current vacancies So let's say the worcester city council has 11 seats, which it does we have six at large members and five district councillors. I do have to admit that I was older than I'd like to admit when I finally figured out what at large meant, which just means that they represent the full city. Okay. So let's say the Worcester city council has 11 seats, but one councillor resigns, leaving 10 members. The term full council still refers to all 11 seats, even with one vacancy.

[00:15:44] H general laws, the words quote general laws, end quote. All lowercase letters shall mean laws enacted by the general court which apply alike to all cities and towns, to all cities, to all towns, or to a class of two or more cities and towns, of which Worcester is a member. That is a long winded, legal jargony way of saying that general laws, when they appear in lowercase, are rules made by the state that apply to all cities and towns, or groups of them, including Worcester.

[00:16:18] I, general laws, the words general laws, initial letter of each word in uppercase letters shall mean the general laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts a codification and revision of statutes enacted on December 22nd 1920 and including all amendments thereto subsequently adopted.

[00:16:40] J. Initial measure. The words initial measure shall mean a measure proposed by the voters through the initiative process provided under Article 7 of this charter. So this is like a teaser of what's to come. Article 7 gets a few shout outs in these definitions. 

[00:16:57] K. Local newspaper. The words local newspaper shall mean a newspaper of general circulation within the city with either a weekly or daily circulation. 

[00:17:07] L. Majority vote. Unless otherwise specifically provided within this charter or by law, ordinance or the rules adopted by a multiple member body, the words majority vote shall mean a majority of those members present and voting of a multiple member body provided a quorum is present.

[00:17:27] So essentially this is just like, Majority vote. Pretty straightforward. Quorums the minimum number of members needed at a meeting to make official decisions. Which I'm sure is going to be outlined in annoying level of detail later in this document. 

[00:17:43] M. Measure. The word measure shall mean any ordinance, order, resolution, or other vote or proceeding adopted, or which might be adopted by the city council or the school committee. So this is just like any official decision or action that the city council or school committee makes or is considering making. 

[00:18:02] O multiple member body. The words multiple member body shall mean any board commission, committee, subcommittee, or other body consisting of two or more members, whether elected, appointed or otherwise constituted, but not including the city council or the school committee. That one is pretty straightforward. 

[00:18:22] P, referendum measure. The words referendum measure shall mean a measure adopted by the city council or by the school committee, which is protested in accordance with the referendum procedures provided under Article 7 of this charter. Another shout out to Article 7, giving you some foreshadowing for where we're going with this. 

[00:18:41] And finally, Q. Voters. The word voters shall mean registered voters of the city of Worcester. So this is a great PSA for voting. Whether you live in Worcester or not, you can register to vote and learn how to register to vote at vote.gov. It is such an important responsibility to you, your family, and your community. Local elections specifically are so critically important. I pulled up an article from this week in Worcester from the 2023 Worcester municipal election because we're in the off years. We're in, you know, the big presidential year in 2024. So next year 2025 in november We will be electing our local representatives including the city council, the school committee, the mayor, and it is so important for folks to start getting familiar with who is running, what are the things that they're running on, and something that I feel is like really important and another reason why we're diving into this charter review is to better understand what power our elected officials actually have and what someone can do as a city councilor. It's great to stand for x, y, and z things and what are the actual laws, policies people holding elected office can actually pass that impact your and my life. So definitely huge shout out to and appreciation for people that step forward to run for public office. It is a thankless job. It is a lot of work, or it should be a lot of work. And we need more people running, especially young people, especially people who are energized to see change happen in our communities. Everything is local. You know, the people that run for local office often run for state office and beyond. So you never know if the person that you're supporting for city council might one day end up president of the United States.

[00:20:49] So jumping back down to the ground here in Worcester, this article from this week in Worcester from our 2023 election showed 24, 585 Worcester voters cast ballots in the city, which was one of the highest turnouts in recent memory, which is just over 21%, which is up from 17,304 voter ballots, which was 16.54% turnout in 2021. These, to me, 21% is still pretty sad numbers. Our city's population is just over 200, 000. We are the second largest city in New England. For those of you who listen to the show regularly, you probably roll your eyes every time I say that about Worcester now, because I say it on every episode. And as Julie Bowditch said on our first episode of public hearing back, we are a real ass city. We are the second largest city in New England and the mayor of our city was elected with 10, 687 votes. Just over 10, 000 votes to elect someone to the office of mayor in a city with over 200, 000 residents. We can do better. Regardless of what your position of who holds that, that, that seat right now is, we should have a higher percentage of the folks living in our community who are making that decision.

[00:22:16] The second place fish finisher Christian King received only 5, 877 votes, but you can tell at the size of these numbers, every vote does count. We have had people win or lose elections by like a dozen votes. So if you're not voting locally, please get involved. Please learn about who your, who your district counselors are, what they stand for, what they want to pass, how you can support that. It's really, really critical. 

[00:22:48] So, that was article one. To give you a preview of what's to come I will read off the other articles in the charter that we are going to be diving into. Hopefully this was a little bit engaging, informative. It is really hard to make these long legal documents engaging, but I think it's really important for us to understand.

[00:23:10] Something that I feel would be an incredible thing to see in our schools, for example, would be a class where students that are residents of Worcester read through this charter. It is a 35 page Google doc based on how I formatted it, which feels really long to sit through and read sometimes, but we assign reading for books that are much, much longer than this.

[00:23:36] So having young people start jumping in, inspecting and understanding the documents that guide how decisions are made, how power is held, how power is distributed or not, is really, really important. 

[00:23:50] One of the other things that I'm going to be bringing on to this show are conversations around participatory budgeting processes. So this is thinking about how do we get more local representation involved in the process of determining where the funding And a document like this is really, really critical to understand because we can go back to the words fiscal, prudential, and municipal, and those are important considerations to make, right? It's one thing to say, I want my city to do this. I want my city to do that. But there is a give and take around understanding how do we make sure that water sewer has all the resources that it needs so that we have effective sanitation in the city. Those are not the biggest, shiniest, brightest, exciting topics to necessarily be talking about, but they are costly and there are significant considerations that need to go into how those are funded and how they operate. In addition to saying like, how do we advocate for more of the city budget to go to funding our public schools because education is such a critical component of a thriving city and looking at healthy, thriving outcomes for young people. So, this is my soapbox way of saying we've got a lot of work to do, and being informed is a really critical part of that.

[00:25:14] So we just read through Article 1. You're listening to Public Hearing on WICN. I'm Joshua Croke. We are talking about the City Charter, and in upcoming episodes, which we're figuring out how to best package, we are going to read through Article 2. City Council. Article 3, the City Manager. Article 4, the School Committee. Article 5, Financial Procedures. Article 6, City Agencies. Article 7, Nominations, Elections, Initiative, and Referendum. Article 8, Neighborhood Area Councils. Article 9, General Provisions. Article 10 transitional provisions, and then an appendix, which includes amendments to the city of Worcester mass charter, including an act exempting certain positions in the city of Worcester from the provisions of the civil service law and an act providing for the city of Worcester school committee election, the school committee election, you've probably, if you are an active voter, have seen your school committee districts have changed from numbers to letters. There's now instead of just district seats, there's at large seats and district seats. The letters don't line up with your city council numbers. We're going to be talking about all of that, the challenges with that, how we might make recommendations for if we were to influence charter change as a community, what would be included there? All great stuff. 

[00:26:43] Public Hearing is a show about the second largest city in New England, Worcester, Mass., where we have interesting and timely conversations about issues that impact our community. I'm Joshua Croke, the creator and host of Public Hearing. Our audio producer is Giuliano D'Orazio. Thank you to WICN 90. 5. F M Worcester's only NPR affiliate station for having public hearing as part of the WICN family. You can learn more and follow public hearing and other projects of Queer For Cities at queerforcities.com.