Northampton to vote on new city charter

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) - Election Day could mark the end of a very long process to update the Northampton's century-old city charter.

About 15 people came to the JFK Middle School Wednesday night to hear about the document that cleans-up and modernizes the language in the city's 129-year-old charter.

A charter is like a city's constitution, and Northampton's contains old and out of date language.

Chairman of the Charter Drafting Committee , David Stevens, told 22News, "I was surprised when I actually read the charter, there were parts that were crossed out in pencil, and other parts were written in. It refers to the Board of Aldermen, which no longer exists; hasn't been around since 1954."

The revised charter has already been approved by the Northampton City Council , the state legislature and the Governor.

All it requires now is for voters to approve it on a separate ballot November 6th.

Among the new definitions of elected officers' responsibilities, Northampton's Mayor would serve a four-year term instead of two years under the new document.