By David Fortier

There will be a special joint meeting of the Bristol City Council and the Charter Revision Commission tomorrow, Thursday, July 28, in City Hall West meeting room 1 at 7 p.m. 

The meeting follows a public hearing and special city meeting on this year’s Charter Revision Commission recommendations to be included on November ballot. 

At the special meeting of the city council on Tuesday evening, the council accepted four of the five recommendations, prompting the next step in the charter revision process tomorrow’s special meeting. 

In a separate action at the special meeting, the council voted to approve a Bristol Housing Authority plan to assist housing residents meant to improve their credit ratings. 

Of the commission’s recommendations, the council rejected bringing up for a vote the expansion of the city council from two to three members per district along with increasing the membership of the Board of Finance from eight to 11 members. 

Of the four final recommendations that passed, one has been considered in the past and another raised concerns about how to accurately communicate it to voters. 

The ballot initiative to increase a mayor’s term from two to four years has been on the ballot in the past and was among those being considered last time around but was dropped when issues arose about term limits. 

A second initiative would change the process of how city council voting districts are determined. In the past, the districts required voters to approve changes as the result a shift after each census is completed. The initiative would empower the city’s registrars of voters to make the change themselves and file it with the Town Clerk’s office. 

The change would streamline the system, allowing registrars to amend the city council voting districts with those established at the state level, so voters would not find themselves having to vote in separate districts for city and statewide elections. 

The remaining initiatives were to expand the types of punishable misconduct by elected and appointed officials and the penalties for such misconduct and to approve or reject inconsistences in the city’s charter regarding capitalization and terminology. 

Thursday’s special meeting will consider the Charter Revision Commission’s draft in its entirety. Since the city council rejected the commission’s recommendation to increase the membership of both the city council and the Board of Finance, the Charter Revision Commission must vote on whether to accept the city council’s vote and redraft or reject the council vote and submit the draft as is. 

The final deadline for completing the charter revision process, which determines which questions will be included on the November ballot, is Aug. 10 

The special meeting will be held in City Hall West, which is a temporary location while city hall is being renovated. City Hall West is located in the Police Department building on North Main Street.

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