The issue is drawing interest from both people who want to push for a change and those who are more reluctant.
An informational meeting last week at Town Hall took some residents by surprise when they showed up to have a discussion about the town government and saw people leaving with petitions - the first step in a long process of deciding whether the town wants to change its form of government.
Resident Cathy Fowler picked up a petition and information at the meeting to get a better idea of how the process works. She said she will start with talking to neighbors and find out their views.
From what she has seen over five years attending town meetings, she doesn't think enough people have the time to devote to researching the issues, or even to attend the meetings.
"I think it is something that needs to be looked at," she said. "I don't have any preconceived notions of how things should be. I do have concerns we are getting too big as a town, and our lives are too complex (to have a town meeting form of government)."
Resident George Vozeolas also picked up a petition and plans to start collecting signatures during tomorrow's election.
"I'm not advocating change," said Vozeolas, who has lived in town about 20 years. "I'm just advocating that we need to do an investigation in a thoughtful, thorough way."
But for Ben Osgood, a lifelong resident, things are moving a little too fast.
"There were a lot of people saying, don't you think we ought to discuss this a little bit," said Osgood, one of about 30 residents to attend the meeting. "Just a few people knew about the meeting, and now the thing is off and running."
Over 2,600 signatures are needed to get a question on the ballot in a general election asking if the town wants to set up a charter commission. The next general election is in March, but signatures would be due by February.
Osgood said he is worried some people might sign the petition in reaction to the July 10 Special Town Meeting, which drew an unprecedented 3,000 people.
"Town Meeting works. It is not broken, " Osgood said. "There is a nucleus of people who go to town meeting every year where you can vote and you can speak. Others not familiar with it live here a couple of years, become familiar with it, accept it, and it works."
State Rep. David Torrisi, D-North Andover, said he has heard from many residents over the past year who are unhappy with how the town government is run and how the government is set up. The state recommends a town look at its town charter about every 25 years. The last time North Andover reconsidered the town charter was in 1985.
"People ideally like the form of a direct democracy, but is that practical when you have 17,000 people who can go to a meeting?" he said. "A representative democracy is a more efficient means of governing."
Selectmen Tom Licciardello and Mark Caggiano ran Wednesday night's meeting with Torrisi.
Licciardello said residents will have plenty of opportunity to participate, beginning with choosing whether to sign the petition.
"The first step is to test the appetite of the town by having 3,000 people sign a petition that says they want to study this," Licciardello said.
If the petition gets the question on the ballot, either this March or a year from this March, and passes, the charter commission will take at least 18 months to study the issue and come up with a recommendation that ultimately goes to a townwide vote.
"Realistically, we are looking at this as a decision for 2009 or 2010," Caggiano said.
Licciardello said he hopes to set up another informational meeting in the next two weeks where residents can learn more about options for town government and can ask questions of officials from other towns that have gone through a town charter change.
"I just think we need more time to look at the options," Selectman Dan Lanen said. "I went (to the meeting) for information and came out of there feeling like things were already under way."
Steps to change
1. Residents collect about signatures from 15 percent of voters, about 2,600, who support researching other options for town government.
2. If enough signatures are collected, a question will be put on the ballot during a general election asking if people want to form a charter commission. On the same ballot, residents can elect nine members for the commission. The earliest this can happen is in the March election. If enough signatures are collected, but it is too late for this year's election, the question will be put on the March 2008 ballot.
3. A charter commission researches North Andover's government and other forms of town governments. The commission comes up with a recommendation after 18 months of study that must include at least two public meetings. The commission can recommend that the government stay the same or be changed.
4. If the commission recommends a change, that change will go to a vote in the general election.
