Burlington Charter Committee Votes to Keep Board of Health Elected, Approves Seven Sections

BURLINGTON -- May 26, 2026, Burlington's Charter Review Committee approved seven elected-board sections of a proposed new town charter at its May 26 meeting, voting unanimously to keep the Board of Health elected after a presentation by 38-year board member Ed Weiner, who called appointed boards "not impartial at all" and warned against placing the board's broad public health and land use authority under the control of an appointing body. The committee, guided by consultants from the Collins Center for Public Management, also approved draft language governing the Select Board, School Committee, Planning Board, Board of Assessors, Housing Authority, Board of Library Trustees, and Town Clerk, the last a position Burlington voters recently chose to keep elected, a result the committee said it would not revisit. In the sole contested vote of the evening, the panel passed 9-2 a constables section introducing staggered three-year terms, a change from the current practice of both positions expiring simultaneously. The committee's town survey stood at 932 responses and has been extended through Friday; a public input forum is set for June 17 at 7 p.m. in the Murray Kelly Room.