Wareham voters soundly rejected replacing Town Meeting with a mayor and town council form of government, voting 137 - 235 against the proposal on Monday evening.

It was the third night of Town Meeting and it attracted the highest turnout so far, with a quorum of 284 voters established before many attendees had even trickled into the high school auditorium. Town Meeting will reconvene on May 24 at 7 p.m. in the High School Auditorium to address the eleven remaining issues on the agenda.

The proposed charter was the culmination of a year-long process by which the appointed Charter Review Committee (CRC) reviewed the existing Town Charter, investigated other forms of government that might apply to Wareham, and then voted to propose a new charter with the proposed mayoral system.

Moderator Claire Smith announced that she would permit additional time for the Charter Review Committee, which was tasked with reporting to Town Meeting, to present their report, a slideshow that build anticipation as technical difficulties were sorted out.

"I think it's really important that this body hears that information to allow the committee some extra time for their report," Smith announced.

CRC Chair Alan Slavin presented the new charter, which includes a mayor with a 4-year term, 11 Town Councilors - six precinct councilors and five at-large councilors.

The Committee framed the proposal as an opportunity for all the registered voters of Wareham to vote on the measure. The Committee pursued the charter change through Special Acts legislation which would require that the charter, if passed at Town Meeting, would then need approval by the State Legislature and a town-wide referendum.

"We're not voting to pass this," Onset resident Lisa Jackson said. "We're voting to let those people who aren't here tonight have twelve hours to vote on this rather than the three hours tonight."

Mark Bianco of West Wareham articulated the argument that a volunteer Board of Selectmen was incapable of dealing with the needs of businesses looking to expand in the area, and the infrastructure of the town that was necessary to growth.

"I see little to no progress for the infrastructure of this town," said Bianco.

They also repeated arguments that the current town government is not responsive enough to address the town's needs, primarily by virtue of meeting only twice a year, and that the people who show up at Town Meeting - representing only two percent of the electorate if only 400 of 15,000 registered voters attend as has historically occurred - is not representative of the town.

But the majority of speakers and audience members were reluctant to give up Town Meeting.

"I appreciate being able to participate in this debate," said Linda Rinta of Precinct 4. "All have access, anybody can come before this meeting and have the opportunity to participate in the debate and vote and be heard. It doesn't matter if you're a business owner, own a big beautiful home or rent a room in this town, you can come to this Town Meeting.

Rinta then repeated what she called the most important lesson on democracy that she had learned in Wareham schools.

"'The rules are made by those that show up,'" she quoted.  "Everybody has the opportunity to show up and participate in debate and that's a really valuable part of democracy."

Newly elected Selectman Steve Holmes disputed the committee's claims that the proposal should be passed to allow all Wareham voters to decide on the measure.  He contrasted his experience with citizen participation in New Bedford's political scene with the citizen's participation in Town Meeting.

"This isn't about sending this to the state, this is about changing our government," said Holmes, who along with Selectmen Walter Cruz and Cara Winslow voted against the proposal while Selectmen Jane Donahue and Brenda Eckstrom voted in favor.  Eckstrom and Winslow also presented arguments for and against the proposal, respectively, during the debate.

"What I missed in New Bedford was this meeting," Holmes continued. "Never did it happen. This is citizen's participation right here, and I think that most of the time, Town Meeting gets it right."

Several opponents also were critical of the CRC's process in adopting a new charter through Special Acts Legislation (elected commissions are normally responsible for writing charters, not appointed committees) rather than reviewing and amending the existing document.

Some citizens have also suggested that the committee members were appointed by the Board of Selectmen because they, and the board, already favored a mayoral form of government. Although the CRC consistently denied that charge, coupled with their pursuit of Special Act legislation, many town meeting attendees believed that the process of presenting a new charter for approval and then reexamining the existing charter if their proposed charter did not pass, was "backwards," as described by former School Committee Chair Robert Brousseau.

Mel Lazarus, a high school teacher, said it was "inconceivable" that Town Meeting "would vote itself out of a job."

"The process was that [the committee] was supposed to review the charter, not present a new form a government,'" said Cliff Silvia, current chair of the School Committee. "The CRC, as well meaning as they were, in my opinion, went into that process with a preconcieved opinion of city government" for Wareham.

Debate continued for nearly an hour before the vote was called and, when the result was read, many people left the auditorium.

After the vote, Chairman Slavin reiterated his commitment to review the existing Charter. Leaving the auditorium after the meeting, he said that the committee would meet Thursday to decide their next steps.

"We gave it our best shot," he said. But he warned that if people were upset with the path they took for Special Acts legislation with this proposal, they would probably complain again when the committee made its next set of recommendations at next Town Meeting.

"We think we have to change the job descriptions of some town employees," Slavin said, mentioning the possibility that the Town Administrator be elected, for example, among other ideas that the committee has discussed. "We can't do that as committee, so to get it done in time for Town Meeting, we'll have to use the Special Acts again."