The Charter Review Committee will hold a public question-and-answer session on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m. in the Middle School auditorium. Committee members will be available to answer questions about their proposal for Wareham to adopt a mayoral and elected town council form of government and abandon open town meeting and a board of selectmen.

Committee Chairman Alan Slavin said that the committee will make a brief presentation that details the committee's path towards adopting this recommendation over the past year as well as the possible steps moving forward.

The Charter Review Committee will present its recommendation to adopt a mayoral and town council system to the voters at Town Meeting in April. The committee argues that the mayoral and town council form of government is more efficient and nimble in addressing voter concerns -- and more representative, given low voter participation at Town Meeting. If the proposal passes, the recommendation will go to the Massachusetts State Legislature. If it wins approval there, Slavin said the committee will then place the question on a ballot to be voted on by Wareham citizens.

He said that, if the proposal is voted down at Town Meeting, the Charter Review Committee will examine and make improvements to the existing Town Charter.

The recommendation has been controversial. Some citizens say that the move represents an attempt by the town's political leadership to consolidate power, a suspicion that has made them suggest that Charter Review Committee members were appointed because they already favored a mayoral form of government. Charter Review Committee members say that is not the case.

The committee has also received criticism for focusing on changing the form of government rather than addressing the problems of the current Charter.

Slavin said that he wants to focus the debate, which he expects to be significant, on the essential question: "Does Town Meeting work for Wareham in 2010, or would a town touncil and mayor work better?"

He said that, in addition to questions from the floor, residents can ask questions at the committee's website or at boxes at the Town Clerk's office and at the Wareham Free Library.

"We don't know if we can answer everybody's question," Slavin said. "But we can try."