Harvard’s town charter, adopted in 2018, asks the Select Board to provide an annual report on the state of the town. This report, Section 3.2.2.ii states, shall be presented to the Annual Town Meeting and shall evaluate the progress made on the goals established by the board’s strategic planning process. The report is required to include a summary of the town’s financial position, economic development, and capital projects, as well as any other items that will impact the town within the next several years.
This year’s Annual Town Meeting offers the board its first opportunity to fulfill this important duty. Its action—or inaction—will set a precedent. In some ways the warrant booklet itself provides much of what the charter asks in terms of financial reports. What’s missing is the Select Board’s assessment of its progress in meeting its own strategic goals or its own take on the financial details provided by the finance and capital committees. The charter has placed new demands on the board, and we hope the report will deal openly with what has sometimes been a difficult transition.
“We considered this a serious matter,” a member of the Charter Commission remarked to the Press this week. We hope the Select Board does, too, and we look forward to hearing its report May 4.