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Worcester panel votes to back charter-review signature push

Other Committee · Meeting of September 28, 2026

Worcester committee backs push for first charter review in 40 years. The Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee voted 3-0 Tuesday to recommend the City Council formally encourage residents to gather the roughly 17,000 signatures, 15 percent of registered voters, needed to trigger an elected charter commission. Chairman Satya B.

Mitra and Vice Chair Gary Rosen said the modified Plan E charter, in effect since 1987, has never had a full review. Councilor Maurice A. Bergman initially resisted language calling for "support," saying he wouldn't take sides before seeing whether voters actually want change; Rosen struck the word and substituted "encourage." City Clerk Nico Vangeli told the committee any commission would need voter approval twice, once to seat it and again to adopt its final charter.

Resident David Webb said "there is no accountability in our city at all" under the current manager-based structure.

In the full story:

  • Who Was There
  • Organizations And Documents Referenced
  • The complete report — 2,248 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of September 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

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