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The Charter Committee was designed to one day be dissolved and that day came Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, when the Select Board voted unanimously to disband the 11- member committee but only after its chair submitted its third draft of the town’s first charter.
“I want to really make the point that Draft C is a working draft; it is not a final draft of the charter,” said Charter Committee Chair Amy Drinker.
Drinker said the 32-page document may serve as a baseline for further charter development.
“The executive summary includes suggested next steps and a timeline for your consideration if and when you decide to move forward with the charter initiative,” she said.
She also requested that the materials she provided be posted on the town's Charter webpage.
Marblehead has been operating for 375+ years without a formal governing document but that began to change in April of 2024 when the Select Board established the Charter Committee with one goal; to draft the town’s first charter.
Select Board Chair Dan Fox said he has seen the previous drafts and notes and admitted it was “well beyond something I could do.” He acknowledged the committee’s hard work and in particular, Drinker and Sean Casey. Casey helped organize, explain and roll the town’s existing framework, bylaws and special acts into one document but he died in December 2025, before the work was completed. Drinker, at the time, called him instrumental to the development of the charter.
Moses Grader served as the Select Board’s liaison to the committee and called its members “really smart, dedicated people willing to listen to each other.” He said no one carried an agenda and it was a pleasure to work with them.
Select Board member Rosana Ferrante called the work of the committee tremendous.
“And I think no matter what happens … I think the work will serve a purpose for something,” she said. “That time and effort was not wasted at all. What it turns into, we’ll see but certainly needs further discussion.”
Fox suggested the board take the time to look through the document before discussing it and deciding next steps at a future meeting.
Drinker said at the committee’s last meeting on July 28, members considered their work to be complete and wanted to be excused from further service.
“If you have questions in the future that you’d like any of us to come back and answer, we’d be happy to do so,” she added.
The board voted unanimously to accept the draft and dissolve the Charter Committee, which was met with much applause and cheers.
While the work of the committee has come to an end, the work on the charter is far from over. To become law, the Marblehead Town Charter must be approved in three stages: Town Meeting approval, state legislative review and approval, and a townwide vote after passage at the state level.
