Letter to Town Manager and Select Board
3 Robandy Road
Andover, MA 01810
December 10, 2025
Dear Town Manager Flanagan and Members of the Select Board:
For over a year and half, the Committee for a New Andover Charter gathered 4,708
signatures to place a question on the Town election ballot which would allow voters to
decide whether to create a Charter Commission to study alternatives to Andover’s current
form of government. During the signature collection process, we were advised by the Town
Clerk that we would be able to supplement our filing if we fell short on the initial submittal.
Based on this advice, we filed our petitions on September 26th with the intent of adding
additional signatures if necessary. At the request of the Town Clerk, we signed a statement
that the petition was complete.
After review by the Town Clerk’s Office, we were told that our initial filing fell short by 601
signatures of the required 15% of registered voters; and, to our great surprise, we were
informed that the state would not allow us to add to the 3,451 signatures which were
certified as valid – more than 13% of registered voters – because we had stated the petition
was complete.
As recommended by the Town Clerk, we sought an opinion from the Secretary of State’s
Office as to whether we could withdraw our statement of completeness and add to the
certified signatures. We now have received the opinion of Michelle Tassinari (First Deputy
Secretary of the Elections Division) which is enclosed with this letter. It concludes that “no
additional petitions can be submitted to supplement that filing.”
We are very disappointed in that opinion and are considering our options. While we take
full responsibility for not collecting an adequate number of signatures initially, we also
believe that the Town bears some responsibility for having advised us during the signature
collection process that we would be able to supplement our filing if we fell short on the
initial submittal. Based on that advice, we made an initial submittal of signatures only to
learn that this advice was incorrect and that we would have to start the process again from
the start. This position invalidates the certified signatures of 3,451 Andover voters, not to
mention the work of many volunteers who helped gather signatures.
No matter how our group decides to proceed, we believe that it is vitally important for all
Town leaders to understand what we have learned during the signature gathering effort.
There is strong and clear sentiment among Andover residents to seriously consider
alternatives to Open Town Meeting. In fact, very few people we spoke to supported
continuing the current form of government. In addition to concerns about the lack of
effectiveness, efficiency and representativeness of Town Meeting, a common refrain was
that Open Town Meeting disenfranchises a significant number of people, including those
serving in the military; students who are away at school; people who work
at night; those who are homebound because of physical impairment; and parents with
young children. These people simply can’t attend in person a multi-night, multi-hour,
weekday evening meeting, but nevertheless would like to participate in some way in Town
governance. Too many segments of the town are being left out–this is a situation which
should concern all who care about Andover’s governance.
We look forward to further discussion with you on this important matter.
Sincerely,
Richard Howe, Bo Baird
Co-chairs
Committee for a New Andover Charter
Enclosure
cc: State Senator Barry Finegold
State Representative Tram Nguyen
State Representative Frank Moran
Town Clerk Austin Simko
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Message from Secretary of State’s Office
From: Tassinari, Michelle (SEC) <Michelle.Tassinari@sec.state.ma.us>
Date: Thu, Dec 4, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Subject: RE: Andover Charter Review – Additional Questions
To: Howe <howe8788@gmail.com>, SEC-DL-Elections Inquiries
<Election@sec.state.ma.us>
Cc: Bo Baird (bairdbo@gmail.com) <bairdbo@gmail.com>
Good Afternoon-
As I stated in our conversation, it is our position that once petitioners notify the
local election official that the petition filing is complete, no additional petitions can be
submitted to supplement that filing.
The law does not provide for withdrawal of a statement submitted in accordance
with section 3 of chapter 43B of the General Laws. I am not aware of any laws that allow
withdrawing a filing that is required before an action can be taken. For example,
resignations of public officials cannot be rescinded or withdrawn. Similarly, a candidate
withdrawal cannot be thereafter withdrawn once filed. The letter submitted on September
26th notifies the Board of Registrars that the filing is complete and cannot now be
withdrawn or rescinded.
Further, neither the Town of Andover nor this Office has the authority to allow
additional petitions to be submitted or for your notification of a complete filing to be
withdrawn. We would recommend consulting with a private attorney for any other options,
which would likely have to involve litigation against the Town.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Michelle
Michelle K. Tassinari
First Deputy Secretary
Director and Legal Counsel, Elections Division
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
One Ashburton Place, Room 1705
Boston, MA 02108
617-727-2828
Michelle.Tassinari@sec.state.ma.us
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Press Release
CHARTER GROUP EXPLORING OPTIONS AFTER STATE SETBACK
The Committee for a New Andover Charter has received a ruling from the Secretary of
State’s Office preventing the use of 3,451 certified signatures of Andover voters seeking to
establish an Andover Charter Commission. After the certification process, this total fell
short of the required fifteen percent (4,052) of Andover’s total number of registered voters.
But instead of allowing the petitioners to gather and certify the additional 601 signatures,
the state would require the local committee to begin the collection process again from the
start.
“We believe the State’s interpretation of the law is unfair and unreasonable, and we were
not informed of it before submitting our petitions to the Town Clerk,” said committee co
chair Richard Howe. “We are exploring options to appeal or to change that interpretation.”
“During the course of our signature drive, we spoke with thousands of Andover voters,”
said co-chair Bo Baird, “and the overwhelming majority supported formation of a charter
commission to consider alternatives to our current Open Town Meeting. We believe
Andover is the largest community in New England that still has this form of government,
which is more effective for smaller towns.”
Once approved and elected by Andover voters, the nine-person charter commission would
review the town’s governmental structure and recommend changes to be voted on in a
subsequent local election.
In a response to the State’s letter, the Committee issued a statement which noted: In
addition to concerns about the lack of effectiveness, efficiency, and representativeness of
Open Town Meeting, a common refrain was that Open Town Meeting disenfranchises a
significant number of people, including people who work at night, those who are
homebound because of physical impairment, parents with young children, those serving in
the military; and students who are away at school.
Anyone interested in joining the effort to reform Andover’s town government should
contact the Committee at: info@newandovercharter.org.