Committee approves H.694, a charter amendment on Bennington town manager

A committee voted to approve H.694, a proposed amendment to the Town of Bennington charter addressing the town manager, recording 10 votes in favor, zero against and one absent.

Representative Coffin moved to approve the change, saying, “Motion that we accept that we approve the charter change.” The chair confirmed the motion applied to the draft “as introduced.” The clerk then called the roll; ten members recorded “yes” votes and one member did not register a vote on the roll call. The chair reported the tally as 10–0–1.

The measure was introduced during a shift in the agenda after members discussed liability insurance and other items. Committee members characterized H.694 as one of four charter matters under consideration and agreed to move this item forward while the others remain under review.

There was no substantive debate recorded on the motion in the transcript; members proceeded directly to the roll call after the motion was made and identified the mover. Representative Coffin recommended approval when moving the measure.

After the vote, members discussed logistics for meeting minutes and reporting. The chair confirmed a committee member would serve as reporter for the item; that assignment had been part of the previously distributed homework on the charter proposals. The committee then shuffled the agenda and scheduled an upcoming presentation: a representative of an organization described in the record as the “language justice props, projects” was set to present a budget request later in the meeting.

The committee paused briefly to take the meeting offline until that presentation.