Windham held a public hearing on proposed changes to the town charter on Tuesday, May 26, as it prepares to vote on the amendments, which would switch the town’s budget process from an in-person town meeting to a secret ballot referendum.

Plans to replace the traditional town meeting format have been in discussion for almost a year, following a town meeting that saw relatively low turnout for a town with close to 20,000 residents.

In the immediate aftermath of the meeting, the Town Council discussed changing the town meeting format, but decided to delay discussion of an amendment into 2026, out of concern 2025 would not meet the turnout threshold required to change the charter. In February, town attorney Benjamin T. McCall laid out a path for amending the town charter via referendum.

The town will vote on two amendments to the charter as part of the Nov. 3 general election. The first amendment, if approved, will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, with the option of returning to the in-person format should the budget fail at referendum. A similar system currently exists in Gray.

The second amendment, which will take effect immediately if approved, says that any appropriation of $500,000 or more shall become effective only after adoption at a town meeting by a majority vote of those present and the town meeting shall not increase the amount of any appropriation or bond issue above what is recommended by the council.

Resident Adam Zajac said he was “strongly opposed” to changing the town meeting format, arguing that a ballot vote would take away the ability of informed to citizens to debate and oppose amendments in real time and replace it with ballot measures. Zajac also argued the town was moving away from Maine’s tradition of direct democracy, and reducing accountability for the Town Council. He instead suggested the town could solve the problem of low attendance by improving its outreach, providing a hybrid attendance option or scheduling the meeting at a more convenient time.

Resident Jim VanNest, a former municipal administrator, said the first proposed amendment, would make it easier for residents to vote down municipal budgets by allowing disgruntled residents to vote against it through absentee ballot. He asked if there was a mechanism for what would happen if the budget was not approved by the following Jan. 1, to which Town Council Vice Chair William Reiner said, should a warrant item fail, it would revert to the previous fiscal year’s line item, and the town has the power to call a meeting at any time to address the item.

Resident Carolyn Brodsky said she was somewhat in favor of voting on the town budget in a similar manner to how Windham currently votes on the school budget. Brodsky, who was at last year’s town meeting, was appalled by the small number of people voting on such a large budget, as well as the lack of information from the town regarding increases. She asked if the town budget would be voted on at the same time as the school budget, to which a council member responded that it would, and recommended informational meetings for each of the budgets to go over the details and allow for public questions.