Worcester Charter Review and Police Oversight Debated

Radio Roundtable Examines Worcester Charter Reform and Police Accountability

“I think our food safety is far better than anywhere else in the world, which is why we always encourage people when they travel to be extra cautious about what they eat because other countries don’t practice the same.”

By-Hank Stolz
Graphic-Radio Worcester/Kill the Ball Media

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Worcester, MA-The Radio Roundtable, Hank Stolz, Ben White, George Russell and Randy Feldman looks at Worcester’s charter review process and police oversight.

The Municipal and Legislative Operations subcommittee met Monday to discuss opening the city charter for the first time in 40 years, with presentations from the city solicitor and clerk outlining multiple pathways for reform, including petition routes requiring approximately 18,000 verified signatures or home rule petitions requiring city council approval. “So, this is something that if we go all the way back to when Gary Rosen last ran, he was campaigning on the issue of, we need to open up the charter. We want to look at charter review, not necessarily change, but it’s been 40 years.”  observed Ben White who was at the meeting.

The discussion revealed tensions between council members regarding the scope and urgency of charter review, with disagreements over whether to gauge public opinion through a non-binding referendum before proceeding. “Gary Rosen standing up at that council subcommittee meeting, pointing his finger, standing up, talking to his colleagues in the tone that he was talking to them. I don’t care what the issue was. Standing up on your chair from your chair, pointing at your colleagues and talking. Gary Rosen knows better than that. And he owes an apology to the city of Worcester as far as I’m concerned.” said George Russell.

Separately, the roundtable addresses the Department of Justice’s closure of its investigation into the Worcester Police Department, analyzing the city manager’s press release characterizing the decision as closing without sustaining allegations—language that drew criticism from Councilor Khrystian King for potentially misrepresenting the DOJ’s findings. “Batista’s letter said the DOJ closed its investigation of WPD without further action. And here’s the killer, without sustaining any allegations from its 2024 report. That was a poor choice of words.” noted Randy Feldman. “We have seen you make changes. We believe those changes to be adequate and therefore we are going to consider this matter closed and move on. That’s what the DOJ said,” commented White. “The most important thing is there are now a body camera with a motion sensor on each police officer so that if there is some interaction that was not proper, there is a video of it that is public information” says Russell.

The broader conversation centered on structural governance issues, including the concentration of power in the city manager position, the independence of municipal commissions and committees, and calls for an independent civilian police oversight board to provide checks and balances outside the existing chain of command. “There’s no reason to serve on a city commission or committee because you’re either going to do what the city manager wants you to do, which means why even be there? Because your opinion doesn’t really count.” said Feldman who serves on the Human Rights Commission. Participants debate whether robust guardrails can coexist with strong executive authority and discuss the role of body cameras, internal affairs, and existing oversight mechanisms in police accountability.