Groton — The Town Council on Tuesday expressed mixed views about the draft report by the Charter Revision Commission that recommended abolishing Representative Town Meeting, holding an annual budget referendum and creating a board of finance.

While several members supported the recommendation to eliminate the RTM, others expressed concern about maintaining district representation in Groton’s government.

Without the RTM, Councilor Harry Watson said, “you run the risk of a couple of parts of town running everything.” Councilor Rich Moravsik said the commission could deal with this issue of representation by making the seven-member Board of Finance elected by district.

Watson and Councilor Dean Antipas suggested the RTM could simply be made smaller. Groton is a diverse community, and that diversity might not be captured by simply having a seven-member Board of Finance elected by district, Mayor Bruce Flax said.

Councilors discussed the draft report but did not vote on it Tuesday. The council will make its recommendations to the commission at its next meeting. The commission will then review the recommendations and submit a final report, which the council will then vote up or down. If the council accepts the report, the revisions will be sent to the voters.

One criticism of the RTM is that members don’t show up to meetings and therefore don’t really represent the public as intended. During the last 12 months, an average of 26 of the 41 RTM members attended meetings, commission members said.

But Councilor Deborah Peruzzotti said she’s unconvinced the system needs change. “I’m not really sure what’s broken about our form of government right now,” she said.

If Groton scraps the RTM and creates a budget referendum, at least two councilors said the referendum should have a minimum voter turnout. Otherwise, “you could have two people showing up, and I don’t think that’s correct,” Moravsik said.

Antipas said he worries a referendum would lead to political rather than a deliberative decisions; political action committees would be formed to drive budget decisions and influence candidates. This happens at the state level while "we've been mercifully free of this at the local level," he said.

The commission report also suggested town council seats be changed from two-year terms to staggered, four-year terms. Several councilors said they support four-year terms but do not want them staggered, so voters retain the power to “clean house” if they’re unhappy with their elected officials.

A majority of councilors also said they believe the town clerk should be appointed rather than elected.