Harwich Charter Commission Sets Four-Vote Bar to Fire Town Administrator

HARWICH -- June 4, 2026, Harwich Charter Commission agrees to require four Select Board votes to terminate the town administrator and reshapes the finance director's reporting structure. Meeting mostly without quorum, the commission spent the bulk of its June 4 session in discussion with Finance Director Jen Mintz and Town Administrator Jay McGrail, who reported roughly $8 million in outstanding tax receivables on the books, largely traceable to fiscal year 2022, the last year the town completed a tax title process. Mintz said collection efforts are already producing results three to four times over budget on tax title penalties and interest this fiscal year, and outlined a longer-term plan to deny permits and beach stickers to delinquent taxpayers. The commission settled on a three-part charter compromise: restoring the finance director to the Select Board's appointment authority, adding her to the town administrator's annual evaluation duties, and inserting "personnel contracts" into two charter sections to preserve escalation protections for appointed department heads. Once a quorum arrived, all five members present agreed to the four-vote termination threshold for the town administrator and approved the May 28 minutes 5-0.