CHARLESTOWN –– A Town Council hearing last night on proposed changes to the Town Charter drew eight residents –– including the chairwoman of the committee that proposed the changes –– and no questions from the public.

The hearing came nearly a month to the day after the council’s endorsement of the eight proposed questions and finalized the language that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, making the hearing essentially a formality.

Still, council members had plenty to say last night, especially about a controversial recall provision that would create a procedure to remove elected officials from office, and updated language referring to the Charlestown School Committee, in the event there is one in the future.

Council President James M. Mageau –– the only council member opposed to the recall provision –– said he would consider challenging it, if it is approved, on constitutional grounds. He asserted it could lead to capricious and arbitrary recall attempts.

As proposed, residents could initiate recalls on any grounds, not just when the elected official pleads guilty or no contest to a felony or is convicted –– having exhausted all appeals –– of a felony, clarified Deborah Carney, chairwoman of the Charter Revision Committee.

The clause would apply to members of the Town Council, Planning Commission, and the School Committee.

Councilwoman Katharine H. Waterman also took issue with the time line of the proposed recall clause, which calls for the recall to be filed after the first four months and before the last six months of the official’s term and would then require nearly three months from the time signatures are gathered to the time voters have a say.

“I understand why you did what you did,” Waterman told Deborah Carney, chairwoman of the Charter Revision Committee, “because you don’t want it to be easy. And it shouldn’t be.

“But I’m going to reiterate my dismay that it takes 8¾ months.”

“We wanted to make it difficult but not impossible,” Carney replied.

Mageau also questioned proposed changes that would provide for a Charlestown School Committee, in the event the town were to withdraw from the Chariho Regional School District.

The charter currently includes language referring to 2004, when Charlestown held a referendum on whether it should withdraw from Chariho.

“The issue with the Charlestown School Committee is something that I don’t understand,” Mageau said, “because we don’t have a school committee.”

Forrester C. Safford, who is running for the Town Council, , agreed, saying the proposed change would confuse people.

If anything, Safford said, references to the Charlestown School Committee should be removed from the charter.

Mageau also took issue with Carney’s comment that the committee wanted to update the language in the event a school committee were needed since the council had asked the ad hoc Withdrawal Update Committee to explore all options, including possible withdrawal.

The council, he said, would consider withdrawal only if the construction referendum –– which will also be on the November ballot –– were to fail, and Hopkinton continued to refuse to fund the repairs.

Hopkinton voters rejected the November 2007 construction proposal.

Hopkinton Town Council members have tried to block the latest proposal –– which calls for up to $25 million of new construction and repairs split in three questions with each town paying equal shares –– and have said they will not consider any school referendum until tax equalization is on the table.

Under the current funding system, towns pay a share of the district’s costs based on their students’ enrollment, with Charlestown, which has the largest tax base, paying the smallest percentage.

Charlestown officials point out that state aid to education evens out the initial financial discrepancy.

Charlestown council members have authorized Town Solicitor Robert E. Craven to meet with his counterpart in Richmond to discuss suing Hopkinton over a breach of contract.

(The proposed charter amendments are posted on the town’s Web site, www.charlestownri.org.)

marmenta@projo.com