(a) 
The effective date of this Charter shall be January 01, 2000.
(b) 
Appointed or elected officers serving a term on the effective date shall continue to serve until the expiration of their terms, unless the office, if appointive, is abolished or the term shortened by ordinance in accordance with Section 5-20. As present appointive terms expire or are vacated, the Board of Selectmen may if necessary, make either new or vacancy appointments for short terms in order to achieve the regular rotation of appointments prescribed by Section 5-2(a).
This Charter may be amended in the manner prescribed by the General Statutes.
If any section of this Charter shall be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the remainder of this Charter nor the context in which such section so held invalid may appear, except to the extent that an entire section or part of section may be inseparably connected in meaning and effect with the section or part of section to which such holding shall directly apply.