Why you should fear Political Power Consolidation in Wareham - Part 5 of 6
In the first four parts of this article I explained how the Wareham Board of Selectmen has a plan to grab power in April through their handpicked Charter Review Committee. If successful, this consolidation of power will take from you, the Wareham voter, the power to enact legislation and the power to control your tax dollars. The proposed charter change would limit information, limit debate, and place all real power in the hands of just a few individuals. In this installment, I describe how the Charter Review Committee made choices to limit debate and control information as they decided on which governmental form to implement.
The sixth meeting of the Charter Review Committee on May 28, 2009, started off sounding as though public input might be sought:
The committee then proceeded to discuss Wareham's history and previous form of government and what prompted the change to the current form. The committee was adamant on including community imput (sic). Top on the list of concerns was making certain whatever form we research, that we create a government that is responsible and accountable to the citizens of Wareham. The committee discussed this above subject for approximately one hour.
The very next meeting (number 7) on June 11, 2009, started off as though real research might be undertaken, at least regarding the new form of government that would be proposed. What follows is perhaps one of the strangest things to be found in the meeting minutes to date. First, here is what the minutes actually say.
The members debated several of the issues for more than forty minutes. Alan stated that he felt we should narrow it down and chose a course of action. We would then be able to assign members to research their respective city (sic) governments. Jack made a motion to select Form B. The motion was moved by Ed and seconded by Mick. Alan called for the vote and it was recorded as unanimous.
The first three sentences, as well as what precedes this quote, indicate a plan to assign various possible government forms to members and have them do further research. Then out of nowhere there was a vote to select a single choice. The vote to select this form was unanimous. In an instant, the possibility of any further research or debate about this complex issue was tossed aside.
At the July 9, 2009 meeting, the Charter Review Committee seemed to have forgotten that they had already selected Plan B at the previous meeting (called Form B in those minutes). Here is a quote from the July 9, 2009, meeting:
The members then discussed the need for a change in town government. It was discussed that Plan B would be the most plausible. Alan then polled the board to see who was in acceptance of moving forward with Plan B. All members, except one were in favor. Jack Houton made a motion to support acceptance of Plan B, it was seconded by several members. Alan then called the vote which was 6-1-0 in favor of supporting Plan B.
The identity of the member who made the dissenting vote was not recorded. This decision was made with no public input, no input from department heads, and no interviews with relevant committees or boards such as the Finance Committee.
Next the Charter Review Committee discussed the means of implementing Plan B. Since this was a radical change in the form of town government that would take away the legislative power of town meeting, it meant that, by Massachusetts General Law 43B, it could not be done by an appointed committee. The only choice available for such a radical change is by an elected commission or through a Special Act of the state legislature. From the committee's point of view, one of the perceived problems of using an elected commission was made very clear in the meeting minutes of July 9, 2009:
Alan stated that it we have to (sic) options for changing town government, we go forth and support an elected commission. It was discussed that an elected commission might not necessarily support the ideals of the committee.
The possibility that an elected committee might take an approach that differed from the Board of Selectmen's appointed Charter Review Committee was of such concern that they decided on July 9, 2009, to proceed using the Special Act method:
Mick Jones made a motion that we proceed under the Special Act format to change Wareham's form of government. Ed Pacewicz seconded the motion. Alan called for the vote, which was recorded as unanimous (7-0-0)
The Charter Review Committee apparently forgot that they had already decided to use the Special Acts path at their May 14, 2009 meeting, which also passed by a majority vote.
In the next and final installment of this series, I will describe how we can make positive suggestions for Wareham through a consideration of the Charter Review Committee's failures.
Why you should fear Political Power Consolidation - Part 1
Why you should fear Political Power Consolidation - Part 2
Why you should fear Political Power Consolidation - Part 3
