Charter Review Committee

Ken O’Brien

Back in November The O’Zone pointed out that the Town Council Chairman had yet to appoint a Charter Review Committee as required by the Southbridge Home Rule Charter.

Well, tonight the Charter Review Committee will finally meet in the George Parent Community Room at 7 p.m.

I must say that I was somewhat surprised to see a note about this, given that I don’t recall a public announcement of its membership. Then again, it could have happened while I was indisposed due to a recent hospitalization. 

What Happened To The Charter Review Committee?

Ken O’Brien

As we pointed out in an earlier article, the Town Council has jumped the gun in its call for the landfill reimbursement receipt study by over six months.

On the other hand, it has been derelict in its responsibility to fulfill a recurring provision of the town’s home rule charter. That is the obligation to name a Charter Review Committee every fifth year following the adoption of the Charter.

12-5-2: The chairperson of the town council shall appoint a charter review committee every five years. The committee shall consist of five members, and shall report its recommendations to the town council within one year from the date of its appointment.

Reviewing The Charter Review

Dennis Martinek

As one of five appointed members to the Charter Review Committee (Larry "Butch" McDonald, chair, Gary Fontaine, Deb Gregoire-LeFebvre, and Ken O'Brien were the others), we spent from September of 2009 until the middle of August 2010, when our final report was issued, working on reviewing and making recommendations to the existing Town Charter.

Many of the proposed changes were innocuous (changing the language so that people that home-brewed beer were not in violation) to the politically charged question of how many councilors does it take to unscrew a light bulb (in this case, remove the Town Manager from office)? 

Why The Open Meeting Law Violation Matters

Ken O’Brien

There are those who feel that my open meeting law complaint was a minor matter undeserving of any serious attention.

I profoundly disagree with this view for numerous reasons. The most fundamental reason is that it relates directly to the relentless effort to amend the town charter on terms that are beneficial to particular political interests. I can only imagine the outrage of many of those pursuing this agenda if a similar campaign was mounted, with analogous political chicanery, to alter the U.S. Constitution. 

My Open Meeting Law Complaint

Ken O’Brien

The O’Zone has documented at great length the black comedy of errors that has constituted efforts to amend the Southbridge Town Charter.

First we witnessed the ineptitude of the town council in dealing with the original charter amendment proposals by the Charter Review Committee after a year’s work.

Then we saw the newly elected council dispense with all that work in two subcommittee sessions and ram through the politically driven result. 

The Politics Of Expediency In Southbridge

Ken O’Brien

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “If you sit by the river long enough you will see the body of your opponent floating by.”

The pollution swollen river that is Southbridge politics has flowed on for many months since The O’Zone first began. Over that time this forum has documented the many distortions of process, reason and intellect that have dominated the decision-making process that has governed this community. 

Southbridge Town Council Pre-Election Charade

Ken O’Brien

I will have a more extensive review of last night’s town council meeting after I’ve had a chance to watch it again.

In essence it was an encomium to how wonderful everything is under the current regime, with the chairman’s and town manager’s announcement amounting to a defense of all their shortcomings. Clearly rehearsed appearances during citizen’s forum reinforced the “don’t worry, be happy” theme with which the leadership sought to lead into the final week before the town election next Tuesday. 

Southbridge Charter Review Committee Strikes Back

Ken O'Brien

Back in July I wrote a post entitled The Charter Chupacabra.

In that article I made a series of predictions on how the current council would amend the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee.

With one exception all of those predictions came true. The sole exception was that the council would recommend changing the position of Town Clerk from elected to appointed. Perhaps this was a bridge too far. Perhaps it reflected the fact that the current Town Clerk had changed her party affiliation from Democrat to unenrolled.

Having been duly appointed in accordance with the terms of the Town Charter, the members of the Charter Review Committee felt obligated to respond to the actions of the town council.

The Charter Chupacabra

CHUPACABRA

Kenneth M. O’Brien

Wasting no time, the new Town Council leadership took a meat axe to the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee.

While the absence of members of the Charter Review Committee (CRC) was lamented, such posturing was disingenuous in the extreme.

Members of the CRC were never informed of the hearing or invited to attend. The Chairman was on vacation in Maine. Other members found out only through an email from the Chairman of the CRC on Monday or through reading about it in the newspaper.