2011-4
26

June Council Change

Category: Charter, City Council | No Comments

I made this suggestion in 2010.
Never heard another word. No comment. No feedback.
Instead we continue to hold Special meetings every June to get the budget process done.
We are fast approaching another Fiscal whirlwind. Anticipation grows for the Special meetings called in June, each year.
Already we have seen the Council try to schedule around the July 4th holiday. Why not introduce this bill and then have an open discussion on it’s merit finalized by a vote… up or down, then move on.

Email on 01/08/2010, sent to my elected Councilors;
In the past few years there has been much confusion and many Special Meetings called in June in order to approve a budget per the Charter, Municipal Code and Massachusetts State Law.

I feel that part of the problem is the existing Municipal Code which states;

Section 2-1. Regular Meetings of the City Council

The City Council shall meet regularly on the first and third Mondays of each month, provided, however, that if the said first or third Monday shall fall on a legal holiday, then the City Council shall meet on the Tuesday night which follows such legal holiday. Provided further that in the instance where a City Council Meeting would otherwise, by this ordinance, be on the eve of a municipal primary, prliminary or regular election, then said meeting shall be set for the Thursday following said election. Meetings of the City Council shall be called to order promptly at 7:00 o’clock P.M. in the City office building, provided, however, that if conditions require it, the Chairman of the City Council may declare the meetings will be held at another place, with as much notice as conditions allow. During the months of June, July and August of each year, the regular meeting of the City Council shall be held on the first Monday of each month.

(1973 Ord., as amended by Ord. #2, June 1973;
as further amended by Ord. #496, Eff. December 1st, 1993;
as further amended by Ord. #499, Eff. January 4th, 1994; and
as further amended by Ord. #711, Eff. January 3rd, 2001, and
as further amended by Ord. #802)

I would like to recommend that since we are no longer an agrarian economy or agrarian culture in Methuen, we change the Code to have two (2) meetings in June, which is the last fiscal month of the year.

I am Proposing two (2) meetings on the first and last Monday of June. Then I have moved the July and August meetings to the third (3rd) Monday of the month. This effectively moves the Council meetings away from the July 4th conflict that we have seen.

Below please see my draft Ordinance;

WHEREAS: The Methuen Town Council in 1973, adopted Ordinance # 2, last amended by Order # 802 and;

WHEREAS: The Fiscal Year Budgetary process concludes in the Month of June each calander year and;

WHEREAS: It is in the best interest of the City of Methuen and of its citizens to further amend the same;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Methuen that Section 2-1, Subsection 1 of Chapter 2, of the Methuen Municipal Ordinance is hereby AMENDED as follows:

By deleting the last sentence there of being:

During the months of June, July and August of each year, the regular meeting of the City Council shall be held on the first Monday of each month.

and inserting in place thereof the following:

During the month of June the City Council shall meet regularly on the first and last Mondays of that month. During the months of July and August of each year, the regular meeting of the City Council shall be held on the third Monday of each month.

The remaining provisions of said Ordinance shall remain in full force and effect.

Thank you for your consideration. Any feedback is appreciated.

2011-4
8

Transparency- Just a catch phrase?

Category: City Council | No Comments

I did not create this letter. I just stole it and changed the intended audience. This sat in my DRAFTS file for a year.

Some of this has happened, but, one should expect a sweeping change to occur and force all the records to be open and transparent.

How often do these elected officials tell us they are open and transparent?
How many times will you hear those words in the coming months as they campaign to remain elected?

The Contracts that get approved by the City Council are not published with the Agenda nor with the Minutes of any meeting. To read them you need a Freedom of Information request.

Each month the Council gets an update from the Accountant on spending. That data is NEVER published.

The Council created a Finance sub-committee. I have asked for the meetings to be announced via the website. They only post a notice at City Hall. They never publish their minutes. Even when they make a report to the Council, they say, our minutes are in your packet, but those minutes do not get published. as part of the meeting minutes.

All sub-committee meetings should be announced on the City Council website.
All sub-committee minutes should be published at the same website, either speperatly or as part of the next Council Meeting Minutes.

So I present this letter.

The actual authors are;
True Massachusetts Government Transparency:SHOW US THE MONEY By Carla Howell and Michael Cloud, Originally published 2-8-08 (updated/condensed 3-31-10)
_____________________________________________________________________________________

An Open Letter to the Methuen Legislature, City Council.

Honorable City Councillors,

On behalf of the taxpayers of Methuen,

For the purposes of Methuen City government transparency and accountability,

The taxpayers request that you show us the money: open the books for all Methuen Ciy Government income and spending.

We ask that you post the last 10 years of Methuen City government total yearly spending on an open, free, easily readable, and easily accessible website. All “on-” and “off-budget” transactions.

Taxpayers shouldn’t need to make a request under the Public Records Law (Massachusetts’ version of the federal Freedom of Information Act) to find out where the money comes from and where it goes.

Taxpayers shouldn’t have to be Certified Public Accountants to follow the money in Methuen City government.

We request that you make each year’s total City government spending easily readable and understandable by average 12 year old students in the Massachusetts public school system.

Why not? Yearly City government spending records aren’t calculus or trigonometry. They’re simple addition and subtraction.

All Methuen taxpayers should be able to browse this online City government spending website and see exactly where the money comes from and where it goes.

Detective novels tell us to follow the money.

Taxpayers should be able to easily find out which individuals and companies we are paying these tax dollars to. Government employees. Government expenditures. Contractors. Suppliers and vendors. Out-sourcing.

This will help eliminate even the appearance of political favoritism, sweetheart deals, conflicts-of-interest, bribery, or corruption.

It will help taxpayers identify and call attention to overcharges, under-performance, and poor returns on tax spending. It will let taxpayers shine a spotlight on previously unnoticed government overspending and waste.

Opening the books will allow us to prioritize City spending – and compare the importance of each expenditure with the importance of keeping that money in the hands of the taxpayers who earned it – many of whom desperately need it.

Closed Books government is secretive government.

Closed Books government is unaccountable to taxpayers. Neither morally, nor financially.

Closed Books government fosters inefficiency and ineffectiveness. It protects incompetence and irresponsibility.

Closed Books government covers up extravagances left intact while politicians cut, or threaten to cut, core services.

Closed Books government conceals and covers up 3 kinds of waste:
Paying champagne prices for beer quality.
Paying champagne prices for champagne – when you only need beer.
Buying champagne or beer items when you don’t need either.
Open Books government is transparent and accountable.

Open Books government shows taxpayers and voters that the Methuen City government has nothing to hide.

You can – and should – open and post yearly City government spending – 100% of all transactions – online on an open, free, easily readable, and easily accessible website.

Open books is priority # 1 for any legislator who’s serious about going after government waste and minimizing taxes.

We ask that you do this and do this quickly.

Why?

Transparency delayed is transparency denied.

Accountability delayed is accountability denied.

On behalf of the taxpayers and workers of Methuen,

The City Accountant works for you.
The Responsibility for funding rests with you.
We elected you to represent our interests.
Show an interest.
Step up and Open the Books.
This is not something that requires the approval of the City Administration.

Once again, we ask you to open the books of all City government revenue and spending.

Sincerely,

Taxpayers

2011-4
4

Support a Deployed Soldier: Offer Your Landscape Services to a Family in Need

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments

GreenCare for Troops is a nationwide outreach program initiated by Project EverGreen that connects participating landscape maintenance professionals and citizen volunteers with families of the men and women away from home serving our country in the Armed Forces.

Lawn and landscape maintenance becomes a definite hardship when a military family’s primary breadwinner is on active duty away from home.

GreenCare for Troops seeks to ease this burden by helping affected families with the important task of caring for their yard and landscape. Landscape professionals and citizen volunteers donate their services to the military families for one year or the duration of their deployment.

How it Works
Based in New Prague, Minn., Project EverGreen is a national non-profit organization representing the green industry service providers, associations, suppliers, distributors and individuals.
The link between the families and the volunteers is done at the Project EverGreen headquarters.
If a volunteer is located in the area of a military family, the military family is contacted by telephone or email with the volunteer’s information.
For privacy reasons, it is the military family’s responsibility to contact the volunteer.

To date, more than 9,000 military families and more than 2,400 volunteers nationwide have registered with GreenCare for Troops.

To volunteer your services, simply complete and submit a brief on-line registration form on the Project EverGreen GreenCare for Troops website at www.projectevergreen.com/gcft.

Donations are also welcome.

The cost of this program is underwritten by Cub Cadet.
Dirty Jobs’ Mike Rowe from the Discovery Channel and Cub Cadet have teamed up and created a You Tube video. The video can be seen here. The video is on Discovery Channel here.

This appeal was copied and edited from numerous landscaping website.

2011-4
4

Blue Star parent

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments

I, once again, find myself as a blue star parent.

My eldest son has just been activated and will be, after pre-deployment training, posted to Afghanistan. One would like to think his deployment to Kabul will be safe since most of the fighting is South of there.

The whole country is a war zone, however. In a war zone, there are NO safe locations.

Attested to by the rioting in Kabul recently.

In honor of all veterans and the sacrifice they make, I have added links to Family support groups.

I will be expanding that over the next few weeks. I hope to also add the links to local cable access programs that provide information on where military families can get assistance during deployments.

If you know of servces that should be added send them along. All are appreciated.

Service members, Thank you.

2011-2
13

Citizens for a Better Government.

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Ran across this article from 2008. It is in the Valley Patriot

I reproduce it here but it can be read on line also.

Methuen Group Assembles to Change Methuen’s Charter

Jack Burke

Our current Federal system of government did not spring “full born” into existence. It took 11 years to get from a Declaration of Independence to a functional Constitutional Government. During that time there was much discussion and review of government format by diverse citizens.

Similarly, Methuen now has a group dedicated to the same type of discussion and review. The newly formed Citizens for a Better Government has come into existence to discuss and review the existing City Charter. The group is formed by a diverse cross section of active Methuenites to create a citizen driven Charter Study Commission under Massachusetts general law.

The elected Executive Committee is made up of President Pat Uliano, Vice President Sid Harris, Treasurer Alex Vannett, Clerk Kathleen Corey Rahme and Secretary Sharon Ployer.
The group has been meeting monthly at the Methuen VFW ,Arnold Greenwood Post 8349, 26 River Street. They invite everyone to come, listen and decide for yourself.

Every new member is asked, “Why are you here? What are your concerns? What should be changed?” These responses have become a framework for a series of non-binding ballot questions which the group hopes will be on the Presidential ballot this November (2008). This is a way to tap the pulse of Methuen’s 46,000 plus citizenry.

Some of the major items being discussed are the form of government, mayor or manager or a combination. Can a balance between the Administrative and Legislative bodies be struck? What are your feelings on term limits. Should they stay the same? Become permanent (serve for x time and that’s the end). Should terms be 2 ,3 or 4 years? How many terms should be allowed? Should we review other voting processes? E-voting?

One item becomes clear early when meeting members of this group. They believe that one needs to “Think Positive.”

This is becoming a mantra. They are looking for best practices in Government in a fashion similar to the private sector search for best practice.

The group is leading a petition drive to create a ballot question for the 2009 Municipal Election cycle. The group needs about 5000 signatures to get the question on the ballot for next year. They have registered with the City Clerk as a Ballot Question Committee under Mass. Law.

They look forward to gathering the required signatures so that a Charter Study Committee question can be on the ballot. If successful, citizens will also be able to get nomination papers to join this elected Study Commission during the same voting cycle.

Their first fund raiser will be an Italian style meal at the VFW on June 27th. Tickets should be on sale soon. There will be a DJ and plenty of excellent conversation.

In summary, all citizens of Methuen are invited to get involved in these efforts. Donate your time, your thoughts and your signature to assisting in improving the City we all love. Further information or questions can be forwarded to CBG@mymethuen.org

All pictures and material are (C) copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2008

2011-2
12

Free Petition 2

Category: Charter, Uncategorized | No Comments

I have written before about this subject.

Then I learned more.

Here is what I have learned since my first post.
CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

Article II. Section 1. Right of Local Self-Government. – It is the intention of this article to reaffirm the customary and traditional liberties of the people with respect to the conduct of their local government, and to grant and confirm to the people of every city and town the right of self-government in local matters, subject to the provisions of this article and to such standards and requirements as the general court may establish by law in accordance with the provisions of this article.
Section 8. Powers of the General Court. – The general court shall have the power to act in relation to cities and towns, but only by general laws which apply alike to all cities or to all towns, or to all cities and towns, or to a class of not fewer than two, and by special laws enacted (1) on petition filed or approved by the voters of a city or town, or the mayor and city council, or other legislative body, of a city, or the town meeting of a town, with respect to a law relating to that city or town; (2) by a two-thirds vote of each branch of the general court following a recommendation by the governor; (3) to erect and constitute metropolitan or regional entities, embracing any two or more cities or towns or cities and towns, or established with other than existing city or town boundaries, for any general or special public purpose or purposes, and to grant to these entities such powers, privileges and immunities as the general court shall deem necessary or expedient for the regulation and government thereof; or (4) solely for the incorporation or dissolution of cities or towns as corporate entities, alteration of city or town boundaries, and merger or consolidation of cities and towns, or any of these matters.
Subject to the foregoing requirements, the general court may provide optional plans of city or town organization and government under which an optional plan may be adopted or abandoned by majority vote of the voters of the city or town voting thereon at a city or town election; provided, that no town of fewer than twelve thousand inhabitants may be authorized to adopt a city form of government, and no town of fewer than six thousand inhabitants may be authorized to adopt a form of town government providing for town meeting limited to such inhabitants of the town as may be elected to meet, deliberate, act and vote in the exercise of the corporate powers of the town.
This section shall apply to every city and town whether or not it has adopted a charter pursuant to section three.

Reading the Costitution above suggested that lawmaking was within the realm of a citizens rights. I read section 8, especially the item about special laws #1). That seems to list that laws can be written by citizens, mayors and elected legislators.

So I searched on.

 Participating in the Legislative Process.
Massachusetts citizens are permitted and encouraged to take an active role in the lawmaking process of the state legislature. It is a good idea for a person who feels strongly about an issue to present his or her ideas to a representative or senator. That person may discover that those concerns have already been formulated into a bill which is awaiting legislative action. If not, the citizen is allowed to file legislation addressing the subject. Massachusetts is one of the few states to allow its citizens to do so. This access is called the “right of free petition.”
Although it is not mandatory that a representative or senator sponsor a citizen’s bill, the rules of the House and Senate provide that a petition must be endorsed for presentation by a member before it can be considered by the General Court. Obtaining the support of individual legislators, then, is most advisable.

Right of free petition?   Rules … provide that a petition must be endorsed for presentation by a member before it can be considered. That sounded very familiar to me. I went to the Municipal Code.

THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF METHUEN, MASSACHUSETTS 2000

Section 2-17. Ordinances, Resolutions, Motions and Contracts
A. Preparation of Ordinances

All ordinances shall be reviewed by the City Solicitor. No ordinance shall be prepared for presentation to the Council unless requested in writing by a Councillor or by the Mayor.

B. Prior Review by Administrative Staff

All ordinances and contract documents shall, before presentation to the Council, have been approved as to form and legality by the City Solicitor, and, where there are substantive matters of administration involved, the Mayor shall have the opportunity for examination and comment thereon before final adoption.

C. Introducing for Passage or Approval

1) All action items coming before the Council shall be in the form of an ordinance, resolution, contract or proclamation, or any other matters and subjects requiring action, and shall be introduced and sponsored by a member of the Council; except that the Mayor may present ordinances, resolutions and contracts to the Council.

So at a State level, I just need to convince my Senator or Representative and they can sponsor a bill. At the local level it doesn’t as clearly state that but at both levels a bill or resolve/resolution must be sponsored by my elected representative.

I, actually, have learned that I can submit a bill and my Legislator only needs to officially submit it. They do not have to agree to it’s content. At the Municipal level in Methuen, I do not have that luxury. Only Council and the Mayor may submit legislation.
Seems odd that their only requirement for office is to be a resident (and registered voter). I am both but cannot submit legislation for debate to improve my community.
I don’t see any elected officials submitting any changes to these rules either.
Isn’t it MY government? 

I thought I should define some terms. I took these direct from the Massachusetts General Court website.

Glossary of Massachusetts Legislative Terms

Free petition

In Massachusetts all citizens have the right to petition the state legislature.This procedure is called the right of free petition. A citizen drafts and files a Petition and accompanying Bill.A legislator sponsors the Bill in the GeneralCourt. If a legislator disagrees with the contents of the Bill, he/she may indicate this by placing the phrase By request after his/her name.(See also Petition and Bill)

Petition

Formal document to request consideration of a proposal to the legislature.The proposal, usually a Bill or a Resolve,accompanies the petition. (See also Bill and Resolve)

Bill

Document which proposes a change in existing statutes and/or introducesa new statute. The bill accompanies the Petition.Bills are bound in the Legislative Documentsvolumes in the State Library. (See also Petition and Legislative Documents)

Resolve

A document which requests an action of a less general nature than a Bill,such as the creation of a special commission. Petitionmust accompany the resolve, as with a Bill. (See also Petition and Bill)

Resolution

Statement of the House or Senate or both branches together on a particular topic or event of concern to them. The titles of resolutions are found in the Journals. (See also Journals)

2011-2
12

Free and Initiative Petition

Category: Charter | No Comments

I take this from my published testimony before the Methuen CHARTER COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009.

Jack Burke, 49 Canobieola Road, spoke about the free petition and initiative petition in our current Charter.

He began by quoting from a sitting Councilor who once said “who is he to write laws?” because he had actually written an ordinance and submitted it to the Council.
“Who am I?”
He‟s a citizen and under the laws of this state and this Charter,
he has the right to free petition.

He would like to see that right extended in a much broader fashion.
Currently a free petition requires 150 signatures.
However, it only requires 50 signatures to run for office from any district and write laws. He would like to see the free petition requirement at 50 signatures.
“Why should it be more difficult for a citizen whose interested in his government and his city to propose a law than it is to actually run and sit on the Council?”
He stated that he would like to see that reduced from 150 down to 50 and would like to see the City of Methuen be no more stringent than the State of Massachusetts.

The City of Methuen requires 10% of the registered voters who participated in the last election to sign any initiative petition.
However, the State of Massachusetts says you only need 1 ½ to 2 % of all the voters.
He doesn‟t know why Methuen should be any more stringent for an initiative petition than the State of Massachusetts recognizes by Statute, in law, currently.

He would like to see that changed.

My remarks continued on another topic at this point.

2010-12
16

Elections and Status-quo

Category: Charter, City Council, Uncategorized | No Comments

I noticed a discussion, which I recreate below, on Mayor Manzi’s Blog.

Under the title Methuen Primary Results, scroll down to the comments and read;

Tina Conway on September 15, 2010 3:19 am
Mayor, do you agree that it’s time for us to look at the money we spend on elections? It just seems like we continue to do it “the way we always have” and yet fewer and fewer people vote. Perhaps if we looked at ways to innovate, online voting, for example, we’d not only spend less money, we might actually get more people to vote.
In your opinion, whose job is it to “get people to the polls?” The people who are running or those of us whose job it is to administer the elections?

Bill Manzi on September 15, 2010 3:58 am
Tina,
I think it really is past time to look at different methods for conducting elections. The technology is there to make it easier for people to vote. But as you know change comes hard, and sometimes people would rather stick with a failing model to avoid that change. As far as whose job it is to bring folks out my opinion is that job belongs to the candidates. Lack of voter enthusiasm is a big part of our problem. It is our job to make sure that voting is as easy as it can be for the people who choose to vote, under current law. What do the clerks think of online voting? Is there any professional consensus on ways to stimulate voter interest?

Tina Conway on September 15, 2010 6:38 am
I agree totally that the most effective “get out the vote” catalyst is for the candidates to generate the interest in their campaigns. Note the turnout in the January 2010 special election; Scott Brown was a compelling candidate who ran an exceptional campaign, and the electorate responded. Remember, this was during the coldest month of the year the day after a holiday and a snowstorm, and turnout was over 50%.
As for the clerks, I can’t say I have heard a lot of discussion about online voting, but if I had to guess I would think that community would be more than willing to think about and consider anything. They are a wealth of knowledge and the bridge from “the way it has always been” to “how to make it better.”
However, their, and my, biggest frustration, is that the legislative initiatives out there that relate to voting, for example election day registration, are always undertaken without input from the clerks, the community that best knows the process. They have finally brought us into the fold on that particular issue, but it is a major concern that they could even have thought it was a good idea to not discuss it with us first.
I think we would all be concerned if even more revolutionary measures, such as online voting, were contemplated without extensive consultation with the community of clerks.
But it is fascinating to contemplate, and I think we can do it a lot better and a lot cheaper, if the will is there to change it.

The mayor and the City Clerk were discussing changing the process of voting.
Seems a shame that this discussion was not sent to the Charter commission.

Instead of internet voting, which I have no technical issues with but which is difficult to accomplish because not all registered voters are computer literate. Let’s face it, a large number of our elected officials cannot even open or send emails.
Why don’t we start by looking at telephone voting?
You will find two links on the right sidebar that discuss e-voting.
Voting by phone would reduce costs and due to the wide acceptance and low learning curve, should increase voter turnout.
If we can file and pay income tax to the State via the phone, why not vote the same, secure way over a widely used medium, telephone?
Would be nice if we included incentives to bring voter turnout near to 100%.

What is wrong with discussion about Proportional Representation and Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). Both are acceptable alternatives to the costly preliminary and potential runoff elections that we now hold.

Shouldn’t we be having a discussion about alternatives to old fashioned voting booths?

Why hasn’t the City Council (holder of the purse strings) asked the City Clerk to investigate and report back on possible alternatives that are effective, cost conscious and implementable?

This is the 21st Century. Isn’t it?

2010-11
4

Freosion

Category: Police, Uncategorized | No Comments

Sometimes the correct word does not exist.
A new word must be coined. It is often considered a protologism.
Such a word can be found, definition and all, at Wiktionary.
That word is the subject line and matter of this article.

Freosion is a term that defines the gnawing away of our freedoms.
This is accomplished not by grand strokes and legislation. The accomplishment is done via lethargy and inattention.
The lethargy is by our elected officials.
The inattention is by us.

The example was clear to me as I voted on Tuesday. I went to my polling location and for the fourth (4th) election straight, the signholders were not allowed their legal right to hold signs under state law.

It is not relevant if you consider them a nuisance or help.

The law is very clear. Under Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.) ,CHAPTER 54: ELECTIONS, Section 65: Activities at polling places; regulations; penalties; it is stated “and no other poster, card, handbill, placard, picture or circular intended to influence the action of the voter shall be posted, exhibited, circulated or distributed in the polling place,…within one hundred and fifty feet of the building entrance door to such polling place. ” That distance is reiterated four (4) times in the Statute.

The sign holders were squeezed into an area that was three hundred (300) feet from the entrance.
It was not just my polling place.
I watched video shot during the day at other polling locations.
Each was laid out to maximize the distance from the entrance.

I understand that good order must be maintained and that is the reason that we have police presence.
Our right to be within 150 feet is engraved in the law. The police, who put up the barriers, need to have maps which show the measured distances. (After all, this is not the first time that polling place has been used.) The barriers should be placed correctly each election cycle. It should not require a citizen to approach an officer and wait for a Supervosor to come over, so the distance can be re-measured and barriers correctly placed. The placement should be duplicatable each and every time, until the law is changed.

It is all the small things that we allow our elected and appointed representatives to get away with that erode our freedom.
Ask your officials to follow the rules and regulations they pass. Hold their feet to the fire. Do not accept “status -quo” answers of ” we always did it that way”. Make them write those rules down also.
Ask for access to your government.
Vigilance truly is the price of freedom.

2010-10
25

Methuen Charter On-Line

Category: Charter, Uncategorized | No Comments

The Methuen charter is now on-line as an HTML document.

Look under maintained Sites on this blog.

You can always review this document here.

There is a link at that site to allow you to open and or download the Charter in PDF format from the City website.