HomeMy WebLinkAbout_04082019-7261Town Government Study Committee
Minutes of the meeting of April 8, 2019. The meeting took place in the Wannacomet Water
Company Training Room, 1 Milestone Road, Nantucket, MA 02554. Members of the committee
present were: John Brescher, Curtis Barnes, Rick Atherton, Kristie Ferrantella (via telephone),
and Linda Williams.
1) Chair John Brescher called the meeting to order at 1:04 with a quorum.
2) Agenda: Rick Atherton moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Curtis Barnes. All
voted in favor
3) Public Comment: None. Theresa Williams, Clifford Williams, Michael Pearson, Andrew
Lowell, and Jim Barrows were in attendance from the public.
4) Ratification of approval of minutes of March 25, 2019. Curtis moved to approve,
seconded by Rick. All voted in favor.
5) Discussion of referral of Article 76 and telephone conference with Lauren Goldberg.
Lauren Goldberg called in to the meeting to discuss Article 76 of the 2019 Annual Town
Meeting. Ms. Goldberg began the discussion by informing the Committee and audience
that Town Counsel takes the position of giving edicts; only opinions. Accordingly, in her
experience, it is unusual to vest authority in a separate board/commission that can
overrule other municipal boards/commissions/departments.
Linda Williams commented that after going through the “chain of command”, members of
the public continue to have problems and why should the public have to compel the
Town to do their job?
Ms. Goldberg responded that she was unclear how a committee can force this upon
Town employees. The suggestion was then made by Ms. Williams about a Town Arbiter
or some independent body who could adjudicate. Ms. Goldberg responded that this is
the role the courts play. The idea of an ombudsman could be used to help ensure the
citizens are able to deal with the right people and could be used to follow-up on
complaints.
Ms. Goldberg further added that other towns have had other committees like this (i.e., a
complaints board against town employees), but they have been largely ineffective
because there have been no “teeth” and there have been supervisory issues. The
various Unions have also made these complaints boards rather challenging. One
solution has been to have a centralized manager and document, in writing, all issues as
they arise.
Michael Pearson brought up the topic of Governmental Maladministration as it relates to
the Town of Nantucket. Specifically, Mr. Pearson asked if the Town Manager was the
ultimate authority or if the Manager reports to the Select Board.
Ms. Goldberg clarified that any authority given to the Town Manager is derived from the
Charter. And, as such, the Town Manager is still under the authority and responsibility
of the Select Board.
Rick Atherton chimed in that the Select Board is composed of five individuals. And, if
one of them is not doing their job, they should be able to self-police to a certain extent.
Ms. Goldberg further added that the question becomes how do you get the Government
to become responsive. The assumption is that the Government is always acting in their
collective best interest. Furthermore, if the Government is behaving poorly, then there
are appeal methods that result in adjudication. There is an internal mechanism built-in
to facilitate this. Otherwise, if the Government fails or a person is aggrieved, the courts
are the place to adjudicate any matters. However, in an effort to avoid litigation costs for
citizens and the Town, there may be ways to build-in solutions of responsiveness and
accountability into the Town Charter. This could be done by revisiting the language in
the charter as it relates to the Town Manager and the Select Board.
Theresa Williams explained her situation and explained that in her situation, she felt
stymied because “nobody was the boss.”
Linda Williams added that one of the challenges is to separate the school system from
the Town Government. If the School Committee is elected and they fail to do their job,
one potential recourse is to vote them out of the committee or not re-elect them.
Ms. Goldberg chimed in that in the instance of the schools, only a court can adjudicate
those matters and the Town can’t have a committee that overrides these municipal or
educational decisions.
Clifford Williams asked at what point this becomes a civil liberties issue and who the
charter ultimately represents. Ms. Goldberg commented that the charter can be viewed
as the Constitution for the Town, but it is not self-enforcing.
Mr. Williams asked if it would be possible or prudent to set up a mediation board to
handle disputes. And, if the Town could pay for private citizens’ attorneys fees.
Ms. Goldberg commented that the authority to authorize payments or spend funding lies
with the Town and they determine what is valid and what is not.
Ms. Goldberg further added that it seems as though the issue is one of accountability
and how can accountability and responsibility be effectively built into the charter.
However, the unintended consequences of usurping the authority of the supervisors are
far too great to consider a committee or Board that could overrule municipal decisions.
Jim Barrows asked about the incident at the African American Meeting House and
voiced his concern that there has been no real action or responsiveness from the Town
Police Department to find the culprits.
Ms. Goldberg sympathized and added that there still appears to be no viable
enforcement mechanism because of the unintended consequences of setting up a
separate Board or committee. Ultimately, the issue comes down to responsiveness and
a separate committee or Board will not be able to fix tis problem.
6) Other Business: Chair John Brescher reminded the Board members to complete their
ethics training.
7) Next meeting is May 23, 2019 at 1:30pm, 4 Fairgrounds Road Public Safety Room.
8) Linda made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Curtis, all voted in favor. The
meeting was adjourned at 3:12 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
John B. Brescher, Chair