The topic was public input on the current proposed changes to Methuen’s charter.

Here is the story in the Eagle Tribune. [ Methuen Residents call for stronger term limits]

Let me note that Mr. Robert Leblanc gave a wonderful presentation of his feelings.

Here are the notes I used for my presentation.

I wish to speak on two subjects tonight.

I begin quoting from the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, PART THE FIRST,
A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Article VII (7). Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men: Therefore the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity and happiness require it.

Article VIII (8). In order to prevent those, who are vested with authority, from becoming oppressors, the people have a right, at such periods and in such manner as they shall establish by their frame of government, to cause their public officers to return to private life; and to fill up vacant places by certain and regular elections and appointments.

I support term limits as the founding fathers envisioned them. Serve and then return to civilian life. Six years seems to be the original norm and has been the norm in Methuen for a very long time.
Before politico’s began to tamper with the process, the electorate stated emphatically that they support lifetime term lmits.
I ask that you stop looking at your own vested interests and begin to think of implemeting lifetime term limits after six years of service. One only needs to look to the original Articles of Confederation and the letters of Thomas Jefferson to comprehend that term limits were an expected part of citizenship.
Term limits are not a negative statement about the character or characteristics of existent politicians. It is a means of engaging a larger populace in the decision making process that creates the climate we all live in.

If the playing field were level then I may buy the argument, so often presented, that elections are the democratic means of arriving at term limits. Perhaps, in a day when the moral climate was different, or existent, and incumbancy, war chests and career politicians were not the norm a facile argument could be proferred. Today it is a demeaning argument that assumes the electorate is oblivious and tends to be presented by entrenched politicos who use it as a polite way of speaking down to the electorate, instead of engaging them, and recognizing the truth in the statement that governments are formed “of, by and for the people”

An aside Regarding Appointments. Any opening shall be filled within 60 days. All positions spelled out in the charter or by statute or ordinance should be either filled or removed within this time frame.
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Secondly, I once signed the Open Government Pledge. which states;
“I believe the government of Methuen belongs to the citizens it serves.
I believe that government functions best when its discussions and decision making occur in the light of day.
I believe that citizens of Methuen have the right to access government records, discussions and decisions, outside of narrow exemptions specified by law.
I then pledged to abide by the spirit and letter of Massachusetts’s Public Records Law and Open Meetings Law; and support legislation or initiatives that promote openness and transparency within government.
Specifically, I pledged to support legislation requiring the posting of all government contract and financial transactions in an online, easily searchable database that includes the amount of individual payments, to whom each is made, an explanation of the payment, and an explanation of the budget category under which the payment falls.”

Make Note;
The US Congress passed the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law. 109-282) to increase transparency and accountability in government spending by providing the public with access to information about federal awards through a free, single, searchable website.
Under the act, “federal awards” include grants, subgrants, contracts, subcontracts, loans, cooperative agreements, purchase orders, task orders, delivery orders, and other forms of financial assistance. They do not include individual transactions valued at less than $ 25,000.

In the intervening years five states (Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Texas) , in response to the federal law, enacted legislation establishing public-access websites to track government spending.

In addition, the governor of Missouri issued an executive order for the same reason. Indiana’s executive order establishing a website to log state contracts on the Internet preceded the federal law’s passage.

Several other states, including Illinois,Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico, and Tennessee, have discussed similar proposals.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act establishes a public-access website to track government spending. The website must be up and running by January 1, 2008 and provide the following data for each federal award:
1. the recipient’s name;
2. the dollar amount;
3. the transaction type, funding agency, North American Industry Classification System code used to identify market sector or Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number, and funding purpose;
4. the recipient’s location as well as the primary location of performance under the award, including city, state, congressional district, and country;
5. a unique identifier for the recipient and the recipient’s parent entity, when applicable; and
6. other information that the Office of Management and Budget deems relevant.

The act exempts from disclosure personal information on federal employees and federal assistance recipients. In addition, the website does not have to provide information on (1) credit card transactions until October 1, 2008 or (2) subgrants or subcontracts until January 1, 2009.

Generally, the major aspects of existing state transparency laws are similar to each other and the federal law. They all establish a free, publicly-available, and searchable website of state expenditures.

I strongly recommend that real transparency, as embodied in the Federal legislation, be incorporated into the next Charter of Methuen. Establish in the charter a free, publicly-available, and searchable website of all municipal expenditures.

Thank you.

Boards, by statute are boards. there is no distinction in the Municipal code between paid and unpaid. Though one can reqeust an interest in any board, the application does not list which are paid and which are not. This argument crops up and is truly moot, except in the mind of the arguer. Appointment is appointment and the rules for how one applies and how one is chosen does not make any distinction between boards.
The reality is that some boards do receive a stipend for service. One will not get rich serving on these boards.
Let us put aside this specious argument.
From an appointee perspective, there is no difference between boards and thus rules should apply equally amongst all the boards.
Any vacancies are not a result of the appointees not coming forward. the problem is that the rules to advertise hold a clause that makes it unworkable. Thus, the administration and the legislative branch of City government ignore the rule.
Instead of changing or updating the rule to make it compatible with the reality of the day, they ignore it.As stated in the meeting there are board vacancies. There are also, talent bank applications on file. We do not know how many are on file still. The administration does not discuss that information. We are not privy to how long these applications are kept on file. We do not know why, if there are vacancies and applicants for positions, no action is being taken?

Through Freedom of Information requests I can confirm that the City website does show 19 Boards and Commissions, as stated. That is not all the Boards and Commissions. Only the ones that the City chose to mention.
On these Boards and Commissions are 114 positions. Of these positions only 9 are vacant at the present time. That is 7.89%. This percentage is lower than the Cities unemployement rate. I know that at least one position could be filled with my application which has been on file with the Mayors office since his first election.

The application is not interactive, though I do not understand why.
The application changes with each new administration, who feel obligated to include the Mayors name. I feel the application should state the City of Methuen and that should suffice, but that would not be a good political strategy. We must brand all we touch with our name in order to allow for brand recognition at the next election.
You have to download it and fill it out and then return it to the City. They do not tell you how long applications are kept on file, but it appears to be no longer than 1-2 years. (or tenure of current elected official)

You can read about this for yourself here.
CITY OF METHUEN DIRECTORY OF SERVICES
Here is the listing; (Just recently began to be called Public Service Application)
SERVICES________DEPARTMENT _____ LOCATION _____ ROOM# _____ TELEPHONE
Public Service _____ Mayor’s Office _____ Searles Building _____ 306 _____ 978-983-8505
Application (Talent Bank)

I read in the Municipal Code of the City of Methuen;
Section 3-70. Public Advertisement for Boards and Commissions

No appointment or approval of appointment to any Board, Commission or Committee shall be made unless and until the Mayor shall have previously published a notice of vacancy for said position. Such publication shall be placed in a newspaper of general circulation within the community, notifying all citizens of their right to apply for a specific vacancy on a Board, Commission or Committee and notifying them of the closing date for their application. This shall be an unpaid advertisement. All appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees shall be made from the list of established applicants responding to this newspaper advertisement and the Mayor is hereinafter directed on all appointments to the above Boards, Commissions and Committees to certify, at time of appointment, compliance with the provisions of this ordinance.

 

(Ord. 230, Approved May 7th, 1986, Eff. June 6th, 1986)

The truth is that though an oath to uphold the Charter and Municipal Code of the City of Methuen is taken, it is not always followed. If you complain about it, they just change the code to suit their whims.
Though the Administration often knows of a vacancy coming up, it does not advertise and usually just reappoints the same individual until they either get too old to sit up in a chair or they die.
The argument I have been given is that we cannot find people to apply for these jobs.
I have some ideas on how to correct that issue also, but will save for a future article.

Water and sewer funds are common. They may require large outlays to get started but are fully supportable by funding of clients/users.

I would recommend that in Methuen we create a Cemetery Commission.

The Cemetery Commission should be  responsible for overseeing matters that affect the City’s four public cemeteries.

The current list of cemeteries is as follows:

ELMWOOD CEMETERY 1700 to present 130 North Lowell Street.

MEETING HOUSE HILL BURYING GROUND 1728 to present Berkeley Street.

VILLAGE BURYING GROUND 1832 to present Opposite the Presentation of Mary Academy, behind the wall.

ST. PETER & PAUL RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CEMETERY 1950 – present North Lowell Street, past Elmwood.

[Note: I erroneously added this cemetery which is not City owned. Forgive my oversight.]POLISH NATIONAL CATHOLIC CEMETERY 1928 – present North Lowell Street, opposite Elmwood.

These have perpetual funds and through the sale of plots raise funds to maintain the site.

An enterprise fund should be set up along with a commission to oversee these sites.

Quoting from an ordinance to create a similar commission in Gardner Massachusetts;

(a) The Commission shall have sole control over and responsibility for the management of perpetual care funds pursuant to M. G. L. A. Chapter 114, Section 19 and M. G. L. A. Chapter 44, Section 54.

(b) Said Commission shall be charged with keeping full and complete records concerning such perpetual care funds and to render to the Mayor and the City Council as often as may be required by them, a full report concerning such perpetual care funds under the control during the period reported on.

(c) Said Commission shall shall be charged with the supervision, care and upkeep of all public cemeteries within the City and as to the proper expenditure of the perpetual care funds under the control of said Commission.

How many members, their qualifications, whom shall appoint and to whom they report I leave up to the City Council to hash out.

My recommendations would be that the Commission be 3 persons, one should be a Funeral Home Director, one a businessman and one a resident of Methuen. They should be appointed for 3 year terms.

I have listed some Statute References:
C.264 Acts 1890;
C.337 Acts 1891;
MGL C.285 Special Acts 1915;
MGL C.243 Special Acts 1916.