So I told on Denis,
Steve Cole, chairman of the Charter Commission, and I have been emailing a bit lately. So after I published Denis comment I asked Steve to comment. Here's what he said.
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At this point, I will say on behalf of the majority members of the Charter Commission, that the data from our 2010 Charter Commission Survey, is very reliable. It was a short, well structured and analyzed survey.
I find NONE that rival it from any Massachusetts Charter Commission, current or in recent years, especially in terms of quantitative and qualitative controls. The response rate of 34.8 % is reflective of the active and knowledgeable citizenry of Newburyport. 62.9% of the respondents have lived in Newburyport 11 years or more.
The data showed clear support for a 4 year term for mayor 60.6% to 25.4% with 8.5% neutral and 5.5% don't know.
And in 99 comments recorded verbatim noting, "longer term, or four year term", etc. there was not one use of the word "recall" in any of these 99 comments. For that matter, throughout all recorded comments in the survey, not once was the word "recall" used.
Finally, on a number of questions, especially the question on the budget: (Question 4) Currently, the budget is created by the mayor and presented to the council for approval and the council may only cut budget items and not add. From my understanding this process works.
Respondents showed that 37.6 % Agree, 23.3% Disagree, 22.2 % Remain Neutral, and 16.9% Don't Know. If you add the last two, neutral and don't know you have 39.1% which are essentially undecided.
Questions like this compelled the Commission to look for clear language in defining key processes like the budget process, and other fiscal procedures in Article 6, in order to address the large number of people who were neutral, or did not know enough to agree or disagree.
Such clarification of the charter language characterized the effort of this commission to create a charter that is easy to read and describes processes that are more understandable and transparent, and allow each citizen to learn how their government will work for all of the people of Newburyport, in our shared future.
And no matter what this Commission does or votes on, it is the voters who will decide whether or not the newly framed charter is accepted.
Please get out and vote, on Tuesday November 8, 2011.
Respectfully,
Steven P. Cole
Chairman, Newburyport Charter Commission
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BU vs. Harvard. Our own little Beanpot tourney. Anyone from Northeastern or BC want to chime in?
4 comments:
Hey Denis stop drinking the Kool Aid. I went to several charter meetings. And found your analogy that recall could be used to recall a mayor who fired the football coach Quite amusing and if I maybe honest typical of pseudo-Masschusetts intellectuals who feel that we the plebians should be in awe of your presence.
You rant against a four term but yet, the last few years have seen communities as small as Salem and as large as Lynn (For the record Malden,Revere and Melrose have changed recently) switched from two to four and you fail to note that Weymouth and Braintree (by the way the state's newest city as of 2007) when switching from town meeting to a mayor-council have called for a four year term. Also you fail to tell the public that you care for so much. That proposed charters in Plymouth, Randolph (switched from town meeting to manger-council instead), Amherst North Attleboro, and Wareham have called for a four year term. And that this year Springfield will elect for the first time a mayor to serve a four year term and voters in Everett have on the ballot a new charter that also calls for a four year term.
Using half truths and not informing the public. Shows why people are so cynical of elected officials hey but you know better.
A strong yes for the charter and a resounding no to the know it alls and those who won't bother to fill up the tank and see how other comunities are run. That would be pleasing and a sure sign that you don't have to stop at every mirror and look at yourself.
And before I go shame on you for bringing up Mayor Lantigua of Lawrence. Newburyport has no sizable Hispanic community that can taken advantage that can be taken advantage of just like Willie has done to that community.
A Newburyporter
Hey let's stay civil. No need to be nasty
And all those cities are a good deal larger than Newburyport
“Rant”? “Pseudo Massachusetts intellectual”? “In awe of your presence”? Wow. Well, at least you spelled my first name right.
I'm sorry if you had a problem with what you believe to be my perspective or my work on the commission. Hey, this is America. You are entitled to your opinion, however you voice it and whether you choose to sign your name or not.
For the record, I was not the commissioner who used the example of a mayor who fires a football coach, which I thought was a bit of a stretch. And I voted in favor of recall.
Also for the record, up until a few years ago, having a working knowledge of governmental structure of every Massachusetts community was part of my full time job for the state. I did in fact “fill up the tank” a lot of times to visit countless communities back then, and I remain up to date on each community's form of government. That's the background I offered to the commission when I joined.
I've never run for office. I have no political ambitions or agenda. I didn't originally run for the commission and thought twice about applying to fill a vacancy last year. I didn't see my role as telling anybody what to do, but rather simply doing the work and as a group putting forward a proposal for the voters to consider.
I also don't see myself as the leader of any opposition movement, though I know some proponents were put out by my unwillingness to embrace the final report. I stayed out of the campaign, and I’m glad I did. Thanks for providing a vivid example for my reasoning.
I give you credit for taking the time to find out what cities have four year terms (all, by the way, substantially larger than Newburyport, which I think is a key factor). Plymouth, Randolph, Amherst, North Attleboro, and Wareham are towns and therefore have no mayors, so I'm not sure what you're getting at there.
But let's put aside the vitriol and name calling, OK?
If the charter passes today, fine. I will be very surprised if it doesn't. All I ask you, and all residents, is this: don't walk away and think the job is done. Take part in helping to make it work. The charter is just a framework for running the city. It's up to everyone to implement it and make it work. If that happens, the work of the charter commission will have been a success, despite the politics and name calling.
Have a nice day. And can you maybe tell my kids that if anyone should be in awe of my presence, it’s them? Maybe then they would take out the trash.
Denis Kennedy
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