For the first time, a charter change that city councilors rejected is going to wind up on the ballot anyway.
After the city clerk certified this week that supporters of a proposal to create a chief operating officer at City Hall who would handle administrative oversight of the municipal bureaucracy had collected enough valid signatures, the only question is when the public vote will take place.
It appears, though, that city councilors next week will agree to put the controversial measure on the November 4 general election ballot.
“It’s time to put it to bed,” said Councilor Mike Rimcoski, an opponent of the idea. He said the public vote is likely to be close.
City Clerk Therese Pac certified that 3,661 of the more than 4,300 signatures submitted last month were valid, nearly 500 more than supporters of the proposal had to collect in order to force the referendum.
“I’m very happy. Ecstatic. Jumping for joy,” said former Republican mayoral contender Ken Johnson, one of the leaders of the effort to overturn the council’s rejection of the Charter Revision Commission’s unanimous recommendation to create the post.
Had the council favored the suggestion, it would have reached the ballot without the need for a petition drive.
But because councilors gunned it down in a 5-2 vote in June, supporters had to gather certified signatures from at least 10 percent of the city’s registered voters in order to get the measure on the ballot.
The council has scheduled a tentative meeting for 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 27 in order to pick a date to hold the referendum.
But since a majority of the council said Tuesday they prefer to put it on the November ballot, it doesn’t appear that alternatives will be seriously considered. They could wait as long as the 2009 general election to hold the vote.
Mayor Art Ward, who opposed the plan, said there is no reason to “belabor the issue” by delaying the public vote.
“The most people are out in a general election,” he said, particularly in a presidential year.
Ward said he is “not really surprised” that supporters got the signatures they needed because people sign petitions for lots of reasons. Not all of them actually back the proposed change, he said.
In any case, Ward said, he anticipates there will be an intense campaign between now and November as both sides try to sway the electorate.
The winners will be the ones who do best in getting their message out to the voters, Ward said.
Critics say the position will wind up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, intrude on the mayor’s ability to lead the city and contribute little to greater efficiency in government.
Supporters argue that a chief operating officer will find ways to streamline the bureaucracy and deliver services cheaper, easily justifying the added expense of the new position.
“I believe it will pass,” Johnson said. “It’s the right move at the right time.”
“We’re not the little town of Bristol anymore. It’s time for professional oversight,” Johnson said.
Johnson said that Pac and her staff, along with the registrars’ office, deserve credit “for tackling a really monumental task” in checking over all of the signatures gathered thi summer.
“It was an enormous undertaking,” Johnson said, and it was handled professionally.
More information:
Councilors who want the issue on the Nov. 4 ballot include Ward, Frank Nicastro, Rimcoski, Ken Cockayne andCraig Minor. For all I know, Kevin McCauley and Cliff Block also back it. I couldn't talk to everyone today.
I'll add some links below that go into more detail about the proposal, which will obviously absorb a great deal of attention in the weeks ahead as well.
Here are the draft Charter Revision Commission reports, which I believe were never changed:
Draft report - Final report of the Charter Revision Commission
Draft report - Citing major changes eyed by the commission
Draft Report - Showing entire charter with changes indicated throughout
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Showing posts with label Pac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pac. Show all posts
August 19, 2008
August 13, 2008
City clerk defends handling of chief operating officer petitions
City Clerk Therese Pac said her office is still checking over the more than 4,300 signatures submitted last month in a bid to force a referendum on the proposed chief operating officer for City Hall.
Pac also defended her handling of the issue, which some criticized sharply because of her insistence that the petition gatherers have their own signatures notarized if organizers wanted them to count.
“It’s my duty to make sure it gets done properly,” Pac said.
Organizers needed to turn in slightly less than 3,200 valid signatures in order to require an Election Day referendum on the proposal to have the city create a sort of city manager-lite who would oversee administrative matters currently done by the mayor.
After city councilors rejected the Charter Revision Commission’s unanimous recommendation to create the position, supporters fanned out to collect signatures that would put the proposal on the ballot anyway.
Pac said she learned two weeks into the campaign – during a Saturday afternoon conversation at a vegetable stand – that those pushing for the referendum were collecting petitions that hadn’t been notarized properly.
As soon as she heard it, she said, she let organizers know the rules so they would have plenty of time to fix the problem.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne said at the time that he was upset the city was “changing the rules in the middle of the game" to make it harder on those handling the petition drive.
Others went further, accusing Pac of trying to torpedo the entire effort.
Pac said this week that if she wanted to undermine the petition drive, all she had to do was remain mum. Then all of the petitions would have been thrown out and the referendum would be a dead issue.
Pac said that because she spoke up, organizers were able to turn in nearly 260 pages of signatures – all notarized properly.
“The defect was fixed,” she said, and isn’t an issue.
Cockayne said he doesn’t agree with everything that Pac said in her defense.
But, he said, he doesn’t want to elaborate on his concerns while the clerk’s office is reviewing the signatures.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Pac also defended her handling of the issue, which some criticized sharply because of her insistence that the petition gatherers have their own signatures notarized if organizers wanted them to count.
“It’s my duty to make sure it gets done properly,” Pac said.
Organizers needed to turn in slightly less than 3,200 valid signatures in order to require an Election Day referendum on the proposal to have the city create a sort of city manager-lite who would oversee administrative matters currently done by the mayor.
After city councilors rejected the Charter Revision Commission’s unanimous recommendation to create the position, supporters fanned out to collect signatures that would put the proposal on the ballot anyway.
Pac said she learned two weeks into the campaign – during a Saturday afternoon conversation at a vegetable stand – that those pushing for the referendum were collecting petitions that hadn’t been notarized properly.
As soon as she heard it, she said, she let organizers know the rules so they would have plenty of time to fix the problem.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne said at the time that he was upset the city was “changing the rules in the middle of the game" to make it harder on those handling the petition drive.
Others went further, accusing Pac of trying to torpedo the entire effort.
Pac said this week that if she wanted to undermine the petition drive, all she had to do was remain mum. Then all of the petitions would have been thrown out and the referendum would be a dead issue.
Pac said that because she spoke up, organizers were able to turn in nearly 260 pages of signatures – all notarized properly.
“The defect was fixed,” she said, and isn’t an issue.
Cockayne said he doesn’t agree with everything that Pac said in her defense.
But, he said, he doesn’t want to elaborate on his concerns while the clerk’s office is reviewing the signatures.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
July 23, 2008
More than half the petitions are notarized
City Councilor Ken Cockayne said that most of the chief operating officer petitions that were circulated in recent weeks have been signed in front of a notary public.
He said he spent most of the day tracking down circulators and seeing others in his office.
Cockayne said that he's not concerned that the more than 4,000 signatures collected won't be counted because of problems with notarizing the petitions.
He said that a dozen notaries offered to help him witness petition signings and about 30 people came to his office today to sign the petitions themselves.
Organizers expect to deliver the petitions to the city clerk next week, before the July 31 deadline.
After they're delivered, the clerk's office has the unenviable job of checking to make sure at least about 3,200 signatures are valid and from registered voters in Bristol. It will take awhile.
On a personal note, I want to say that I'm disgusted with some of the things people have written in their comments on this blog about City Clerk Therese Pac, who has always been a professional in her dealings with me and, as far as I know, with others. I've had to kill a number of especially vile comments about her that are so inappropriate that I am frankly staggered that people would write them. Why are some of the anonymous posters on here so eager to write sickening crap about women?
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
He said he spent most of the day tracking down circulators and seeing others in his office.
Cockayne said that he's not concerned that the more than 4,000 signatures collected won't be counted because of problems with notarizing the petitions.
He said that a dozen notaries offered to help him witness petition signings and about 30 people came to his office today to sign the petitions themselves.
Organizers expect to deliver the petitions to the city clerk next week, before the July 31 deadline.
After they're delivered, the clerk's office has the unenviable job of checking to make sure at least about 3,200 signatures are valid and from registered voters in Bristol. It will take awhile.
On a personal note, I want to say that I'm disgusted with some of the things people have written in their comments on this blog about City Clerk Therese Pac, who has always been a professional in her dealings with me and, as far as I know, with others. I've had to kill a number of especially vile comments about her that are so inappropriate that I am frankly staggered that people would write them. Why are some of the anonymous posters on here so eager to write sickening crap about women?
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
November 5, 2007
Swearing-in ceremony will be Monday, but should it be?
The city charter requires that those elected Tuesday take office the following Monday.
As it happens, that Monday is almost always a city, state and federal holiday - Veterans Day.
The following night is the regularly scheduled City Council meeting for November, every time, which means those elected Tuesday are tackling issues a week later, whether they're ready or not.
City Clerk Therese Pac said Monday she'd like to see the date for swearing-in newcomers shifted so that another two or three weeks elapsed before those elected actually took office.
That would give them time "to do some homework" and recover from the rigors of the campaign trail, Pac said.
"It would kind of make life easier for everyone," Pac said.
She said that outgoing mayors and others aren't going to create mischief with a little more time before the change because they all live in the community and have to face their neighbors in the grocery store.
Pac said that many towns don't have the new administration take office until January.
But, she said, just waiting until later in November would be enough in Bristol to give everyone involved a little more time.
Pac said she plans to ask the Charter Revision Commission to look into the change.
Meantime, there's no word on when the Democrats or Republicans plan a swearing-in ceremony. Usually, it's held Monday evening, but that's not mandatory.
City Republican Chairman Art Mocabee just weighed in on the issue. He said this:
I am in favor of moving off the holiday...but only a day or so. The truth is, the new council will have time to prepare as much as that is possible before any meeting.What is important is to get them sworn in as councilman as soon as possible so they can begin to act as councilman. Their email sites should be up immediately, name plates and most importantly the new Mayor needs to make appointments of councilmen to all the boards and commissions. Usually this requires some time to accomplish and during that time the newly elected officials should be empowered as councilman.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
As it happens, that Monday is almost always a city, state and federal holiday - Veterans Day.
The following night is the regularly scheduled City Council meeting for November, every time, which means those elected Tuesday are tackling issues a week later, whether they're ready or not.
City Clerk Therese Pac said Monday she'd like to see the date for swearing-in newcomers shifted so that another two or three weeks elapsed before those elected actually took office.
That would give them time "to do some homework" and recover from the rigors of the campaign trail, Pac said.
"It would kind of make life easier for everyone," Pac said.
She said that outgoing mayors and others aren't going to create mischief with a little more time before the change because they all live in the community and have to face their neighbors in the grocery store.
Pac said that many towns don't have the new administration take office until January.
But, she said, just waiting until later in November would be enough in Bristol to give everyone involved a little more time.
Pac said she plans to ask the Charter Revision Commission to look into the change.
Meantime, there's no word on when the Democrats or Republicans plan a swearing-in ceremony. Usually, it's held Monday evening, but that's not mandatory.
City Republican Chairman Art Mocabee just weighed in on the issue. He said this:
I am in favor of moving off the holiday...but only a day or so. The truth is, the new council will have time to prepare as much as that is possible before any meeting.What is important is to get them sworn in as councilman as soon as possible so they can begin to act as councilman. Their email sites should be up immediately, name plates and most importantly the new Mayor needs to make appointments of councilmen to all the boards and commissions. Usually this requires some time to accomplish and during that time the newly elected officials should be empowered as councilman.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
October 15, 2007
How Johnson lost his Water Board seat
Last winter, Republican mayoral candidate Ken Johnson got what he calls “a nastygram” from the city clerk informing him that he was no longer on the Water Board because he had missed too many monthly meetings to remain on the panel.
Johnson said that City Clerk Therese Pac counted wrong, that he didn’t actually miss more than 60 percent of the panel’s monthly meetings in the previous year, but he didn’t contest the decision.
He said he missed five of the 12 sessions – missing seven would put him over the legal limit – for “some very personal, legitimate family issues” that he told Mayor William Stortz about but doesn’t want to air in public.
Johnson said Stortz told Pac to oust him from the five-person panel, but the mayor said that’s not true.
He said Pac does what the law requires. He said it’s possible he called the attendance problems to her attention. “If I did, that’s my prerogative,” Stortz said.
When Stortz tried to name a successor to Johnson, the City Council rebelled, with the Democratic majority telling the mayor they wanted to put Johnson back on the panel. They said they thought his reasons were legitimate.
A stalemate ensued for the rest of the year until Stortz convinced a majority last week to go along with naming Sean Dunn to take the empty Water Board slot.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Johnson said that City Clerk Therese Pac counted wrong, that he didn’t actually miss more than 60 percent of the panel’s monthly meetings in the previous year, but he didn’t contest the decision.
He said he missed five of the 12 sessions – missing seven would put him over the legal limit – for “some very personal, legitimate family issues” that he told Mayor William Stortz about but doesn’t want to air in public.
Johnson said Stortz told Pac to oust him from the five-person panel, but the mayor said that’s not true.
He said Pac does what the law requires. He said it’s possible he called the attendance problems to her attention. “If I did, that’s my prerogative,” Stortz said.
When Stortz tried to name a successor to Johnson, the City Council rebelled, with the Democratic majority telling the mayor they wanted to put Johnson back on the panel. They said they thought his reasons were legitimate.
A stalemate ensued for the rest of the year until Stortz convinced a majority last week to go along with naming Sean Dunn to take the empty Water Board slot.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
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