Minutes

Barnstable County Charter Review Committee

January 4, 2010

Committee members present: Fred Gaechter, Chair; Ronald Bergstrom; Charlotte Striebel; Mike Corgan; Teresa Martin; Sheila Lyons; Leo Cakounes; and Greg Milne

Absent:  Ed Larkin

Others present:  County Commissioner William Doherty; Elliot Carr, Cape Cod Business Roundtable; Maggie Geist, Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod; Kevin Howard, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce; and Jennie Morey, Assistant to Assembly Clerk.

Chair Fred Gaechter opened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.

Chair Gaechter opened the meeting by asking for the approval of the minutes of December 9th.  All voted in favor with Leo Cakounes abstaining; he was not present.

The next item was the approval of the agenda with the amendment to add a discussion of Teresa Martin’s concern about the Committee process sent via e-mail on December 9^th.  All members voted in favor.

The Committee was given an Organizational Chart from Mark Zielinski dated April 7, 2010, as requested.

The Committee heard from Elliot Carr representing the Cape Cod Business Roundtable and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.  He stated that the County is faced with a lot of major issues and needs to play a stronger regional role dealing with these issues.

Mr. Carr and other representatives asked to be scheduled for a meeting with the Committee in February.  A brief statement was given out to the Committee and is considered a part of these minutes.

The Committee determined that its next meetings would be held on January 13, 2010, January 27, 2010, and February 10, 2010, all beginning at 4:00 p.m.   On February 10^th the Cape Cod Business Roundtable and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce will be on the agenda.

Mr. Cakounes, after Mr. Carr’s statement to the Committee, suggested that they come to the February meeting with changes and suggestions regarding the Charter and not just regional issues.

The next item on the agenda was Ms. Martin’s concerns regarding the Committee process.

Ms. Martin stated that the Committee has a lot of brainpower looking at the Charter word by word and jumping right into copy and editing.  The Committee should pull up the discussion a level and address bigger issues in the Charter.

Chair Gaechter asked if the Committee would like to stop at their last reviewed section of the Charter, Section 4, and continue with an overall review with focus on core issues and opposing issues.

Commissioner Lyons agreed with Ms. Martin that the Committee is processing words as opposed to looking at bigger issues, which is really the purpose of County Government.  Does the Charter structure allow the County to focus on bigger issues?

Chair Gaechter suggested that he put together each legal issue, listed on the Committee’s flow chart, and present them to County Counsel.

Mr. Milne pointed out that in Attorney Troy’s last memo to the Committee his response did not really have detailed answers their questions.

Speaker Bergstrom suggests that if the Committee is not satisfied with answers from Attorney Troy then go to the State for outside legal assistance.

Commissioner Lyons asked if it is warranted to have fifteen Delegates looking at the budget and does it constitute a weighted vote.  Would it be better to have a five member County Commission with three regional commissioners and two at large?

Mr. Milne noted that Attorney Troy is unsure about applying the weighted vote to Charter changes.  If the Charter changes go to a weighted vote you have a subset of County government and not County intention.

Mr. Milne recommended that the Committee still discuss outside counsel and he has found that there are attorneys available that are potentially at low cost.

Ms. Striebel stated that the one thing wrong with the Assembly of Delegates in her opinion is that they should look at the County as a whole but some of the Delegates look at what will work for their town.

Speaker Bergstrom said that in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts all districts have portioned representation by the State.  He pointed out that down ballot elections do not get a lot of attention.

Chair Gaechter asked if the County does not want proportioned representation then the County does not need the Assembly of Delegates.

Commissioner Lyons stated that the regional government started out without an Assembly of Delegates.  It was established for more structure.  If the budget was all property taxes and the major outcome is from the taxes there is a difference but the fact is that less than 10% of the budget is another layer of taxing for the County.

Mr. Cakounes asked if the majority of the budget is coming out of the deeds tax.

Commissioner Lyons asked if a weighted vote is needed for the budget as opposed to a representative vote.

Mr. Cakounes asked where does the legislative branch come into the budget process if the County increases the executive branch.

Commissioner Lyons recommended that by having town officials and financiers instead of the Assembly the County could make a different kind of regional structure.

Chair Gaechter stated that the towns are not going to do away with direct input.  Could the Assembly of Delegates be more effective being one man one vote?

Speaker Bergstrom noted that the Cape Cod Commission is one man one vote. The Cape Light Compact is by weighted vote, and the Regional Transit Authority has some weighted votes and some votes that are not.

Mr. Carr stated that in the U. S. Constitution it is one man one vote.  Truro wanted to be represented at the County level  with one man one vote but found that if the vote was not weighted there would be one man in Truro and eight people representing Barnstable.

Mr. Milne stated that in the Constitution there has been no change.  The County operates under the same Constitution even without the Assembly of Delegates.  Somehow the Assembly was created but not one man one vote.

Chair Gaechter told the Committee that not all towns have the means to be represented.

Commissioner Doherty suggested that since the Charter changed to regional government you might have to go back to the body that approved the change of operation.

Chair Gaechter stated that if you know that the change was not mandatory you could ask that question.

Ms. Geist of the APCC said that she does not know of any other County that has a legislative branch.  You have small executive branches with assistance.

Mr. Corgan suggested that the Committee tackle the Committees agenda to go into the rationale of obtaining outside legal counsel.

Commissioner Lyons will look into what the Secretary of State can provide on legal counsel.

Chair Gaechter feels that this County government is better than Counties that do not have an Assembly of Delegates.  Mr. Cakounes, Ms. Martin, and Speaker Bergstrom agreed.  It is beneficial to have an interaction between the County and Towns after they have been working with the Assembly of Delegates.

Ms. Martin stated that the question is not to dispose of the Assembly of Delegates but how to structure elements that flow in a different way supporting the Assembly.

Commissioner Lyons asked if there is some way to explore issues regionally as opposed to individually.  The Towns structure hinders progress as the mindset is “I” represent my town not looking at it as the region.

Chair Gaechter would like to talk about the size of the County Commissioners.  If you eliminate the Assembly of Delegates should you increase County Commissioners on a regional basis?  What does the Committee have as a recommendation for the Commissioners?

Mr. Milne spoke about the City of Newton which is geographically balanced, which is something they could look at.  The Assembly Delegates are elected from each town but could appear on the ballot to the entire County.  It would elevate the County to be similar to the Newton Charter and it was suggested that Committee members take a look at that Charter online.

Speaker Bergstrom thinks that there is a need for five Commissioners.  You always seem to have a two against one situation and it is too easy to have a lock.  The Assembly of Delegates has a lot of procedure and should consolidate their power.

Speaker Bergstrom also thinks that by the Assembly of Delegates consolidating their power, they should have additional staff and more responsibility.  The Assembly could do more and give more if you consolidate the authority.

Commissioner Lyons stated that by having more than three County Commissioners you could have a more open conversation.  It is difficult to converse with cameras, and it is not good politics.  More County Commissioners would have more oversight which already exists internally.  The small towns are looking for a voice and there was nothing like when the Commissioners visited all the towns.

Chair Gaechter asked if we increase the County Commissioners to five or seven are they at large or proportionate.  What would be the attitude if the Commissioners were at large?

Speaker Bergstrom thinks the County Commissioners should be regional.

Mr. Corgan stated that the constituents would not know about people appointed by Commissioners as opposed to knowing the person elected from their town.  What was the purpose of having an Assembly of Delegates to handle issues which have now become bigger and harder to deal with?

Chair Gaechter reminded the Committee that Commissioner Lyons will be looking into outside counsel and money for legal support through the State.

Speaker Bergstrom spoke to the fact that when you start putting things on the ballot it becomes an issue with the State  such as having Regional  Commissioners who are going to have to be put on the ballot.

Commissioner Lyons still feels that you need a County Commissioner at large.  You want to have a government that looks at the whole region.  Having more Commissioners will make the County more responsive.  Government is slower than it has to be sometimes.

Chair Gaechter stated that some suggestions might not be legally feasible or legal.

Speaker Bergstrom suggested that the Committee put together, officially, questions by the Chair to the Secretary of the State.

Mr. Milne noted that the Secretary of State most likely will have it revert back to the legal counsel that is in place.  The city form of government has been told by the Attorney General to go back to their own counsel.

Chair Gaechter stated that there is no time for the Committee to go to the Secretary of State and questions should be reviewed by County Counsel first; then the Committee may take the questions to the State if there are concerns.

Speaker Bergstrom asked if the County were to go by district who would establish the districts.

Ms. Martin recommended that the Committee take time and think about their output.  The structure should be staff, the Assembly of Delegates, and the County Commissioners.  This should be looked at first.

Mr. Milne asked how do you create a structure that is going to be regionally focused but allow towns to feel that they are being represented.

Chair Gaechter will put together issues of the Assembly of Delegates and the County Commissioners, the weighted vote, and the size of the County Commissioners, and go to legal counsel.  Then the Committee can proceed to the States Attorney General if necessary.

The next meeting agenda will include a discussion on function and output of the three entities; Assembly of Delegates; County Commissioners; and County Staff.

Chair Gaechter sent an e-mail to the Cape Cod Selectmen’s Association asking that he be given the opportunity to give a formal presentation on the Charter Review at their meeting in February.

Mr. Milne said he will support and pass along the request at their meeting in January.

The committee meeting adjourned at 5:22 p.m.

At the Committee meeting of January 13, 2010 these minutes were approved with all in favor.

Cape Cod Economic Development Council, Director, Daniel Dray

Finance Department

County Administrator, Mark Zielinski

Assistant County Administrator, Margaret Downey

Fire Training Academy, Director, Lee Pareseau

Department of Health & Environment, Director, George Heufelder

Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, Director, William Clark

Facilities Department, Director, John Blaisdell

Information Technology Department, Director, John Morse

Cape Light Compact

Human Services Department, Beth Albert

Resource Development Office, Director, Darlene Johnson-Morris

Dredge, Superintendent, Wayne Jaedtke

Commissioners Office

Children’s Cove, Director, Stacy Gallagher

Cape Cod Commission, Executive Director, Paul Niedzwiecki

County Commissioners Sheila Lyons, Chair Pat Flynn, Vice Chair Bill Doherty, Commissioner

Updated April 7, 2009

Minutes

Barnstable County Charter Review Committee

January 4, 2010

Committee members present: Fred Gaechter, Chair; Ronald Bergstrom; Charlotte Striebel; Mike Corgan; Teresa Martin; Sheila Lyons; Leo Cakounes; and Greg Milne

Absent:  Ed Larkin

Others present:  County Commissioner William Doherty; Elliot Carr, Cape Cod Business Roundtable; Maggie Geist, Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod; Kevin Howard, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce; and Jennie Morey, Assistant to Assembly Clerk.

Chair Fred Gaechter opened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.

Chair Gaechter opened the meeting by asking for the approval of the minutes of December 9th.  All voted in favor with Leo Cakounes abstaining; he was not present.

The next item was the approval of the agenda with the amendment to add a discussion of Teresa Martin’s concern about the Committee process sent via e-mail on December 9^th.  All members voted in favor.

The Committee was given an Organizational Chart from Mark Zielinski dated April 7, 2010, as requested.

The Committee heard from Elliot Carr representing the Cape Cod Business Roundtable and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.  He stated that the County is faced with a lot of major issues and needs to play a stronger regional role dealing with these issues.

Mr. Carr and other representatives asked to be scheduled for a meeting with the Committee in February.  A brief statement was given out to the Committee and is considered a part of these minutes.

The Committee determined that its next meetings would be held on January 13, 2010, January 27, 2010, and February 10, 2010, all beginning at 4:00 p.m.   On February 10^th the Cape Cod Business Roundtable and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce will be on the agenda.

Mr. Cakounes, after Mr. Carr’s statement to the Committee, suggested that they come to the February meeting with changes and suggestions regarding the Charter and not just regional issues.

The next item on the agenda was Ms. Martin’s concerns regarding the Committee process.

Ms. Martin stated that the Committee has a lot of brainpower looking at the Charter word by word and jumping right into copy and editing.  The Committee should pull up the discussion a level and address bigger issues in the Charter.

Chair Gaechter asked if the Committee would like to stop at their last reviewed section of the Charter, Section 4, and continue with an overall review with focus on core issues and opposing issues.

Commissioner Lyons agreed with Ms. Martin that the Committee is processing words as opposed to looking at bigger issues, which is really the purpose of County Government.  Does the Charter structure allow the County to focus on bigger issues?

Chair Gaechter suggested that he put together each legal issue, listed on the Committee’s flow chart, and present them to County Counsel.

Mr. Milne pointed out that in Attorney Troy’s last memo to the Committee his response did not really have detailed answers their questions.

Speaker Bergstrom suggests that if the Committee is not satisfied with answers from Attorney Troy then go to the State for outside legal assistance.

Commissioner Lyons asked if it is warranted to have fifteen Delegates looking at the budget and does it constitute a weighted vote.  Would it be better to have a five member County Commission with three regional commissioners and two at large?

Mr. Milne noted that Attorney Troy is unsure about applying the weighted vote to Charter changes.  If the Charter changes go to a weighted vote you have a subset of County government and not County intention.

Mr. Milne recommended that the Committee still discuss outside counsel and he has found that there are attorneys available that are potentially at low cost.

Ms. Striebel stated that the one thing wrong with the Assembly of Delegates in her opinion is that they should look at the County as a whole but some of the Delegates look at what will work for their town.

Speaker Bergstrom said that in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts all districts have portioned representation by the State.  He pointed out that down ballot elections do not get a lot of attention.

Chair Gaechter asked if the County does not want proportioned representation then the County does not need the Assembly of Delegates.

Commissioner Lyons stated that the regional government started out without an Assembly of Delegates.  It was established for more structure.  If the budget was all property taxes and the major outcome is from the taxes there is a difference but the fact is that less than 10% of the budget is another layer of taxing for the County.

Mr. Cakounes asked if the majority of the budget is coming out of the deeds tax.

Commissioner Lyons asked if a weighted vote is needed for the budget as opposed to a representative vote.

Mr. Cakounes asked where does the legislative branch come into the budget process if the County increases the executive branch.

Commissioner Lyons recommended that by having town officials and financiers instead of the Assembly the County could make a different kind of regional structure.

Chair Gaechter stated that the towns are not going to do away with direct input.  Could the Assembly of Delegates be more effective being one man one vote?

Speaker Bergstrom noted that the Cape Cod Commission is one man one vote. The Cape Light Compact is by weighted vote, and the Regional Transit Authority has some weighted votes and some votes that are not.

Mr. Carr stated that in the U. S. Constitution it is one man one vote.  Truro wanted to be represented at the County level  with one man one vote but found that if the vote was not weighted there would be one man in Truro and eight people representing Barnstable.

Mr. Milne stated that in the Constitution there has been no change.  The County operates under the same Constitution even without the Assembly of Delegates.  Somehow the Assembly was created but not one man one vote.

Chair Gaechter told the Committee that not all towns have the means to be represented.

Commissioner Doherty suggested that since the Charter changed to regional government you might have to go back to the body that approved the change of operation.

Chair Gaechter stated that if you know that the change was not mandatory you could ask that question.

Ms. Geist of the APCC said that she does not know of any other County that has a legislative branch.  You have small executive branches with assistance.

Mr. Corgan suggested that the Committee tackle the Committees agenda to go into the rationale of obtaining outside legal counsel.

Commissioner Lyons will look into what the Secretary of State can provide on legal counsel.

Chair Gaechter feels that this County government is better than Counties that do not have an Assembly of Delegates.  Mr. Cakounes, Ms. Martin, and Speaker Bergstrom agreed.  It is beneficial to have an interaction between the County and Towns after they have been working with the Assembly of Delegates.

Ms. Martin stated that the question is not to dispose of the Assembly of Delegates but how to structure elements that flow in a different way supporting the Assembly.

Commissioner Lyons asked if there is some way to explore issues regionally as opposed to individually.  The Towns structure hinders progress as the mindset is “I” represent my town not looking at it as the region.

Chair Gaechter would like to talk about the size of the County Commissioners.  If you eliminate the Assembly of Delegates should you increase County Commissioners on a regional basis?  What does the Committee have as a recommendation for the Commissioners?

Mr. Milne spoke about the City of Newton which is geographically balanced, which is something they could look at.  The Assembly Delegates are elected from each town but could appear on the ballot to the entire County.  It would elevate the County to be similar to the Newton Charter and it was suggested that Committee members take a look at that Charter online.

Speaker Bergstrom thinks that there is a need for five Commissioners.  You always seem to have a two against one situation and it is too easy to have a lock.  The Assembly of Delegates has a lot of procedure and should consolidate their power.

Speaker Bergstrom also thinks that by the Assembly of Delegates consolidating their power, they should have additional staff and more responsibility.  The Assembly could do more and give more if you consolidate the authority.

Commissioner Lyons stated that by having more than three County Commissioners you could have a more open conversation.  It is difficult to converse with cameras, and it is not good politics.  More County Commissioners would have more oversight which already exists internally.  The small towns are looking for a voice and there was nothing like when the Commissioners visited all the towns.

Chair Gaechter asked if we increase the County Commissioners to five or seven are they at large or proportionate.  What would be the attitude if the Commissioners were at large?

Speaker Bergstrom thinks the County Commissioners should be regional.

Mr. Corgan stated that the constituents would not know about people appointed by Commissioners as opposed to knowing the person elected from their town.  What was the purpose of having an Assembly of Delegates to handle issues which have now become bigger and harder to deal with?

Chair Gaechter reminded the Committee that Commissioner Lyons will be looking into outside counsel and money for legal support through the State.

Speaker Bergstrom spoke to the fact that when you start putting things on the ballot it becomes an issue with the State  such as having Regional  Commissioners who are going to have to be put on the ballot.

Commissioner Lyons still feels that you need a County Commissioner at large.  You want to have a government that looks at the whole region.  Having more Commissioners will make the County more responsive.  Government is slower than it has to be sometimes.

Chair Gaechter stated that some suggestions might not be legally feasible or legal.

Speaker Bergstrom suggested that the Committee put together, officially, questions by the Chair to the Secretary of the State.

Mr. Milne noted that the Secretary of State most likely will have it revert back to the legal counsel that is in place.  The city form of government has been told by the Attorney General to go back to their own counsel.

Chair Gaechter stated that there is no time for the Committee to go to the Secretary of State and questions should be reviewed by County Counsel first; then the Committee may take the questions to the State if there are concerns.

Speaker Bergstrom asked if the County were to go by district who would establish the districts.

Ms. Martin recommended that the Committee take time and think about their output.  The structure should be staff, the Assembly of Delegates, and the County Commissioners.  This should be looked at first.

Mr. Milne asked how do you create a structure that is going to be regionally focused but allow towns to feel that they are being represented.

Chair Gaechter will put together issues of the Assembly of Delegates and the County Commissioners, the weighted vote, and the size of the County Commissioners, and go to legal counsel.  Then the Committee can proceed to the States Attorney General if necessary.

The next meeting agenda will include a discussion on function and output of the three entities; Assembly of Delegates; County Commissioners; and County Staff.

Chair Gaechter sent an e-mail to the Cape Cod Selectmen’s Association asking that he be given the opportunity to give a formal presentation on the Charter Review at their meeting in February.

Mr. Milne said he will support and pass along the request at their meeting in January.

The committee meeting adjourned at 5:22 p.m.

At the Committee meeting of January 13, 2010 these minutes were approved with all in favor.

Cape Cod Economic Development Council, Director, Daniel Dray

Finance Department

County Administrator, Mark Zielinski

Assistant County Administrator, Margaret Downey

Fire Training Academy, Director, Lee Pareseau

Department of Health & Environment, Director, George Heufelder

Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, Director, William Clark

Facilities Department, Director, John Blaisdell

Information Technology Department, Director, John Morse

Cape Light Compact

Human Services Department, Beth Albert

Resource Development Office, Director, Darlene Johnson-Morris

Dredge, Superintendent, Wayne Jaedtke

Commissioners Office

Children’s Cove, Director, Stacy Gallagher

Cape Cod Commission, Executive Director, Paul Niedzwiecki

County Commissioners Sheila Lyons, Chair Pat Flynn, Vice Chair Bill Doherty, Commissioner