April 14, 2010 Minutes
Here is the word document with the minutes from the April 14 2010 Charter Review committee meeting:
Minutes
Barnstable County Charter Review Committee
April 14, 2010
Committee members present: Fred Gaechter, Chair; Leo Cakounes; Charlotte Striebel; Teresa Martin; Mike Corgan; and Greg Milne
Absent: Ed Larkin, Sheila Lyons, and Ronald Bergstrom
Others present: Nancy Curley, League of Women Voters; Diane Thompson, Clerk and Jennie Morey, Assistant to the Clerk of the Assembly
Chair Gaechter opened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.
Chair Gaechter asked for the approval of the agenda. The Committee approved the agenda with all votes in favor. The next item was the approval of the minutes of March 31st. The minutes were approved the minutes with Delegate Cakounes abstaining as he was not present and all other members voted in favor. It was noted that Delegate Cakounes relayed a message to the committee that he would not be able to attend the last meeting; Commissioner Lyons contacted Mr. Milne and stated that she would not be attending this meeting.
Chair Gaechter began the meeting asking committee members to concentrate on how to obtain public input, putting together a plan moving forward, presenting a case to the public, and presenting the Committee’s plan for recommendations.
The Committee discussed the presentation of their report to the Assembly of Delegates at their meeting on April 7th. The Delegates discussed the Finance and Administrator positions, recommendation #5 stating the deletion of the residency requirement, the recommendations from the Business Roundtable and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, and the article in the Cape Cod Times.
The Committee discussed how to proceed with the time that has been given to them. The goal is to obtain input from constituents, towns, and organizations. It was the consensus of the committee to take the following action:
1) Conduct Regional meetings/forums in the Mid, Lower, Outer, and Upper Cape at the following locations beginning after Labor Day.
Wellfleet Council on Aging
Harwich Community Center
Barnstable Golf Course
Gus Canty Recreational Center in Falmouth
The meetings will be scheduled so that there is no conflict with Selectmen/Councilor meetings in the town where the meeting is located. There will be one meeting per week in the early evening.
2) Conduct Organization meetings and contact by letter:
Cape Cod Business Roundtable
Cape Cod Selectmen & Councilor’s Association
APCC
League of Women Voters
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce/local Chambers
Young Professionals
Political Parties
Committee members are going to provide contact information for organizations to the office. The date and times are to be determined at a later time.
Chair Gaechter will draft a letter to all organizations and use the letter as a basis for a Press Release. The Selectmen and Town Council will be informed of all meetings.
Chair Gaechter agreed to meet with the Selectmen & Council’s Association on May 14th to give them an update.
The committee discussed an agenda and format for meetings/forums in the towns and the following was suggested:
Introduction
PowerPoint Presentation: 3 Overview Slides and 1 Issues Slide
1) Introduction
2) A statement informing people that the region has a government set up by a Charter;
3) Show a modified organizational structure; and
4) Charter Issues
Delegate Martin said she would draft the first three slides. She will prepare the fourth slide by only showing the heading of Charter Issues.
There will be discussion and perhaps a handout on Charter Recommendations for the 2010 election. There will be a question and answer period. It was noted that Assembly Delegates and County Commissioners will probably want to be present to promote the ballot question.
In the documents that are mailed out the Committee will promote the Charter website that will have information about the meetings and will include the PowerPoint presentation.
The Committee discussed stimulation of interest through Press Releases, Radio, and Television.
The next meeting of the Charter Review Committee will be on Wednesday, April 28th at 4:00 p.m. The Agenda will include what issues to include in their presentation and to discuss the PowerPoint presentation under Charter issues. The Committee will use the Chart of Issues that was made during their initial meetings.
Charlotte Striebel presented the committee with information that she and the Clerk obtained from the Law Library about the Mass. General Laws that govern the election of the County Commissioners.
The committee questioned this information and asked if it pertains to Barnstable County.
It was noted by Charlotte Striebel and Diane Thompson that the Barnstable County Home Rule Charter specifically states that the regional commissioners are elected in accordance with MGL, Chapter 54, Section 158. This is the chapter of the MGLs dealing with elections and the section that deals with county commissioners.
Chair Gaechter said he would like to contact someone in the State regarding the Massachusetts General Laws and how it affects the Charter and use as an example the election of Barnstable County’s Regional Commissioners. He said he would contact State Representative Sarah Peake for help on who to contact. It was suggested that a member of the Committee could go to Boston to address this issue and finally obtain confirmation.
With no further business, the Committee adjourned at 5:45 p.m.
