Re-Elect Holyoke's Fiscal Watchdog!

Re-Elect Holyoke's Fiscal Watchdog!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Inside the fine print of the Mammoth Booklet coming in the Mail - a risky proposal.

VOTE NO on the Proposed Charter Change: Holyoke cannot afford this risky proposal!

Dear Fellow Voter:

There is going to be a referendum question on this year’s ballot that proposes to change our City Charter and would:

Weaken Voter Power:

·         Voters will no longer elect the City Clerk or City Treasurer

·         Voters will no longer elect a majority of their City Councilors

·         Only vote for the Mayor every 4 years not every 2 years which could be problematic especially if you get someone who is not doing a good job.

Eliminate Checks and Balances:

·         We already have a very strong Mayor: we should not consolidate nearly all power in one person!

·         Proposes to weaken the City Council and make the Mayor even more powerful

·         Mayor would appoint the Assessors, Tax Collector, Auditor and Treasurer instead of the City Council therefore eliminating the independence of their financial oversight roles.

·         Abolishes most city commissions including the Public Works and Fire Commissions and gives those powers to the Mayor.  Also makes the Mayor a member of most remaining commissions.

·         Allows the Mayor to abolish or create any city department without the Council having the opportunity to amend the proposal.

·         Terms of office of city department heads are eliminated and they would serve at pleasure of the Mayor.

·         Recommends eliminating non-political civil service independence for city employees

·         Allows the Mayor to appoint a majority of the future commissions who will review our city charter and our city ordinances.

Make Expensive Changes we cannot afford in these tough economic times:

·         Gives the Mayor a 14% pay raise from $85,000 to $97,000 per year.

·         Creates a New Chief Financial Officer position appointed by the Mayor that would likely cost over $100,000 per year.

·         The proposed new charter is a risky exploration into a new form of government which no one fully knows for sure how it would work and could be the source of expensive future litigation.

Make other foolish changes:

·         The War Memorial Commission would no longer be made up exclusively of veterans.

·         Makes it harder for citizens to run for office and get on the ballot.

·         Eliminates Residency Requirements for city department heads.

Instead of making some simple common sense changes the voters could easily understand, the Charter Commission scrapped our entire charter for a new 53 page confusing and harmful form of government.  Their proposal is so complex and confusing that it reads more like mortgage then a referendum.  Holyoke’s voters deserve better! 

Please Vote NO on the Proposed Charter Change and protect our city!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Straight Talk about the Holyoke City Charter:

One of the Myths about the Holyoke City Charter is that the document is too old to still be practical for our current needs. 


I ask you to consider the following facts before you vote on this radical proposal to change our city government:


There are 3 Foundational Documents that impact the City of Holyoke:


Federal Level: US Constitution which was drafted in large measure by James Madison - it was Ratified on June 21, 1788.


State Level:  The Massachusetts Constitution which was drafted John Adams, Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin was Ratified on June 15, 1780.  It is the oldest active Constitution in the world!


City Level: The Holyoke City Charter was Ratified in 1896.  108 years younger than US Constitution and 116 years younger than the Massachusetts Constitution.


The Holyoke City Charter has been amended no less than 30 times.  The Massachusetts Constitution has been amended 120 times and the US Constitution has been amended 27 times.


The Holyoke City Charter like its accompanying other Constitutions is a concise and powerful statement of the checks and balances of government.  The new proposed Charter disgards balance to make way for an Uber-Powerful Mayor and a government less accountable to the electorate.  To accomplish this task, the new proposed Charter is filled with sweeping and confusing legalese (I am a lawyer by the way) and is now 53 pages of changes.


Unless you as a voter fundamentally understand those 53 pages of legalese and their sweeping ramifications, please do not just vote to abolish our current form of government.


Consider first that we should make careful amendments to the current document.  Our predecessors in reviewing our foundational documents never just abolished them but carefully amended them.  I suggest we do that as well.  Those amendments can either be crafted by the City Council and Mayor or brought individually before the voters. 

This careful approach that respects checks and balances has served us well since the founding of our Republic and November 8th should be no exception.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Charter Change Summary

Many voters have been asking me for a summary of the 106 Page Booklet that they will be receiving from the Charter Commission.  Personally, I think it is very unfair of the Commission to have made so many changes that the voters are expected to digest a document loaded with very substantial changes that reads like mortgage loaded with legalese.  For the convenience of the voters I have developed the following summary:


The current charter of the city is completely abolished and substituted by a new proposed charter.  The Mayor’s salary shall be increased by 14% from $85,000 to $97,000 per year. The power of the Mayor will become much stronger.  The separation of powers between the City Council and Mayor will change.  The City Council’s appointments over the financial oversight positions of Assessors, Tax Collector and Auditor will all be given over to the Mayor.  The Mayor will also have the power to add or delete any city department and the City Council will not be permitted to amend the Mayor’s proposal but may only approve or disapprove the entire proposal. The Public Works Commission and Fire Commission are abolished and those powers are transferred to the Mayor. The Mayor will become a member of most remaining commissions.  The War Memorial Commission will no longer be exclusively composed of veterans.  Current provisions requiring residency for certain department heads will be eliminated.  Terms of office of numerous appointed officials will be eliminated and those individuals will serve as employees at will under the Mayor.  The Mayor’s term of office will also be expanded from a 2-year term to a 4-year term. The City Clerk and City Treasurer will no longer be elected by voters but will become appointed.  A new Chief Financial Officer position, which reports to the Mayor, will be created at a significant cost to the city.  Effective at the 2013 municipal election, individual voters will no longer be able to elect a majority of the members of the city council.  The City Council will be reduced from 15 members consisting of 7 members elected by a ward and 8 members elected at-large to a body of 11 members maintaining the same number of wards but eliminating 4 of the 8 at-large members.  Individual voters shall no longer elect 9 of 15 members (8 at-large and 1 ward) but only 5 of 11 members (4 at-large and 1 ward).  The School Committee will continue to be a 9 member body consisting of 7 members representing wards and 2 members elected at-large.    The City Council and School Committee will continue to serve 2-year terms.  Signature requirements for municipal candidates will increase between 100% and 400% depending on the office.  A new process will be created to allow voters to petition the City Council to put items on the agenda, to initiate referendum to reverse measures adopted by the City Council or School Committee, and they may also initiate a recall procedure for any elected official.  If adopted, numerous Special Acts adopted by the City Council and Mayor in past will be repealed.  The charter will be reviewed every 10 years and the ordinances will be reviewed every 5 years.  The Mayor will control a majority of the appointments to the review commissions.

Please take the Holyoke First Charter Change Poll to let your fellow Holyokers know how you feel!