It’s looking like Barnstable will be gaining a new representative to the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates.
Thomas K. Lynch, who has served on the county’s legislative body for 11 years, is as I write this on his way to becoming Barnstable’s new town manager, which means he will have to resign from the assembly since the town charter bans its town manager from holding an elected position at the same time.
At present, the only confirmed candidate for the seat is Ronald R. Beaty Jr. If there are any readers out there considering a run for the assembly, I’d encourage you to do so, first and foremost so voters will have a choice in the coming election. Choice and competition are necessary to a healthy political process.
This is especially true here, because Mr. Beaty has yet to show himself to be something more than a one-trick pony; based on the content of his blog and his press releases, his sole purpose in running is to throw up a roadblock in front of the Special Commission on County Governance.
The special commission has filed two recommendations that Mr. Beaty has actively railed against: a proposal to merge the assembly with the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners (or, as some put it, eliminate the assembly and expand the board), and a proposal to create a regional wastewater management entity that could possess taxation powers.
Are these trivial non-issues? No, but the scope of the assembly’s duties stretches well beyond ensuring its own continued existence and wastewater. It helps craft annual operating and supplemental budgets. It reviews and approves Districts of Critical Planning Concern, changes to the county charter, and changes to the Regional Policy Plan. It creates new entities to help the county deal with pressing issues.
I know I often knock the assembly as a somewhat vestigial organ in the county government organism, and while I maintain that there may well be better ways to accomplish the functions it serves, it does have its fingers in a number of not unimportant pies — and I question whether Mr. Beaty would be an effective delegate when he’s up to his elbows in one very specific pie.
One-issue candidates generally make poor elected officials, and having to run an actual race would tell voters whether he had a vision for county government beyond his pet projects…and if not, would give voters another option.
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A brief bookmark update: Peter A. White of Mashpee has updated his campaign website address to reflect the fact he is now a candidate for Congress rather than the US Senate. The URL is www.peterwhiteforcongress.org, and as an added note, it’s a much nicer-looking site than his past efforts.
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Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth), who last week held her on-Cape re-election campaign kick-off event, picked up one of her first endorsements of the season, from the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus Political Action Committee.
The PAC called Sen. Murray “a devoted advocate for women throughout the Commonwealth. From her support of education reform to expanded access to affordable, quality healthcare to her efforts on behalf of victims of domestic violence, she has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of women and their families.”
Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.
Tags: Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, Ninth Congressional District, Peter White, Ronald Beaty Jr., Senate President Therese Murray, State Senate - Plymouth & Barnstable, Tom Lynch
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
…thanks for the ringing endorsement, Mikey! In any case, what you forgot to mention in your article is that once Tom Lynch resigns his seat on the assembly of delegates, then the Barnstable Town Council has the option of appointing someone of their choosing to fill the vacancy until January, 2013…and if the Town Council does not act on it within the parameters outlined by the County Charter, then the County Assembly of Delegates may also have the potential of filling the seat as well. Take care and God bless. RON BEATY, Town of Barnstable Candidate for the County Assembly of Delegates.
And thanks for the patronizing “Mikey.” I always like it when someone calls me that to diminish me and my opinions.
Once again, you’re leaving out a crucial detail: the town council does not get to choose just anyone to fill the vacancy. As per the county charter, the town clerk announces the vacancy and solicits letters of interest from registered voters who have been a resident of the town in question for at least one year, and choose from those who submit letters. Only if no one comes forth does the Assembly gets to select a replacement from anyone who meets the same criteria (registered voter, one year of residency). Here is the full text of that section of the charter, with emphasis added by me — and I will add that the language uses “shall,” which makes it a compulsory action; the town cannot choose to ignore this process:
Section 2 – 10. Filling of Vacancies.
If a vacancy shall occur in the office of assembly of delegates with more than six months remaining of the term for which delegates are elected, a successor shall be chosen in accordance with the following procedure:
The clerk of the assembly of delegates shall cause a notice of vacancy to be sent to the clerk of the municipality in which the vacancy exists. The clerk of said municipality shall, forthwith, cause such notice to be posted on the municipal bulletin boards. Any voter, a resident of Barnstable county for at lease one year, desiring to be considered to fill such vacancy shall, in writing, so advise the board of selectmen, town council in the town of Barnstable, or the officer or agency performing similar duties in such municipality. The board of selectmen or town council shall make provision for the interview, in public sessions, of all persons who have indicated such interest. Not more than twenty-one days following the date of the notice sent by the clerk of the assembly of delegates, the board of selectmen or town council shall, by a majority vote, choose one person from the municipality to fill such vacancy and shall issue a certificate of such selection to the clerk of the assembly of delegates. Upon receipt of the said certificate the clerk of the assembly of delegates shall administer the oath of office to such person and shall enter such person name on the official list of assembly of delegates. If, at the expiration of thirty days following the issuance of notice by the clerk of the assembly of delegates that a vacancy from that municipality exists, no certificate has been received, the assembly of delegates may vote to fill such vacancy by electing any registered voter resident of the affected municipality for one year or more to fill such vacancy. The clerk of the assembly of delegates shall administer the oath of office to the person thus chosen who shall serve for the balance of the unexpired term.
…on a related note, it is fully expected that former Barnstable Town Councilor AND current Barnstable County Commissioner of Mosquitoes, J. Gregory Milne, will more than likely enter the race for the Barnstable seat on the Assembly of Delgates. In fact, I would be quite surprised if he does not run…which leads me to mention this bit of factual trivia…in its entire history, no member or former member of the Barnstable Town Council has ever successfully won higher political office…yes, they have tried…and…and apparently for whatever reason, have lost. ^_^
Ok, I have followed up this matter by sending a message to Greg Milne asking him directly if he is planning to run for the pending Barnstable vacancy on the County Assembly of Delegates. If I receive a response from Greg, then I will report it back here to [Mr. Bailey's] blog… ^_^
So Ron and Greg are BOTH failed office seekers? Where’s Ric Barros when you need him…
Maybe Greg Milne should speak for himself.
…@Mike, Greg is quite able to speak for himself, but rather than do that…he is going to keep quiet and then just before the deadline in July, he will file his nomination papers for the Barnstable seat on the county assembly…the same as he did two years ago. Oh and Mike, I did notice that you censored my last posting…I did not realize that you are indeed a sensitive person, so now that I do know, I apologize for hurting your feelings…seriously. Take care, guy and have a good week…@Cynthia Stead, perhaps Jim Munafo or Jim Crocker would consider running for the county assembly of delegates…they both have name recognition…but, may also suffer from “the curse of the BarnstableTown Council” that I mentioned in an earlier posting. …maybe Lucien Poyant? RON
>> Greg is quite able to speak for himself, but rather than do that…he is going to keep quiet and then just before the deadline in July, he will file his nomination papers for the Barnstable seat on the county assembly…the same as he did two years ago.
And? What does the timing matter? The candidacy is as legitimate.
>> I did notice that you censored my last posting…I did not realize that you are indeed a sensitive person, so now that I do know, I apologize for hurting your feelings
I did not “censor” the last post; since you chose to again call me “Mikey,” which I have made clear I consider a condescending form of address, I changed it. The content of your post was otherwise exactly as you entered it.
…of course Greg’s candidacy would be legitimate, I only made an observation about what I believe would transpire, nothing more and nohting less, Mike. Perhaps we can all get a “Draft Milne for the County Assembly” movement started to help provide Greg with sufficient motivation to run. What to you think, Mike? As for the second half of your last response: “censor” = to ban or cut portions of (a publication, film, letter, etc.), but hey, one can certainly make up their own definition to suit their own needs as well… ^_^
Censorship can also be defined as “the control of the information and ideas circulated within a society” and is also considered, more properly, a function of a government or ruling body, which it performs in an effort to suppress ideas or content that the entity in question deems offensive, dangerous, disruptive, or seditious. What I did was edit one word, which is entirely within my right as the owner of this blog, and my change did not at all alter the content of your post or the idea expressed therein. Don’t hyperbolize the situation.
I’m not interested in recruiting anyone specific to run or not run for any position. I simply think it is in the voters’ best interests to have multiple choices. Whenever anyone runs unopposed, it diminishes our system of government by robbing people of a choice of leaders, and does little to help educate the public on the issues and, more importantly, the different ways to address problems.
..all kidding aside…in no particular order, I think that the following persons would all make excellent candidates for the county assembly: Laura Cronin, June Daley, Mike Daley, James Cote, Lucian Poyant, George Zoto, Ann Canedy, Judy Crocker, Peter Eastman, Joseph Gill, Michael Patterson, Fran Manzelli, Tim McNamara, John Norman, Jim Munafo, Jim Crocker, Jen Cullum, Fred Chirigotis, Janice Barton, Sue Nickerson, James Tinsley, Debra Dagwan, Tom Rugo, Janet Joakim, and David Nunheimer… RON
…ok, I do not have any specific names as of yet, BUT I have it from an excellent source that several candidates for the Barnstable seat on the Assembly of Delegates will materialize in the weeks ahead…candidates who will be along the lines of Eric Steinhilber as far as a similar political philosophy and position on the respective county-wide issues that have arisen in recent years. Such candidates would be well financed and separate and distinct from Greg Milne who has not said a thing yet, as well as separate from my own candidacy too. Regards, RON