Baker signs Pignatelli bill to allow shared town administrator
Boston — Yesterday afternoon, Gov. Charlie Baker signed H.4598, a bill put forward by Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, which will allow the towns of Lee, Lenox and Stockbridge, if they so choose, to share a town administrator on a regional or joint basis.
Last December Pignatelli was joined by Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito as 17 towns in southern Berkshire County signed a Community Compact in which they committed to exploring future collaboration in education, public works, public safety, and human services. Since then several towns have jointly purchased equipment, Lee and Lenox have hired a joint building inspector, and Berkshire Hills Regional School District and Shaker Mountain School Union have share a superintendent. Stockbridge, Lee, and Lenox have been working with the Division of Local Services over the past nine months to develop a blueprint of an intermunicipal agreement for a shared town administrator.
The bill, developed in consultation with the State Ethics Commission, creates a limited exemption to a portion of the Massachusetts conflict of interest law in order to allow any of these three towns to share a town administrator. Under existing state law, two or more towns may currently enter into intermunicipal agreements that allow for shared employees. However, according to a 2012 opinion by the State Ethics Commission, a specific exemption in the form of legislation is required in order for a municipality to share an administrator whose duties would potentially include discussing, recommending and implementing regional or joint solutions for delivery of municipal services.
“My number one priority this session has been to support our towns to move towards increased collaboration with the goal of streamlining and enhancing services and providing taxpayer relief while maintaining the unique identity of each of these wonderful communities,” said Pignatelli. “The decision of whether or not to take advantage of this opportunity is now up to town leaders in Lenox, Stockbridge, and Lee.”
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Civil rights groups announce election protection program
Boston — On the eve of the 2016 election, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law have announced the launch of Election Protection to protect the rights of voters across the state of Massachusetts this election cycle. The Election Protection program, which includes a coalition of local and state organizations, is the nation’s leading nonpartisan voter protection program and has been working to identify and resolve barriers that voters are facing this election cycle.
Election Protection works to ensure that all eligible Americans have the ability to cast meaningful ballots and have their votes counted. To date, the election protection hotline (866-OUR-VOTE) has already received more than 50,000 calls from voters across the country in English, Spanish and several Asian languages. Election Protection also has an Election Day field program that provides on-the-ground assistance and guidance with the voting process. In Massachusetts alone, Election Protection includes over 500 legal and grassroots volunteers. Election Protection includes pro bono attorneys, students, and community members who are providing a constructive, community-oriented, and non-partisan effort to safeguard voting rights this election cycle.
In Massachusetts, incidents during early voting have highlighted the critical need for Election Protection. Election officials have improperly requested IDs in polling sites, including in Hyde Park; people with disabilities have reported a lack of accessible infrastructure at a polling site in Quincy; and an organized partisan group has threatened to intimidate and challenge voters, specifically in Whitman. These are all barriers that discourage eligible Americans from casting their vote. Election Protection is working closely with the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Elections Division to tackle these problems in real time to ensure that every vote counts.
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Tyer supports Pittsfield’s Question 5
Pittsfield — At a rally in Park Square on Wednesday, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer publicly voiced her personal support for ballot Question 5, which asks Pittsfield voters to adopt the Community Preservation Act (CPA).
The Community Preservation Act would create a dedicated local fund that is matched by state funding to enable a wide variety of important local projects in the areas of parks, historic preservation, community housing and youth recreation. By adopting a 1 percent surcharge assessed to existing property taxes at a cost of about $14 per year to the average homeowner, exempting senior citizens and others on fixed incomes, Pittsfield can tap into state funding that it already pays into but won’t see back unless it adopts the CPA.
