Melrose Cares: Open Community Dialogue




Click here to report offensive or inappropriate posts.



Alderman & City Politics
Start a New Topic 
Author
Comment
View Entire Thread
Re: Take Off The Blinders

Mass Law pertaining to Teacher Political Activity Relating to Town Budget Overrides:

Serving on a ballot question committee:

You may serve on or assist a ballot question committee about a tax limit override provided that you do so without pay, do not fundraise, and do not act as the agent for the campaign in any matter involving your town (such as filing required campaign finance reports). You may, outside of school and on your own time, distribute campaign literature, make get-out-the vote telephone calls, conduct campaign polls and research, drive voters to the polls, and display or hold signs as long as you do not do so on town time or by using town resources.

Private political activity:

Teachers and other public employees have most of the same rights as other citizens to engage in private political activity. A teacher may engage in private political activity using his own or other private resources, and when he is acting for himself and not as an agent or representative of anyone else. However, a public employee may not use his public position to engage in political activity. Section 23(b)(2)(ii) of the conflict of interest law prohibits the use of one's public position to engage in political activity, because a public employee who does so is using his official position to secure for himself or others (such as a candidate or a ballot question committee) unwarranted privileges of substantial value ($50 or more) not properly available to similarly situated persons.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

It is certainly their right to campaign for it. However, I think it is a conflict of interest and may violate state ethics rules when they are openly campaigning for an override using school resources by being on School grounds as students are being dropped off. Parents of other children felt bullied by this. You cannot use city resources to campaign for the override. Campaigning on school grounds before school is using city resources. There are several pictures of this and this should be forward to the appropriate state officials .Perhaps the city solicitor should comment on their behavior.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

The City Solicitor? Are you kidding me? He's probably the one who told them it was okay to do it.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

RvC is the wind-up puppet of the administration, totally without ethics and very, very ignorant. He has made many costly errors costing Melrose taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars with his pompous and ignorant "legal opinions," starting with his stands re the OCR cases.

Standing on school property with their tee shirts and signs is not legal.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

I will file complaint with state ethics commissions and forward the pictures to them. You can file the complaints online. Enough is enough!!


Re: Take Off The Blinders

Informed Parent
I will file complaint with state ethics commissions and forward the pictures to them. You can file the complaints online. Enough is enough!!


I'm no lawyer, but it seems to me that your ethics complaint will be met with a derisive scoff, and then they'll move onto important issues, because this hardly seems illegal.

https://m.sfgate.com/nation/article/Teachers-can-picket-protest-on-school-district-12529916.php

Slightly different political context, obviously, but the free speech argument seems identical to me.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

There are state laws against using public resources to campaign. Campaigning on school property by the teachers is using public resources


https://www.mass.gov/advisory/state-ethics-commission-advisory-11-1-public-employee-political-activity

Re: Take Off The Blinders

FYI - I agree with you. Apparently we're having to deal with hijacking screen names now. That prior post was not mine.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

Seriously?
FYI - I agree with you. Apparently we're having to deal with hijacking screen names now. That prior post was not mine.
Oh come off it. I didn't realize it was your screen name. It's hardly a unique and original one.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

If you say so. It's just right there in front of you. Whatever.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

Citizen observation
It is certainly their right to campaign for it. However, I think it is a conflict of interest and may violate state ethics rules when they are openly campaigning for an override using school resources by being on School grounds as students are being dropped off. Parents of other children felt bullied by this. You cannot use city resources to campaign for the override. Campaigning on school grounds before school is using city resources. There are several pictures of this and this should be forward to the appropriate state officials .Perhaps the city solicitor should comment on their behavior.
In looking at the picture in the Weekly News, the majority of them are on the sidewalk, which is not school property. It does appear though that there are eight of them in the driveway, which is school property. I don't honestly know if it's prohibited or not, but if it's not it ought to be.

Re: Take Off The Blinders

Look at the pics from The YEvwebsite it shows a whole group of them directly in front of the school. This is school property and against state law. Look at the pics from dec 12

Re: Take Off The Blinders


Parents who cannot afford more taxes may feel intimidated or bullied by teachers outside schools. This Override has already become poisonously divisive!