So it begins. Interim Mayor does not want term to end when scheduled !
The Illegitimate One loves the limelight and performed her role well for “One Melrose”.
Let’s reward her for a job well done! It will be interesting to see how the BOA responds.
Let’s see how the “Transparency” gals parse it. JL and KLG talk a good fight!
There's nothing "fair" or trustworthy about any of the actions coming from either board or mayor in today's Melrose. There's also very little that is competent, including the way the city charter is constructed. It was incompetently drafted from the start and remains so.
"Powers, Term of Office - The mayor elected under Section 3-10(a) or (b) shall have all the powers of the mayor. A person elected under subsection (a), shall serve for the balance of the term unexpired at the time of election to the office. A person chosen under subsection (b), shall serve until the time of the next regular election at which time the person elected to fill the office for the ensuing term of office shall serve, in addition, for the balance of the then unexpired term."
Just another example of how poorly crafted the charter is. Having said that, it is clear that whoever is elected Mayor in November takes over as soon as the results are certified, and serves the balance of the current term in addition to the full elected term. There's no ambiguity. It's right there in black and white. According to the City Solicitor, it takes about a year to get a charter change done, so there it is.
We followed the language of the Charter when Infurna was appointed. We are obliged to follow the language of the Charter in seating her successor. You can't have it both ways.
Both scenarios can be, and should be corrected for the future.
I totally agree. It is what it is.
This clause needs to be changed but currently it's city law. I would feel differently if this were a mayor elected by the people.
One hand washes the other. The override passed so the mayor keeps her nice salary for more time. She could offer to stay on without salary to help transition the new mayor after the election but I don't think she will.
Rob Dolan - the gift that keeps on giving.
There's nothing "fair" or trustworthy about any of the actions coming from either board or mayor in today's Melrose. There's also very little that is competent, including the way the city charter is constructed. It was incompetently drafted from the start and remains so.
Did anyone actually read the charter before it was finalized? This unelected mayor provision is dumb as heck and should have been fixed. Now it's a real problem with a fake name. What did they call it? Operational glitch? Reminds me of the "structural deficit".
Happy to see the BOA question the administration as to WHEN they discovered the "operational glitch" and hold them accountable in terms of the timing involved. As was said last night - the election process was polarizing and the charter (agree or disagree) served as the guideline on how a new mayor would be elected if a vacancy should ever occur.
Follow the written rule on the how the new mayor come into office --- follow the written rule on how the "new" mayor leaves office!!! Changing these rules 6 months before the election seems disingenuous no matter what the intentions of the administration are.
Well everyone knew when interim term would be up. Why did admin wait for last 6 months to decide they wanted to stay on. Think our new Mayor will get any questions answered from the BOA. They are on top of what’s going on in our city. Maybe change for future but let’s not rush another thing through in this city !
It's really pretty simple. GI, the illegitimate mayor and useless alderperson got rather fond of the $10,000 per month she receives and thought another coupla months might suit her just fine.
The stupidly crafted city charter got its re-do very recently, with Zwirko at the helm, appointing great "experts" like Thorp onto that committee, you know, the one who had to apologize publicly for one of her many violations of the law (but who's counting). One of the other great "experts" whose "valuable input" was so fawned over was Lipper-G, who was priming the pump for her run for office (she made sure those missing commas were corrected, by gawd).
Meanwhile all the significant defects in that document remain, starting with the mayor's placement on the school committee (they all think it's swell, and it's worked so well, after all).
These officials of ours are truly worthless! They will continue to do the charade of pretend government representation, but in fact they are all just in this for the self-glorification and in some cases lining their pockets as well (and filling up on free food if the name is Peter).
@Charade, You are correct!
Important to note: This should have been discovered as a flaw well before now if it's going to be treated as a problem.