2000-01-26Beverly Charter Commission
Minutes of Meeting, January 26, 2000
A meeting of the Beverly Charter Commission was held in City Hall at 7:30 PM
on January 26, 2000. Present were: N. Paul Galluzzi, Crystal Atherton, Mary Grant,
Peter Gilmore, Jack Quigley, Mickey Ratte, Carol Girard, Mary Rodrick, and Maria
O’Brien.
The meeting was called to order by Chair Quigley. The first order of business
was review of the minutes of the November 26 and December 15, 1999 meetings.
Commissioner Grant requested more information in the minutes providing a sense of the
discussion. Members will provide comments to the Secretary prior to the next meeting
for incorporation into the minutes of November 26. The December 15, 1999 minutes
were approved as written, as copies of the video and audio tapes of the meeting will be
available to the public.
A letter of clarification from the state ethics commission on the hiring of John
Quinn as unpaid legal counsel was distributed. Commissioners Grant, Gilmore, and
Atherton reiterated their concern that counsel to the Commission should be impartial. No
issues were raised regarding the ethics commission’s opinion or Mr. Quinn’s statement
provided to the Commission disclosing information about his work with the Citizen’s
Committee to Re-open West Beach. The statement resolves any potential conflict of
interest.
Also distributed was Judge Rup’s decision finding that West Beach Corporation’s
lawsuit against the Citizens Committee to Re-open West Beach constituted a SLAPP suit
(Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), which was referenced in the ethics
matter.
Chair Quigley presented a proposed plan of action. After discussion about who
was involved in the development of the agenda, it was made clear that the proposal was
developed by Mr. Quigley and shared publicly, in concept, before any individual from the
Committee to Re-open West Beach had even filed nomination papers. The plan of
action calls for a discussion at the next meeting of the applicability of the Constitutional
provisions setting out the Home Rule Charter procedure to amend the Special Act of
1852, and review of the legal documents relating to the question of public access.
Commissioner Grant made a motion, which was revised during discussion, to
invite an expert on charter law from the Secretary of State, Mr. Bob Ritchie, and/or Mr.
Mike Curran, an attorney who will charge $100 per hour, to attend the next meeting and
provide expertise and a neutral perspective on the issue of the legality of using the Home
Rule Amendment or Home Rule Procedures Act to amend the Special Act of 1852. The
motion passed unanimously.
The next meeting was scheduled for March 22, 2000. The meeting was
adjourned at 9:35 PM.