Pittsfield Debates Process To Choose Council Vice President
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After what could have been the last meeting before inauguration, the City Council has no idea how to pick a council vice president.
Debate over the language directing how the council's leadership is chosen was halted Tuesday night by a charter objection invoked by President Melissa Mazzeo. Outgoing Ward 5 Councilor Jonathan Lothrop had petitioned the council the amend its rules to conform with what he believes is the intent of the city charter which is to have the council vice president elected by the body.
"It didn't occur to me until after the election when I thought about how this will all work," Lothrop said of why his petition came before the council two and a half years after voters approved the new charter. "This is our only opportunity to clarify this tonight."
Currently the councilors elect a president, who then appoints a vice president. But, the new charter reads, "as soon as practicable after the councilors-elect have been qualified following each regular city election, as provided in section 10-11, the members of the city council shall elect from among its members a president and vice president who shall serve for two-year terms."
Lothrop says the intent was to have the vice president elected by the body too.
However, the charter also says it should be in accordance with the council's rule, which hadn't been amended to conform with the change of language in the charter.
The following language in the charter reads, "the method of election of the president and vice president shall be prescribed within the rules of the city council. The rules of the then outgoing city council shall govern the election of the president and vice president."
President Melissa Mazzeo said she reads that to mean the council can choose how the vice president is chosen through its rules. She says she intentionally didn't petition for a change to the council rules so that the next president has the ability to appoint the vice president.
"I didn't put a petition in to change any of this with the election of the president or the vice president because I liked it," Mazzeo said.
Mazzeo said there would be too many changes in the council rules to make a decision Tuesday night. She cited other sections in both the charter and in the council's rules that need to be cleaned up. She said the rules and its accordance to the charter should be vetted in the rules and ordinances committee before going a council vote.
But mostly, she opposes moving the position to become an elected one.
"I feel the person who sits in that chair has the right to choose who sits next to them. You get to choose who you want to lead you but they get to choose who they sit next to," Mazzeo said. "It should not be done at the last minute with this many problems in it."
Outgoing Councilor At-large Barry Clairmont says he reviewed meetings from 2013 and says it was clear that the intent was to make the position elected by the rest of the council. He said the charter nearly slipped by and went to a vote without a clear process until Lothrop added the clause about the council's rules. Clairmont said the amendment set the stage for the council to change its rules. He said the consultants helping craft the new charter urged electing a vice president.
"I think this body should be able to choose who can take over as president," Clairmont said. "We wouldn't even be having discussion about council rules if Councilor Lothrop didn't catch it."
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli disagrees. He says the vice president should be someone the elected president can work well with and therefore should be chosen by the president.
"I think it should be the president who selects his or her vice president as it has been for quite a few years," Simonelli said.
Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi agreed saying, "I too feel that the council president best knows who they can work with and who they want to be the vice president."
After some discussion on language, which saw split votes, Councilor At-large Kathleen Amuso called for a vote on the "bottom line," which is whether or not the council will change their rules to make the vice president elected.
Immediately after, Mazzeo invoked the charter objection.
The charter objection has been used only two or three times since Clairmont first invoked it last year. The charter says a councilor can invoke one to stop a vote and discussion of a matter the first time it comes before the body. It pushes the matter off to the next meeting, which in this case is after inauguration. That is unless a special city council meeting is called.
"On the first occasion that the question on adoption of a measure is put to the city council, if a single member present objects to the taking of the vote, the vote shall be postponed until the next meeting of the city council, whether regular or special," the charter reads.
The charter also says three or more council members may compel a meeting "for any purpose; provided, however, that notice of the meeting shall, except in an emergency, which shall be designated by the president, be delivered to each member at least 48 weekday hours in advance of the time set and shall specify the date, time, and location of the meeting and the purposed for which the meeting is to be held..."
So while the three outgoing members of the City Council were lauded and given plaques commemorating their service, they may still have another meeting before the end of the year should councilors call another one.
