The Barnstable Patriot is reporting that the judge in the Councilor Greg Milne for Charter Commissioner case has overruled common sense and has ruled that Milne may serve on the Charter Commission. This effectively kills Barnstable's charter, because it specifically says that "no person shall simultaneously hold more than one elective town office". Now, if someone disagrees with the charter, all they have to do is go ask Judge Kane.
I have dedicated multiple posts to explaining the common sense and legal language showing that Councilor Milne is not entitled to serve as both a Town Councilor AND a Charter Commissioner. You can find them here.
To recap the events to date:
Before last fall's election, Councilors James Crocker, Greg Milne, and James F. Munafo, Jr. were seriously interested in running for Charter Commission. Before running, Munafo asked then-Town Attorney Bob Smith if the Charter would allow it. His response was an emphatic "NO".
Upon hearing Smith's emphatic opinion, Councilors Munafo and Crocker both chose not to pursue a seat. However, Councilor Milne decided to ignore Smith's (correct) decision on the charter language and run anyway.
During the 2007 election, Councilor Milne appeared on the ballot twice - Charter Commissioner and his Town Council seat (for which he was unopposed). He was told numerous times by the Town Clerk and others that he would only be sworn into one office. I know countless individuals who took this knowledge (that Milne would only be allowed one office) and voted for Milne as Charter Commissioner, hoping that he would abandon the Council for the Charter Commission.
When push came to shove, Milne (obviously) won his Council seat again and also qualified for a seat on the Charter Commission. The Town Clerk again informed Councilor Milne he would be sworn into only one office, and he chose his Council seat.
Instead of acknowledging the fact that the charter clearly prohibits anyone from holding two elected town offices, Councilor Milne (and his COG buddies) sued the town to be instated onto the Charter Commission, throwing the Commission into limbo. It is now about 9 months since this lawsuit began.
Back to the present:
Judge Kane ignored common sense, the charter's own language, and the sworn testimony of the current Charter's authoring Charter Commission Chairman (Michael Daley) all stating that it's only one town office per person.
'The town-entered affidavit of Michael Daley, chairman of the 1989 commission that drafted the charter, provides his recollection that '[W]e did not want people who were already elected to other positions in our local government serving on the Charter Commission' - Barnstable Patriot.
However, Milne has NOT been sworn in to the Charter Commission, yet. Smart money has the town appealing Judge Kane's decision, AND that court setting things right.
Yet, the largest loss in this case may not be Judge Kane's ruling, but rather the potential loss of other Charter Commissioners. Rumors are swirling that Charter Commissioners Sheila Geiler, Bob Jones and Lucien Poyant will resign if Milne is seated on the Commission. This is extremely bad news, because these 3 highly qualified candidates would be replaced by Daley and two COGers.
I wouldn't want to work with Milne either (and neither does ANYONE on the current Council), but we can't let him win twice with one decision.
So, if you know Geiler, Jones or Poyant, please encourage them to stick it out, no matter what...
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10 comments:
I heard that Rugo and Joakim were going to run too. Rugo gave an affidavit that said something like that.
Imagine a charter commission with town councilors, school committee members, town clerk, and the town tax collector. This is a sad day for any future charter changes, no one will take a charter change seriously, now.
Milne was instrumental in getting the charter question on the ballot, and it is only appropriate that he serve.
Hutchenrider should have settled the question before allowing him to run. It was too confusing for the voters. Milne made it clear from the beginning that he would not give up his council seat.
People want change in this country and change in this town. We are sick of lawsuits and the town attorney buying time with bogus court battles to stop progress.
Time marches on. Change is good.
Deal with it!
Why does Milne feel the need to hold possibly 3 elected seats? Isn't he currently running for county commissioner as well?
Obviously he is moving up the political ladder. He is a relatively young guy, and he is moving forward.
Town councilors have a shelf life. So does the charter commission. County commissioner is a step forward for a guy who promotes fairness and accountability in government.
Milne is "moving up the political ladder?"
That is interesting.
Ask the employees who work for the town if they will vote for him.
The Patriot is protecting him, but sooner or later people will know the real Greg Milne.
He is a perfect fit for COG.
The charter commission was D.O.A. the second the polls closed. The current membership could have been hand-crafted to deliver a weak, pointless product. Let them all resign. Of course, that buys you a certain recall driver as a replacement commissioner. The town will no doubt choose to waste more public money on an appeal.
Lets all imagine a town run by Taryn Toman, Jon Julius, Gary Lopez, and their group of hate-mongers. They would appoint Milne as mayor and the town would swirl around the toilet drain. Is this what we want from our town?
to 8:57 am
if one councilor can serve, then all councilors should be able to serve, regardless of who was "instrumental" in ANYTHING.
And, if councilors can serve, then so should school committee members, the town clerk, and the tax collector.
What about town employees? Can they serve?
Well , go ahead and "move up the political ladder," but please step down from the other places on the ladder. How invested are you if you are trying to be on every seat open?!
It does appear that the Patriot and other local media outlets seem to be protecting Greg Milne, and it seems to have been going on for a long time. Before he ran for Town Council he was involved in an incident that if voters had been made aware of it he likely wouldn't have been elected. In 1995 Mr. Milne was arrested and booked for Assault and Battery Domestic Violence. The victim was his elderly mother. The case was not pursued by the state because she dropped the charges shortly before the case was set to go to trial which is common in abuse cases. Unlike tactics that a certain group of people in this town use this incident is not made up in an effort to smear someone. This is a documented crime and the information is on file with BPD. It is also important to note that the case file is sealed. Also, last summer Councilor Milne called the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and aggressively criticized them because he felt that they weren't pushing a summer rental property he owns to his liking. It was intimated in that conversation with CCCC that b/c of who he is he and his property warranted special treatment. Appears he was attempting to use his postion(s)to benefit himself financially. I’m sure clarification on this incident can be confirmed by contacting the Chamber’s CEO Wendy Northcross. Again, no follow up by the local media. More recently, in the past year he has instigated at least two verbal altercations with employees at the town dump. The most recent one occurred approximately four weeks ago and he was so confrontational with the staff that as many as three staff members involved in the incident filed reports about the incident. The reports are in the possession of Town Manager John Klimm and the Director of the DPW Mark Ells. This most recent incident has been brought to the attention of some in the local media, but again nothing has been reported. How many more incidents are there that we don't know about b/c the local media fails to investigate and report on them. Also, for Mr Milne to be running for a third seat is interesting for someone who claims to be “For the People”. Running for and holding multiple seats seems to be very self serving and yet another attempt for a power hungry individual to satisy his agenda and ones promoted by some of his warped supporters. I want to reiterate that these are not made up. Each incident can be confirmed verbally by calling parties involved or by reviewing written documentation on file with town officials and law enforcement. Why does the local media aggressively pursue incidents, not matter how minor, committed by certain town government officials yet when it comes to Greg Milne nothing is done. What does he have on David Still and the folks at the CC Times?
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