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Health & Fitness

Board of Ed Should Elect Its Own Chair or Dysfunction Will Persist

Despite 4-3-1 to elect Democrat as Chairman, Town Attorney says that's not a majority.

The is not off to a good start.

The most important vote at its organizational meeting is to elect a new Chair. All four Democrats voted for current Vice Chairman Leslie Moriarty forChairman; three Republicans voted for the current Chair Steve Anderson with a fourth Republican, Peter Sherr, abstaining.

You might think that means Leslie Moriarty is the new Chairman, but not so fast!

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John Wayne Fox, Town Attorney, ruled that the BOE rules say that it takes a majority of the board to elect a Chairman. Because no one received five votes, no Chair was elected according to the Town Attorney. Moreover, if the BOE does not act the Board of Selectman will chose the BOE Chair. The irony of having the most partisan board in town select the Chair of the least partisan board should not be lost on anyone. The Selectman will vote 2-1 to seat a Republican. If it is Steve Anderson the losing candidate will retain the Chairmanship in a purely partisan vote.

Personally, I think Steve Anderson did a credible job as BOE Chair under difficult circumstances. However, there is no denying he is carrying baggage from the brutal battles in which he engaged against Mr. Sherr and the former BOE member Marianna Ponns-Cohen. Steve will not get the vote of Peter Sherr, who along with Ponns-Cohen, voted against him the last time he ran for Chairman. Steve should step aside for the good of the BOE.The most experienced and most knowlegible member of the BOE is Leslie Moriarty.

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Everyone knows this on the BOE including Barbara O'Neill and Peter von Braun, the two Republican rookies elected on a campaign of non-partisanship in which they courted and received many Democratic votes and some cross-party endorsements.

I understand why they voted for Steve in the first round, but they should reconsider their votes before defaulting the selection of BOE Chair to the two Republican Selectmen. The BOE voted 8-0 to hire an attorney to consult on the question.

Here is some free legal advice (which is always worth what you pay for it). Under Roberts Rules of Order, which generally govern town boards and commissions, a standing rule can be adopted by majority vote. If the majority-of-the-board voting requirement is a standing rule it may be amended or suspended by majority vote of those present.

If it is a rule of order, it may be suspended by two-thirds vote. If it is in the nature of a by-law it may be amended in accordance with the provisions for amending a bylaw. This may depend on the formality under which the original rule was enacted. One other point: an abstention is a null vote and should not count as a vote; therefore a majority of the board members present and voting voted for Leslie Moriarty.After everything that the BOE went through the last few years and the tumultuous election in which the voters sent a message of collegiality to the BOE it would be refreshing to think the BOE members would be free to vote for the best candidate for Chairman.

Apparently, the only impediment to Leslie's election as Chair is that she is a Democrat, which is not a legal impediment to becoming BOE Chair, the way it is on the BET. The Town Charter limits the BET Chairman to a member of the majority party. The BET by rule also limits the chairmanship of its committees to majority party members, which frequently results in brand spanking new Republican BET members becoming titular chairman of committees even though they have only a dim understanding of how the BET works and seasoned minority members often actually run the committee.

I understand that voting for a Democratic Chair is anathema to some hide bound Republicans. When I became Chairman of the Board of Social Services the then current Chair and Vice Chair, both Republicans, told me they had a meeting with the RTC Executive Committee to get permission before the Republican members could vote for me. Our board was 5-2 R to D.

Without those Republican votes I would not have been able to lead the fight to save Parsonage Cottage. There are some other examples of town boards and commissions setting aside partisanship in choosing their chairman. On the BOE the past succession of Republican chairman, including those newly elected, reflected a sensibility by BOE members toward avoiding deadlocking the vote and surrendering the choice of Chairman to the Selectmen.

This vote was not a deadlock; the . I would hope that partisanship could be put aside this time and everyone on the BOE be allowed to vote their conscience for the benefit of the BOE, the good of the town and the best interest of our students.

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