Special Town Council Meeting Called for 3A Vote

By Adam Swift

The town council met for a brief special meeting on Wednesday, April 8 called by Councilors Pat Costigan, Joseph Romano, Paul Reardon, and Martin Finn.

Under council rules, a special council meeting can be called by the council president or any four members of the council.

There were two items on the agenda, both of which were pushed to the next meeting of the town council when Council President Jim Letterie invoked his council privilege.

The first agenda item sought to direct Town Manager Tony Marino and the city solicitor to intervene and support the plaintiffs in the Winthrop Says No to 3A exemption case currently before the Suffolk Superior Court.

The second agenda item sought to amend council rules. The changes include adding language stating that “If the same matter is submitted by at least four councilors, then that matter shall be placed on the Agenda.”

In addition, the proposal adds language that will allow council business that is not on the agenda (other than amendments to existing motions) to take place if there is a majority vote of the council to waive the rule. Currently, the waiving of the rules to allow business not on the agenda required a unanimous vote.

The town council has scheduled a special meeting that was due to take place on Tuesday evening, April 14 to address those two agenda items.

“As far as 3A is concerned, five out of the six precinct councilors believe we should join this exemption case on behalf of the town,” said Costigan. “That represents approximately 15,000 of the voters in town.”

Costigan said the goal is not to fine the state, but for the state to take the exemption case seriously and to rule on it through the courts.

“The voters spoke in November, unanimously voting for a slate of councilors who ran on supporting the exemption,” said Costigan. “Even the town attorney is consulting with the lead attorney in this exemption case. This new town council wants to address many issues facing the town and have gone unaddressed for many years.”

Costigan said he believed the two motions before the council at the special meeting will be the first of many steps needed to move the town forward to ensure the town addresses the needs of all residents and businesses.

In other business at the April 8 special meeting, Letterie addressed the stalemate at the April 7 regular meeting that saw the council fail to come to an agreement to adjourn the meeting for close to 50 minutes.

“I believe this body has a responsibility to the town to act in a more professional manner,” said Letterie.

He said he takes his responsibility as chair and as councilor very seriously, and said that while councilors may disagree on issues, he believes everybody has the best interests of the town at heart.

Letterie pointed to the positive example of the members of the girls’ softball team, which appeared before the council to address issues with their playing fields in a professional manner.

“If we are trying to show ourselves as a membership drive for new people who want to join the council, I don’t think we are doing a very good job,” said Letterie. “I think we need to use integrity and professionalism and I will try to do that.”