“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads.  Not knowing where I’m going inspires me to travel it”

Rosalia De Castro

 Background

I  want to thank the many people who have taken the time to speak before this commission. Our guests have shed much light on the vastly different government charter structures allowed under the Constitution of our Commonwealth. I have gained valuable insight from citizen input during which people have  voiced their concerns as well as their varied  recommendations. 

I am  guided by my commitment, born out of love for  Plymouth, as well as a family tradition of giving back to the community that has put  bread on my family table for a quarter of a century.   tonight, as I express my initial thoughts, I must be loyal to those who elected me to tackle this difficult task. I must be faithful to my personal values,  and must be fair to those who have an opinion that differs from mine.

Problems with this charter

Long range planning.  We have never been able to plan ahead of the fact that we have so much developable acreage in our huge community.  We are always in a reactive mode.  Our infrastructure is not able to support the level of development leaving us vulnerable to court orders.

The visions of The selectmen and the planning board do not seem to be synchronized in order to move far enough ahead of “real-time” issues.

Until recently, there has been a well-founded perception that the southern 2/3 of the town has been neglected in the power sharing in local Government.  I always refer to Long Pond Road south of exit #5 as the “Mason-Dixon Line”.

Town meeting is vulnerable because it is a part-time legislative body living in a full-time world.  secondly, it is precinct-driven. there are no at-large town meeting members. presently they work together, but it’s present structure does not insure that future members will continue to do so.

Language  in our charter needs to be codified to insure regularly scheduled summit meetings between department heads, elected and appointed boards with the town manager to make sure that the communication channels are maximized, and there are fewer cross-purposes between them. I offer a suggestion that a minimum of 4 meetings per year take place.

Our recall process is too strict. we need to look at a process that will allow for a fairer, quicker procedure.

What’s good

I have always been a strong believer in collective wisdom.  focussed discussion by an informed populace usually yields a clear path to solutions.

Our full-time staff possess the qualities we strive for in our quest for a revised charter.  they are hard working,       honest, Accountable, responsive, and competent.   indeed, We are fortunate to have a strong, superb town manager. This office should be maintained in our new charter.

Quoting Barry Haskell, and many other speakers from our prior meetings, we do not have to deal with the issue of corruption here in our town.  I would not be comfortable with the concept of a  charter structure that could produce a breeding ground for collusion, corruption, nepotism, etc. 

Our financial status is an enviable one compared to statistics in the January 9th boston globe newspaper.  We have an excellent bond rating.  even though, in the opinion of some citizens,our property taxes are high we are still substantially below our 2-1/2 % levy capability.  we have managed to save up approximately 15.6 million dollars in two reserve accounts.  Our town planner, Lee Hartman  is among the most respected in the entire New England region.  Our Town manager is doing a superb job, and a mayor with a city council would cost a lot more money (thus raising our taxes even more).

My recommendations

Although the open meeting law prevents me from meeting with other commissioners, it does not prevent me from seeking wise counsel from past members. 

It was coincidental that I had a wonderful discussion with John Chaffee on January 9th to bounce some ideas off of him.  To my utter surprise, Bill Abbott stole some of my thoughts when he spoke at our  meeting on January 11th.

I have a profound respect for the history of Plymouth. From its founding and initial governing document, the Pilgrims made Massachusetts possible. one could argue that Plymouth was even responsible for instilling the values that launched our great nation.  therefor i cannot just throw our governing past into the waste basket as an absolute anachronism. This new charter should reflect not only our desires, but it should address our needs....from the present into the forseeable future.  

At the same time I realize that its “engine” needs more than a “Tweaking”. Therefor I am recommending that we:

1. Change the legislative branch from town meeting to a Town Council form of government. The size, term length, term limits, and precinct versus at-large ratio of  to be determined as we progress toward our august, 2007 deadline.   In addition, this form of government may allow  local elections in odd numbered years to be held in concert with state and federal elections in November, saving us $$$$’s of dollars.  we need to look to future growth in the number of precincts to assure that we have not hindered the legislative leg of our government.  I believe that we need to get guidance from our Town Clerk.   Therefore, I ask that he be put on the agenda ASAP.

2. In good conscience, I cannot, at this time, recommend the “M” word to lead our town. however, if we choose to include a mayoral office in our deliberations, I hope that the election choice would be made by the vote of the new Town Council.

3. Most important recommendation: our name  shall always remain: the Town of Plymouth. 

4. We need to discuss the relationship of the planning board to the Town Council so that Plymouth’s “Transmission (running gear” will be more synchronized.

5. We offer new and inspiring language to engender long-range planning to strengthen the underpinnings of our infrastructure.

6. Retain a representative town meeting to vote on two very complex items:

• the annual operating budget
• the capital outlay budget 

7. Review and revise our election “recall“ language to allow for a fairer, quicker procedure.

8. Put language in the Preamble that insures the existence and importance of village steering committees. A statement such as: “Plymouth is a town made up of many villages” might be a good start.

I Thank you for the opportunity to serve, and I look forward to lively discussions of these issues before us. 

Please allow me to close my remarks with another quotation by german philosopher Martin Buber who wrote, “All journeys have a secret destination of which the traveler is unaware.”