At Tuesday’s meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard appointed John Allen to the PFFP (Police Fire Facility Project) Oversight Committee.
To keep the number of votes on the committee an odd number and to prevent tie votes, the Selectboard authorized Mr. Allen to be the 9th voting member of that committee. Did they make a mistake?
The Brattleboro Charter says:
Article IV: Powers and Responsibilities of the Selectboard
Section 3. Prohibitions.
A. Except where authorized by law, a member of the selectboard shall not be employed by the town and shall not be a voting member of any committee to which all members are appointed by the selectboard. A former member of the selectboard shall not hold any appointive office for which compensation is paid until one (1) year after the expiration of the term of office.
(Emphasis added.)
This appears to be in place to make certain no one gets to vote twice on an issue.
The key phrase seems to be “except where authorized by law.” Can the Selectboard’s decision to allow a Selectboard member to vote on a committee be considered a law? If so, these prohibitions could be ignored at any time if three or more Selectboard members choose decide to vote to make an exception.
A simple solution (if this is indeed deemed an issue) might be to add one more voting member from the list of applicants, and take away Allen’s vote on the committee. He could still attend and participate, and his vote would come from his role on the Selectboard rather than the Committee.
…
Readers, how do you interpret this part of our Charter?
It seems to me that a
It seems to me that a selectboard member can only be on a committee as an “ex officio” member (without a vote).
Does anyone recall if past selectboard members had a vote when they were on a committee?
Others probably interpret it differently but thats my take on it.
The Law
What’s the definition of a ‘law?’
Gotta say, Chris, I’m liking this new iBratt format more and more as time goes on. Tell me, tho, how do I turn on the ‘kitchen sink’ feature?
If you mean the formatting features....
….Input format, under the text box.
Meaning of the word, "Law."
CGrotke asks:
“Can the Selectboard’s decision to allow a Selectboard member to vote on a committee be considered a law?”
The entry for “Law” in Black’s Law Dicitonary is lengthy, but I think the relevant explanation is the following:
“Law, in its generic sense, is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force.”
Clearly an appointment is just an appointment, and is not part of the body of rules of action or conduct. The body of rules of action or conduct is the Brattleboro Charter, which prohibits a Selectboard Member from being a voting member of a town committee. In order to establish a law permitting a Selectboard Member from serving on a town committee, it would be necessar to change the Charter.
“Except where authorized by law,” would refer to a body of rules of action or conduct (a law) which trumps the Brattleboro Charter, which might be a state law for example.
Unless there is some such law which overrides the Brattleboro Charter, then the appointment must conform to the Charter, which prohibits the Selectboard Member from being a voting member of a town committee.
The Town Charter is a law.
The Town Charter is a law. In Vermont every charter is a law. All charters are approved as an act of law by the state legislature. Charters do not take effect until they have been enacted.
Committe Voting
It appears that having John as a voting member of the committee is not allowed under the Town Charter. The Selectboard will address/correct this issue at its next regular meeting.
If the committee would meet before the Selectboard meeting, the Board member won’t vote.
Thanks
Barb Sondag
So
Has anyone on the SB called on reviewing the new Charter? Is there any plan to get the SB up to speed, considering there are so many new faces?