USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1935 > Part 4
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The principal change in the form of government urged upon us was a plan "B", city form of government, consisting of a mayor and council. Some urged a Town Manager form of government; others argued in support of the retention of our Representative Town Meeting form.
The committee does not recommend for the Town of Weymouth at this time, a City form of government, or a town Manager, for the reason that there is no sufficient demand for them by the citizens , that the adoption of the City form will remove the government just as much further from the citizens, that the defects in it will be slower of remedy, that such a form will be less responsive to the will of the people and the administration of it more costly.
We recommend to the people the retention of the present form of representative Town Meeting and urge upon them to obtain by their ballots the services of the men and women best qualified to serve as the'r representatives.
Your Committee is strongly of the opinion that the people of our Town are far more interested in obtaining the best public ser- vants than in a change in the form of government.
It will be of interest to note that no community has accepted a City Charter from the legislature in the last fifteen years and that the following communities have now adopted the limited Town Meeting form within that period :
TOWN
POPULATION AS OF 1930
ADOPTION OF LIMITED TOWN MEETING
Arlington Belmont
36,094 21,748
Jan. 24, 1921 June 8, 1926
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Brookline
47,490
March 1, 1921
Danvers
12,957
March 2, 1931
Dartmouth
8,778
March 7, 1927
Dedham
15,136
Nov. 2, 1926 March 12,1934
Easthampton
11,323
Fairhaven
10,951
Nov. 4, 1930
Greenfield
15,500
May 25, 1931
Lexington
9,467
Ludlow
8,878
March 3, 1930
Methuen
21,069
April 16,1921
Milton
16,434
March 5, 1927
Needham
10,845
March 13,1933
Saugus
14,700
March 5, 1928
South Hadley
7,773
March 20,1933
Swampscott
10,346
May 17, 1927
Watertown
34,913
May 14, 1924
Wellesley
11,439
May 6, 1933
Weymouth
20,882
March 14,1922
West Springfield
16,684
Nov. 7, 1922
Winchester
12,719
Nov. 6,
1928
Winthrop
16,852
Jan. 28, 1921
It will also be interesting to note that of the twenty-five towns in the Commonwealth, which in 1930 had a population of over 12,000 (the number necessary as a condition to its becoming a city), fourteen are now operating under the Representative Town Meeting form.
The Committee recommends the reduction of the number of the Appropriation Committee from fifteen to nine, the same to be appointed by the Moderator from the membership of the duly elect- ed Town Meeting Members in the manner provided in Section 301 of the By-Laws of the Town.
The reasons of this recommendation is that your Committee feels that the present number is altogether too large, and there- fore, unwieldy, and that the number that your Committee recommends (nine) would allow the Moderator to appoint one member of the Appropriation Committee from each precinct of the Town. The appointment of one from each precinct is not mandatory on the Town Moderator, but other things being equal, it is suggestive.
By appointing the members of the Appropriation Committee from the duly elected Town Meeting Members, we will thus cut down the number who are ex-officio members of the Towm Meeting and the members of this important Appropriation Committee will be elected town officials, and therefore, will be far more representative of the people than under our present system.
To all of the foregoing, the Committee is in unanimous agree- ment.
WILLIAM J. HOLBROOK DANIEL L. O'DONNELL PARKER T. PEARSON BENJAMIN M. COWEN
WILLIAM A. HANNAFORD
MAJORITY REPORT
A minority of the Committee are of the opinion that Town Employees should not except the office of Town Meeting Member and act as representatives of the people, The Majority of your Com- mittee are strongly of the opinion that out of a total represen- tation in the town of 299, the town employees have not at any
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Nov. 4, 1929
time endangered proper representative government by being elected Town Meeting Members out of a total representation of 299, and the majority of your Committee earnestly suggest that the voters of the Town exercise their preference and if they feel that Town employees are not worthy of the confidence and trust of being Town Meeting Members, they should be defeated when seeking elec- tion.
This matter has been brought before the Massachusetts State Legislature and serious study was given to it by that body. The conclusion of the Legislature Committee on this point was that this was a matter of the voters of the Town should control and no legislative aid was required. The majority of your Committee would most certainly question the constitutionality of any such proposed law as advocated by the minority.
The majority of your Committee emphatically and earnestly disapprove of a reduction of the present Board of Selectmen from five to three Members. The mere fact that the great majority of other towns have only three Selectmen is of no particular con- sequence. Very few Towns have a geographical peculiarity of Weymouth. There are five geographical units in our Town, and therefore, the idea of five Selectmen seems quite reasonable. The Majority of your Committee certainly feels that there should be no geographical discrimination, but we can not help but feel the true facts that each particular geographical unit has a desire for representation on the Board of Selectmen.
From our exhaustive survey of our town elections for the past fifteen years it is interesting to note that under our sys- tem of electing five Selectmen, we have many times elected out of the total number possible one or two minority candidates. These so-called minority candidates have in a period of two years become the leaders of the Board of Selectmen, representing the majority of the people.
This is an indication to the majority of your Committee that the people of our Town are seeking the best possible public ser- vants. We feel that the election of five Selectmen offers an opportunity of some representation to the minority.
There has been a great deal of talk of favor of increasing the term of Office of our Board of Selectmen from one to three years . After considerable thought, the majority of your Com- mittee feel that essential feature of our Town government is to make it as representative and direct as possible, and that to elect a Board of Selectmen in which two vacancies would occur every year with the exception of the third year, when only one vacancy occurs, would not allow the people to make a complete change in the executive branch of their government if they so desire. Of course, it is true that the fact that each member of the Board must seek re-election from year to year necessarilly provokes the argument that the Selectmen will in turn "Play Politics" in order to guaran- tee their election. The majority of your Committee feel that the people's mandate in Town Government should be consequential and that all elected public servants should obey that mandate, and that the people should be allowed to exercise the same as often as possible. No damage of any kind should be occasioned by having the Selectmen elected every year. Even if the entire Board should be defeated and a new Board elected, the duties of the Board of Selectmen are very clearly defined and the new Board would have no difficulty in carrying out their duties correctly.
It is true in times as these, any administrative Board re- ceives severe criticism. The majority of your Committee feel that
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the General standard of representation found on our Board of Selectmen compare favorably with any representation of the past.
WILLIAM A. HANNAFORD DANIEL L. O'DONNELL PARKER T. PEARSON
MINORITY REPORT
In the following recommendations the majority of the Com- mittee do not concur, but the undersigned think that the subject matter thereof should be brought to the attention of the Town.
We find that in addition to the thirty-six Town officials who are Town Meeting Members Ex-officials, there are thirty-three Town employees and officials who have been elected and are ser- ving as Town Meeting Members as follows, Viz: School Department 10; Police Department 8; Street Department 5; Fire Department 2; Town Engineer 1; Water Department 1; Building Inspector 1; Plumbing Inspector 1; total of officials and employees 69 out of maximum Town Meeting representation of 299.
We feel that town employees should not accept the office of Town Meeting Members and act as representatives of the people, and vote upon appropriations in which they have a personal and pecuniary interest, which personal and pecuniary interest may become in conflict with their duties as representatives.
We, therefor, recommend that the Legislature be petitioned for an amendment to our Representative Town Meeting Act, spe- cifying the eligibility of the Town Meeting Members and pro- hibiting employees of the Town, not Town Meeting Members Ex- officio, from acting as Town Meeting Members while so employed.
We recommend that the board of Selectmen and the Board of Public Welfare be reduced from five to three Members, and be- gining at the annual election in 1936, that one member of each Board be elected for a term of three years, one for two years, and one for one year; and thereafter, at each annual election, there be elected one member of each Board for three years.
We feel that by such a change men better qualified to act as executive officers of the Town can be induced to offer them- selves as candidates; that the Town can afford to better com- pensate them than at present; that the people will be better served, and by the assistance of a non-partisan primary or pre- election held under legislative sanction, the attention of the voters of the entire town can each year be focused upon the most suitable candidate; that local preferences, bullet ballots, and factional strife will be minimized and the welfare of the whole people will be emphasized.
Weymouth has an annual budget of a million and a third. This amount has to be appropriated, collected and expended. The Se- lectmen are the executive officers of the town, and upon them generally rests the responsibility for the proper administration of that budget, and the affairs of the Town. A business enter- prise of such magnitude should command the best possible officials. Of the 314 towns in the Commonwealth, 296 have a Board of Select- men of Three.
WILLIAM J. HOLBROOK BENJAMIN M. COWAN
Moved : That the report be received and the Committee be discharged.
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Mr. Everett E. Callahan moved : That the Moderator appoint a Committee of three to petition the Legislature for permission to submit the plan "B" City form of Government to the voters at the next annual Town election.
Mr. William B. Dasha moved to amend: To insert the words "Town Manager" on the same ballot. The motion was declared lost. The motion made that the report read by Mr. Holbrook be received and the Committee be discharged was so voted.
Voted all reports printed in the Town Report be accepted as printed.
Article 3. Voted unanimously : That the Town Treasurer with the approval of the Board of Selectmen be and is hereby authoriz- ed to borrow money from time to time in anticipation of the revenue of the financial year beginning January 1, 1935 and to issue a note or notes therefor payable within one year and to renew any note or notes as may be given for the period of less than one year in accordance with Section 17, Chapter 44, Ter. Ed. General Laws .
Article 4. Voted unanimously: That the Town Treasurer with the approval of the Selectmen be and hereby is authorized on and after January 1, 1936 to borrow such money from time to time in anticipation of the revenue of the fiscal year beginning January 1, 1936 and to issue a note or notes therefore payable within one year from the date of issue and that any debt or debts incurred under this vote shall be paid from the revenue of the fiscal year in which they were contracted.
Article 5. Voted: That no action be taken under this article.
Article 6. Roland M, Smith for the Appropriation Committee moved : That the compensation of the Tax Collector be five mills on each dollar of taxes collected and the Selectmen be author- ized to insure the Tax Collector in the sum of $15,000.00 for hold up Insurance; and further in any case where the Building Inspector certifies to the Tax Collector that the building on any property where taxes are unpaid is not in conformity with the building laws the Collector shall instead of selling the property take the same for the Town under General Laws, Ter. Ed. Chapter 60, Section 53.
Mr. Albert Silvester moved to amend: That the compensation be 52 mills instead of 5 mills.
Mr. Robert H. Buchan moved to amend : That the collector be paid a salary of $2,500.00 per year and his expenses not to ex- ceed $4,500.00 shall be paid by the Town. All fees which pre- viously become the property of the Tax Collector shall be turned in-to the Treasury of the Town.
This was declared not a vote.
The motion of Mr. Silvester was so voted.
The motion of the Appropriation Committee as amended by Mr. Silvester was so voted.
Article 7. Voted: That the Selectmen be authorized to sell or otherwise dispose of personal property and any real estate of which the Town has possession or title including all property taken for non-payment of taxes, all such cases of sale to be made by public auction or private sale as the Selectmen may deem for
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the best interest of the Town and that the Board or Officer in charge of any other Town Department may with the approval of the Board of Selectmen sell at public auction or private sale as the Board of Selectmen may approve any personal property be- longing to said department which in the opinion of the Officer or Board in charge of the Department is no longer needed by the Town and which in the opinion of the Selectmen is not needed by any other Town Department.
Article 8. Voted: That the Board of Selectmen be authorized to accept conveyances or mortgages of any real or personal pro- perty belonging to persons receiving poor relief and to dispose of said property under the provisions of Article 7 in such manner as may judge for the best interests of the Town and where said property is subject to any incumbrances if they consider it for the best interest of the Town to discharge said incumbrances, they are hereby authorized to do so, and the sum of one dollar ($1.00) be raised and appropriated for the purpose of discharg- ing any incumbrances.
Article 9. Voted: That no action be taken under this article.
Article 10. Mr. Roland M. Smith of the Appropriation Com- mittee moved: That the Town accept the report of the Selectmen laying out the following designated private Way or parts of Way, to wit:
Lakewood Avenue from a point beginning at the end of the section now accepted and running southeasterly to a point app- roximately 930 feet as shown in plans and profiles of Russell H. Whiting filed with the Town, December 1, 1933
That the Board of Selectmen be authorized to acquire by gift or purchase or take by right of eminent domain in fee or as an easement for all purposes of a public Street or Highway in and over said Street as so laid out and accepted and that the sum of one dollar be raised and appropriated for the acquisition of the foregoing taking and provided further that the working of said Street is hereby referred to the Board of Charge of the E. R. A. expenditures under Article 35, and that the cost of such con- struction be a charge upon the sum appropriated in said Article 35.
Mr. Marshall F. Spear moved to amend the motion as follows :
To accept the report of the Selectmen laying out as a Town Way the private Ways known as Hinston Road and Sunny Plain Avenue as provided in the Warrant and to increase the sum to be raised and appropriated for the taking of said streets to the amount of $3.00.
Mr. William J. Holbrook moved to amend that the matter of Sunny Plain Avenue be referred back to the Selectmen as a strip 5 feet wide was left off on the westerly side line of said lay- out.
Mr. Russell H. Whiting moved : That the report of the Se- lectmen laying out Sunny Plain Avenue, be amended as to include an additional strip of land five feet wide in said laying adjacent to and westerly of the westerly side line as shown on the plan filed by the Selectmen and that the junction of the westerly side line as thus revised with the northerly side line of West Street be rounded with a curve having a radius of 12 feet. So Voted. The tellers reported 132 in favor and 2 opposed to the accep-
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tance of Hinston Road.
Mr. James D. Bosworth was appointed teller in place of J. Ed- ward Mulligan who was absent.
The tellers reported 110 in favor and 4 opposed in accepting Sunny Plain Avenue. The acceptance of Lakewood Road was declared as unanimous vote.
Article 11. Mr. Roland M. Smith moved: That this article be taken up item by item. Not a vote.
Mr. Charles Griffin moved: That the sum of $18,000 be raised and appropriated to reconstruct, resurface, widen, straighten, re- locate or work the following streets :
. North Street from the land of Grandell to Neck Street.
Pearl and Evans Streets at their point of intersection, Middle, Commercial, and North Streets from Central Square to Thomas' Corner.
Front Street from Washington Street to Garfield Square.
Broad Street from Lincoln Square to Front Street
Great Pond Road from Sycamore Road to School property.
Motion : That Pond Street from South Weymouth Depot to Foun- tain Square be included in the motion. Not a vote.
Mr. Alfred C. Sheehy moved: To reconsider the vote whereby it was voted not to take up this article item by item. Not a vote.
The motion as offered by Mr. Griffin was unanimously voted.
Mr. Everett E. Callahan moved as follows :
Middle Street from Washington Street, northerly from Circuit Avenue northerly. That the report of the Selectmen be accepted laying out Middle Street in accordance with Item 6, and that the sum of $15,000 be appropriated for the purpose of this item pro- vided the State or County will pay a sum of money to defray the cost of construction and provided further that this work shall be performed by the Street Department, So Voted.
Mr. Marshall F. Spear moved : That the remaining streets in this article be referred to the E. R. A. Administrator under Article 35.
The Appropriation Committee further moved and it was so voted:
That the Board of Selectmen be authorized to acquire by gift or purchase or take by right of eminent domain in fee or an easé- ment for all purposes of a public street or highway in and over each of said streets as so laid out and accepted and that authority is hereby given for building any bridges, drains, conduits, or securing easements which may be necessary and the Board of Se- lectmen are authorized to accept deeds of any reservation strips existing in connection with any of said streets. So Voted.
Article 12. Mr. Roland M. Smith of the Appropriation Com- mittee moved : That the subject matter of this article be re- ferred to the Committee having this matter under consideration. (Committee : Alfred C. Sheehy, Frederick Humphrey, Marion F. French,
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Alfred V. Coleman, Irving E. Johnson, Fred 0. Stevens and Russell H. Whiting).
Mr. Peter A. Gallant moved: To authorize the Board of Se- lectmen to remove the curb stones at a point starting at the northwest corner of the Reidy block, the curb stone to be 7 feet from the outside of the curb to the Reidy block run along to the northwest corner of the Murray block the curbing to be 7 feet from the outside of the curbing to the Murray block from this point to Shawmut Street. Very few curbing will have to be moved. This amendment was declared not a vote. The motion of the Appropriation Committee was so voted.
Article 13. Voted : That the subject matter of this article be referred to the Board in charge of the E. R. A. expinditures as set forth in Article 35.
Article 14. Voted : That no action be taken under this article.
Article 15. Roland M. Smith of the Appropriation Committee moved : That no action be taken under this article.
Mr. Louis Cipullo moved as a substitute motion : That the Town authorize the Board of Selectmen to acquire by purchase or take by right of eminent domain in fee for devolopment for Park purposes under the supervision of the School Committee, land bordering the easterly side of Humphrey School Playground and described as follows :
The land belonging to Pasquale Pete and bounded as follows : Starting at a point on the easterly side of Whitman Street at a junction of said Whitman Street and the land of the Town of Wey- mouth; thence running easterly 100 feet; thence running southerly 450 feet; thence running westerly 100 feet to the land of Dominic Corbo et al; thence running northerly 450 feet to the point of beginning and the sum of $3,500. to be raised and appropriated for the acquisition of the above described land.
Mr. Raymond Hollis moved: To strike out the words (Park Purposes ). So voted.
The motion offered by Mr. Cipullo, the tellers reported 53 voting in the affirmative and 56 in the negative. Mr. Cipullo asked for a roll call of the vote. The tellers reported 152 Town Meeting Members present and 19 Town Meeting Members raised their hands for a roll call on this question less than one third having signified their intention for a roll call the motion was denied.
The motion of the Appropriation Committee was so voted.
Article 16. Voted : That no action be taken under this article.
Article 17. Mr. Roland M. Smith for the Appropriation Com- mittee moved : That no action be taken under this article.
Mr. Everett J. McIntosh moved as follows : That the Board of Selectmen be authorized to purchase in fee for development as a public park under the supervision of the Board of Park Commission- ers land now owned by Allen Tirrell which is bounded on the north- easterly side by the property of Mr. Marshall, Mr. Tirrell, and the Reidy estate, on the southeasterly side by Central Street and on two other sides by private abutters, containing in all about 281,100 square feet, as said area appears on a plan of the Town
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of Weymouth by Russell H. Whiting, Town Engineer, sheets 45,46,49 and 50 as revised to April 1, 1934 that the sum of $7,000. be Appropriated for purchase of said land. This motion was declared not a vote.
The motion of the Appropriation Committee was so voted.
Article 18. Voted : That no action be taken under this article.
Article 19. Voted: That no action be taken under this article.
Article 20. Voted: That no action be taken under this
article.
Article 21. Mr. Roland M. Smith for the Appropriation Com- mittee moved : That the subject matter of this article be referred to the Town Meeting and recommends affirmative action be taken.
Mr. Everett E. Callahan moved: That the name of Lovell's Corner Playground be changed to Bradford Hawes Park. This was an unanimous vote.
Article 22. Voted : That the Board of Selectmen are hereby authorized to execute agreements to waive damages in all future cases where public improvements are under consideration.
Article 23. Mr. Roland M. Smith, for the Appropriation Com- mittee moved : That the subject matter of this article be adopted, as follows :
To amend the By-Laws of the Town of Weymouth by adding the following new section :
"No person owning or controlling any property abutting upon two or more intersecting ways in the Town of Weymouth shall construct or maintain any fence or other structure other than a building, or plant, grow or maintan any hedge, trees, or other shrubbery of a height more than three and one-half feet above the level of the adjoining way and within thirty-five feet of the nearest point of the intersection of such ways, so that the same will obstruct the open view of travellers on each abutting way within said distance of thirty-five feet."
This amendment to the By-Laws was adopted . unanimously.
Article 24. Mr. Roland M. Smith for the Appropriation Com- mittee moved : That no action be taken under this article.
Mr. Alfred C. Sheehy presented a petition with 1000 names subscribed thereon, and further moved: That the Town accept the provisions of Section 47 of Chapter 31 of the General Laws and such other provisions of said Chapter as relates to the classifying of its labor service under the provisions of the Civil Service Laws . This motion was declared not a vote.
The motion of the Appropriation Committee was so voted.
Article 25. Voted that no action be taken under this article.
Article 26. Mr. Roland M. Smith for the Appropriation Com- mittee moved : That no action be taken under this article.
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301 of Article 3 of the By-Laws of the Town be amended, by strik- ing out the words "fifteen" and the word "five" in the second line thereof, and substituting in place of the word "fifteen" the word "nine" and in place of the word "five" the word "three" and by adding after the word "Moderator" in the second line thereof the words "from the membership of the duly elected Town Meeting Members" so that said section as amended will read :
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