Good afternoon!

You may recall that last fall Curly spied a position that he could run for on the Plymouth County charter Study Commission. He had a real good chance of winning becauase he was unopposed, and the position is about as obscure as can be, (a good place for him, in theory).

Well, guess what? this extremely important, cutting-edge governmental body has met & organized, and CURLY IS ITS VICE-CHAIRMAN!!!!!!

Friends, you cannot make this stuff up.

Of course, curly is back onthe ballot in your Town, Wareham. See how it works: elected to an obscure position, grab a vice-chairmanship of a useless group, run for 'Deputy' Moderator; before you know it.........



HANOVER — The Plymouth County Charter Study Committee held its first meeting Saturday morning at Hanover Town Hall and though the holiday was just a week away, 18 of the 19 newly elected and appointed members of the board were present.

Fifteen of the commissioners were elected from districts that spanned the 27 county communities; four were designated as alternates by the three County Commissioners and the chairman of the County Advisory Board.

Once the members were sworn in by Plymouth Town Clerk Laurence Pizer, the first order of business for the committee was the election of officers. And while that process went smoothly, it also offered the first glimpse of strategic alignments that may already be in place or are beginning to form.

For chairman of the committee, there were two nominations: Charles Markham of Norwell and County Advisory Board Chairman Dan Pallotta.

Both gave speeches prior to the committee’s vote, and Pallotta, while speaking of the need of the commissioners to look at the County objectively before drawing any conclusions about its viability, alluded to a group of charter commissioners, including Markham, who had worked for election as a slate that was, he said, initially united by the goal of dissolving county government.

Markham, who has previously acknowledged he was part of an informal slate of candidates, and was also the top vote getter in all 15 districts, was the de facto chairman for the first meeting. As chairman he said he would be both fair and open-minded, and that the first order of business for the commissioners is not to decide the fate of county but to begin to educate themselves on its government.

Markham added that he thought the other elected commissioners were open-minded as well, and “not informed enough to have made up their minds yet.”

Then Markham warned the other commissioners about being pulled into what he called a “well-known saga: the dispute between the County Commissioners and the Advisory Board (which Pallotta chairs).

He finished by saying that he thought the process envisioned when the commission was devised, would be best served by a chairman who was one of the newly elected commissioners. Pallotta, as allowed under the bylaws governing the charter, appointed himself to the committee.

The vote was 12-6 in favor of Markham as chairman.

The other officers elected were former Wareham Town Moderator John Donahue as vice chairman, Brockton resident Richard Zaccaro as treasurer and Hingham’s Carl Harris as clerk.

It was also announced that the four designated alternate members have been set. Besides Pallotta’s self appointment, Kingston’s David Fitzgerald was appointed by outgoing County Commissioner Tim McMullen. Andrew Burbine of Abington was appointed by County Commission Chairman Anthony O’Brien, and Brockton City Councilor Dennis DeNapoli was appointed by Commissioner Jack Riordan Jr.

According to the laws governing the creation of the County Charter Commission, the designated alternates may only serve while the commissioners who appointed them are in office. As McMullen’s term expires Jan. 4, the expectation is that newly elected county commissioner Sandra Wright will assume that additional role when she takes office in January.

The well-publicized problems with the election of the commissioners, resolved just two weeks ago, were just a footnote to the proceedings. As the new commissioners filed into the meeting room they may not have noticed that among the new name plates created for them were those bearing the names of people who had been certified as commissioners one week and told that they were not members the next.

One plate read “Francis Pina, Brockton.” Pina was replaced after the Dec. 8 recount by Cunningham. Other commissioners’ plates were handwritten, including the one for Carver’s Jack Franey, whose 35 write-in votes were lost and then found. Franey also represent part of Plymouth.

Franey actually brings more than an interest in county government to the discussion. He’s the former county treasurer and his experience there and as a financial officer for Carver could prove valuable as the commission begins its assessments.

After swearing in the official members and the designated alternates, the commission moved on to the more difficult issue of determining just how it should go about fulfilling its mission, which is essentially to determine the future of Plymouth County’s 400-year-old government and how best to achieve that end.

The commission agreed to begin with a review of the county’s functions, budgets, assets and expenditures.

Pallotta offered the opinion that one of the issues the commission needs to address is the de facto dismantling of the county by the state.

“The biggest problem is that (the county) is being dismantled piece by piece, and now,” Pallotta said, “we’re out of pieces.” The county has been left with the scraps, he said, “and a giant hunk of debt.”

“That’s the biggest problem facing the county,” Pallotta added after the meeting. “No matter what the commission eventually decides about the structure of our county government, it must find a way to deal with the debt.”

Pallotta and County Treasurer Tom O’Brien said they would be happy to provide the charter commissioners with their latest budget, a list of assets and liabilities and the latest audit.

Treasurer O’Brien said the audit would be an “eye-opener.”

Commissioner Ted Bosen, representing most of Plymouth, warned the commission that it may be placing the cart before the horse, by beginning with an examination of data when, instead, their first order of business should be agreement on a “vision of the process.”

Markham agreed, but said he thought they could do both.

The second meeting of the commissioners – who have two years to present their findings and recommendations to county voters – has been tentatively set for Thursday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m.

The commission hopes to convene that meeting at the county’s Registry of Deeds in order to get a first-hand look at the county’s most prized asset, and to perhaps begin its education with a presentation by the register of deeds.

After their first meeting the commissioners seemed to favor the idea of taking the show on the road, visiting some of the other county assets and the member communities’ town halls.

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