Section 7-5 (b) of the Home Rule Charter (1977 with current amendments) reads:

(b)            Rules and Journal - Each multiple member body shall determine
        its own rules and order of business, unless otherwise provided  by
        law or by the charter, and shall provide for keeping a journal of
        its proceedings.  These rules and journals shall be a pubic record,
        kept available in a place convenient to the public, and a certified
        copy shall be kept available in the Wareham Free Library. (Emphasis mine)

The reason for this is so that the citizens and taxpayers of Wareham can have access to town business. If you request a record from town hall, they have 10 days in which to comply and if it takes time, you can be charged by the hour. Also, you can only go to town hall to request documents during business hours.

At the library, citizens have immediate access, including in the evenings and Saturdays (helpful if you are employed!!) and can make a copy and leave with the needed info. So, this is a good rule that takes into consideration the citizenry/taxpayers.

In March of 2008, on the order of the BoS, the current town clerk took possession of all minutes and records (or "journal of its proceedings") of town Boards and Committees from the Wareham Free Library and brought them to town hall. We were told that copies would be made and the copies would then be returned to the library. (It was suggested by the library staff that only one file drawer be taken at a time, copied, and the copies returned. Logical, less disruption, most records still available to townspeople. But that was scoffed at and ALL file drawers were emptied.)

The library staff explained the charter at the time to the new TA, Mr. McAuliffe. He informed the staff that the BoS had ordered it done.  So, ok. If the records/minutes had been copied and returned to the library in a timely fashion, no problem. The clerk, BoS and town would then be in compliance with the charter.

But here it is April 2010 and only A through E have been copied and returned. (Also current meeting minutes/records are sent to the library.) My understanding is one of the reasons the removed records/minutes couldn't be copied was that the clerk's office had no paper or staff to do the copying!!!!!

A citizen in town heard this and donated a case of copy paper. A Senior Work-Off person did some of the copying.

But here we are TWO YEARS later and the Town Clerk and the BoS (and we ALL know how they always say they follow the charter!!!!) are still in violation of the Town Charter.

Ok, you might say, but budgets are tight and copying costs money. I agree. But why didn't the Town Clerk include in her 2009 budget enough money to buy enough copy paper (use Senior Work Off so no staff dollars need to be used) so that she could be in compliance with the town charter in a timely fashion???!!! It's been two years folks. Plenty of time to get this done right.

Of course, don't get me started on why the town clerk's office didn't already have the originals with copies going to the library. The charter was written in 1977, so every clerk from then on was responsible for the records of the town including the last six years and our current Town Clerk, Mrs. Silva (and Liz Pezzoli before her!!).

CLEARLY, WE NEED A NEW TOWN CLERK WHO CAN STRAIGHTEN THIS OUT AND KEEP THE RECORDS OF THE TOWN--A JOB THE CLERK GETS PAID TO DO!!!  We still have a charter (that should have been REVIEWED this year!!) and we must be in compliance as long as that Charter is in effect.

Vote for Melody Conway for Town Clerk.