Parties debate political nature of budget committee

'The charter is silent on it' says town manager

Posted 6/17/19

Is the Barrington Committee on Appropriations a non-partisan board?

The chairwoman of the Barrington Democratic Town Committee says yes. The chairman of the Barrington Republican Town Committee …

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Parties debate political nature of budget committee

'The charter is silent on it' says town manager

Posted

Is the Barrington Committee on Appropriations a non-partisan board?

The chairwoman of the Barrington Democratic Town Committee says yes. The chairman of the Barrington Republican Town Committee says no.

In the most recent election, two Republicans won seats on the board, and local Democrats are critical of the way they went about it. 

Pam Lauria, the chairwoman of the Democratic Town Committee, wrote a letter to the editor regarding the situation. 

It stated, in part "By town charter this is supposed to be a non-partisan board tasked with making 'recommendations for expenditures by the Financial Town Meeting.' It is not tasked with influencing policy and has consistently avoided doing just that."

Geoff Grove, the chairman of the Republican Town Committee, was quick to counter with a letter rebuffing Ms. Lauria's assertion.

"In fact, the charter makes no mention of party affiliation," Mr. Grove wrote. "Until two years ago the COA had a history of being bi-partisan..."

So, who is right, Mr. Grove or Ms. Lauria.

According to the town solicitor, there is no mention of the COA being non-partisan in the town charter. Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha reached out to the solicitor recently to gain some clarity on the issue.

"The charter is silent on it," said Mr. Cunha. 

In a followup email to the Times, Ms. Lauria acknowledged that the COA is not noted as "non-partisan" in the charter, but added that there may be another reason it is "considered" non-partisan.

"My understanding is that because there is no mechanism for a primary and no mechanism to formally endorse (candidates), it is considered non-partisan. The ballot does not have a party designation," she wrote. "It is also why federal employees are allowed to serve without it breaking the Hatch Act."

A spokesman for the Rhode Island Secretary of State said Ms. Lauria might be right. The spokesman conferred with officials in that department who handle legal and other election matters, and said they came to the opinion that the committee on appropriations may be non-partisan because of the structure of the election process used at Barrington's annual financial town meeting.

The spokesman added, however, that the town charter should still serve as the end-all, be-all on the matter, "and nowhere in the charter does it state 'non-partisan.'"

History lesson

According to Mr. Grove's letter, the town's committee on appropriations had a history of being bi-partisan.

"The Republican and Democratic Committee chairs would jointly submit a slate (of candidates) to be voted on at the end of the FTM," wrote Mr. Grove. "That changed two years ago when a group of very agenda driven, pro school start time Democrats organized their supporters and took control of the COA, effectively leaving a large segment of taxpayers without a voice on the Committee."

Following the 2017 financial town meeting, the majority of people serving on the Committee on Appropriations were Democrats. Republican Stephen Primiano, a former member of the town council, was appointed to the committee earlier this year after Trish Marlar resigned. 

At this May's financial town meeting, Cynthia Rosengard ran for reelection to the COA, while Josh Berlinsky and Per Vaage did not. Meanwhile, Republicans John Alessandro and Dr. Lisa Daft announced they were running for the committee. That prompted the letter from Ms. Lauria, and the response from Mr. Grove.

Barrington resident Paul O'Brien also questioned whether Dr. Daft faced a conflict of interest by serving on the COA: "She is married to Edward Daft, a vice principal at Barrington High School. His salary comes from the school committee side of our budget. This could be an ethics violation for Dr Daft. She chose not to disclose this conflict before the vote."

The issue surfaced at the recent council meeting, but the town manager said attorneys found that Dr. Daft is fine to serve on the COA.

Mr. Cunha said that since the school budget is a bottom line budget, Dr. Daft cannot impact her husband's salary. He said that decision still falls to the district's administration. 

"It would be different for the municipal budget," said Mr. Cunha, referring to the line-item budget. 

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