Barnstable Manifesto

Dateline: Charter Review Committee Report
to the Assembly of Delegates

Barnstable County undergoes a review of its Charter every five years. It may be easy to miss since it's a fairly archaic exercise. The Review Committee is appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly Tom Bernardo, who over a year ago appointed 11 citizens of various categories to the committee. Since almost all of them are political cronies, it was easy to get to the end game this time around: maintain the Status Quo.

Of all the deficiencies in County goverment the Committee could have addressed, they chose to focus only on minutia allowing them to keep things just as they are. This is an election year after all. No use rocking the boat. Everyone County official is up for re-election, again. They all want to keep their jobs. Assembly and Commissioners alike.

The Speaker recently decided he wants to be a Commissioner too. Any major overhaul of the County at this time would require the full commitment of the Speaker to see them though. Not possible while running for the Commissioner's job. Not that it had anything to do with it.

The Charter Review Committee's first recommendation involves appointing a Standing Committee on County Governance. In other words, a permanent Charter Review Committee, ready to punt at a year's notice when changes are warranted to the Charter.

The second recommendation leaves the current structure of Assembly Delegates and Commissioners alone. Of course. Everyone gets to keep their parking spaces. No reason to make the Assembly more responsive to the electorate. Not having any competitive races last year except one, (out of 15) means the voters must be extremely happy with the Delegates, so they keep voting them in by acclamation. The Reveiw Committee could have devised a better system to make the election of Delegates meaningful.

The next recommendation involves removing the residency requirement for the County Adminstrator. He no longer has to live in Barnstable County. Not that he ever has, going against the County's Charter for the last 4 years. The Review Committee simply removed this little impediment, er embarassment, from the books. The County Adminstrator for the record lives in Attleboro.

Call me old fashioned, but I think that anyone who gets paid by the County tax, should have to pay it. Including the elitests who work at the Commission. More than 1/3 of them don't live on Cape Cod, but they get to tell us how we should.

The Review Committee further recommended that the Adminstrator's job and that of the County Treasurer be seperated, thereby creating 2 full time $100k year jobs in the County. Having the proper check and balance, is important. Let's see if they can find someone who lives on Cape Cod to fill the new position.

Most of the Committee's attention was focused on alleviating any future budget crisis. Like when the Assembly doesn't agree with the Commissioners' budget proposal. The next recommendation sets up a strict review and submit schedule between the two bodies with a reconciliation committee appointed to broker any potential compromise. In effect, it's the system that exists now, but a little friendlier.

Budget surpluses are tricky things. The practice of late has been that the County spends them before they occur. That was supposed to avoid an ugly food fight over who get the leftovers. But that was what the confrontation last spring was about, anyway.

Spend it all the Commissioner Bill Doherty said. Give some more to the Commission. And make sure there is no surplus to send back to the Towns. Speaker Bernardo disagreed, so now he running for the Commissioner's job.

After presentations by the County departments, it was decided that they were all necessary and function well. As a matter of fact, greater services may be needed in the future and that the County should be prepearing to deliver them. The Cape Cod Commission was of particular interest since it is a department of the County but not part of the Charter.

The Review Committee decided better communication betwen the County and Commission was needed and that should be translated that to the public, so as to make sure that people understand that when the Commission screws them, its not the County's fault.

And, oh yes, the Review Committee recommended changing Barnstable County Government to Cape Cod Regional Government. This nominclature would give them a better chance of getting any future enabling legislation passed by the State House. In other words, hide the fact that we are an archaic form of government slated for extinction by the State, so call it something else in hopes that they won't notice.

So there you have it. After a year of review, the Charter Review Committee recommended that we that we keep things just as they are. That if it ain't broke don't fix it. And if it is, don't fix it either. We have an ever expanding County, er Regional government, and let's make it even more obscure to the electorate. But let's enhance and institutionize the bureaucracy.

The Report now goes to the full Assembly and the Commissioners for approval. They will no doubt protect their collective sinecures and vote for the Status Quo.

Sleeping with the Enemy

The Cape Wind project can make for strange political bedfellows. Take the for instance of the newly minted co-chairs of the Alliance to Save our Sound (ASS).

Bill Koch of Kansas, Palm Beach and Osterville, would appear to be a dyed in the wool Democrat from a quick look at his political largesse. Who would have thought the industrialist was a (D). His favorite playing field seems to be the US Senate, with multiple contributions to Democratic Senators from all over the country, including Rockefeller, Harken, Daschle, Torricelli, Graham, Grassley, and others. And when they couldn't find a candidate to run, like in Montana, he contributed to that state's Democratic Senatorial Committee. He also favors the Democratic National Committee with extra large donations, as well as some State Democratic Committees.

But last year ('04) Koch shifted gears and donated large sums to the Republican National Committee. Wonder what that was about? He must not like John Kerry. No do-re-me for JFK.

For the record, Jim Gordon, developer of Cape Wind, seems to be a Democrat as well. Something about renewable energy that makes Democrats out of developers like Gordon and Koch. Gordon, a straight line (D) contributed to John Kerry, who hasn't come out yet on the wind farm.

Christy Mihos, though not born to the manner, unlike his cohort Koch, is a staunch Republican. He has supported mostly in-state (R)s. Particularly Mitt Romney and Kerry Healy, and a smattering of other Republicans running for office, as well as the Massachusetts Republican Congressional Committee.

But here's the fun part. Both Alliance co-chairs broke ranks to contribute to local candidates in the other camps. In Democrat Koch's case, he gave to Larry Wheatly, a Republican. In Republican Mihos's case, he gave to Demetrius Atsalis, a Democrat. What do both local candidates have in common? They both oppose the wind farm.

As for their predecessor at the Alliance, the old line energy CEO emeritus, Doug Yearley, normally contributes to Republican candidates. In keeping with his pattern, he contributed $1000 to Republican Lamar Alexander's Political Action Committee this year. At just about the time the Tennessee Senator was proposing legislation taking the tops off mountains in West Virginia and Kentucky for mining interests, while blocking a wind farm on Nantucket Sound where he owns land.

But Yearley did a more curious thing when it came to the local races, he contributed $500 to the Massachusetts Republican Congressional Committee in the last election cycle, thereby masking his contribution to Congressional candidate Mike Jones (R). Then 2 weeks later he contributed $1000 to his opponent Democrat Bill Delahunt, more than effectively canceling out the partisan contribution. This time both candidates were opposed to the wind farm. Yearley prone to excesses, was just hedging his bet.

Time to Call an Audible

Things don't always work out as planned.

The Massachusetts Democratic party should be commended for attempting to get its political house in order. Especially in light of the debacles of the last 4 gubenatorial elections. They've had the means to do so, they've just lacked the will. Until this year.


Relegated to political irrelevancy since Phil Johnston took over the party machinery, the MassDems almost got it right this year. To most it might appear as an act of desperation, but it was actually a pretty shrewd move, frontloading the party calendar. First to nominate a candidate early enough next year to set up a head to head race with the incumbent Republican well before the primary.

And a couple of other changes to create party discipline, like the 15% recent rule on the first ballot at the convention to keep non starters out of the race, this knocked Secretary of State Bill Galvin out of the race. And the "Nominee Designation" on the primary ballot in September, that was designed to scare away money (political donations) from going to any other challengers.

The party favorite was Tom Reilly, current office holder and party stalwart. Despite his personal failings, let's face it he's dull, and his institutional ones, the last Attorney General elected to higher office was John Volpe, he's managed to amass a warchest largely because the regular Dems thought they were going to have to run against Mitt Romney next year.

The problem is that Romney's not running for re-election. Now the Democrats are getting wedding night jitters. Not so much because they might lose with Reilly, but because they might win with him. He's the wrong guy. They're not in love with him.

THE Democratic party of Massachusetts is largely made up of liberals. And not the run of the mill kind. The hardcore, in your face, lefties. Most of us outgrew this phase of life when we started making money and having kids. But not the party insiders.

A marriage of convenience with Reilly was OK with the liberals so long as the honeymoon was going to be in the Corner office. But now that Romney has cleared the way back to the Statehouse, the wedding bed doesn't seem so inviting anymore.

With Romney no longer the obstacle, the Dems could whip likely Republican nominee Kerry Healy with a liberal. Only thing left to do is convince the independents (the majority of voters) that a liberal won't give away the store, in other words, give in to the legislature. (The liberals retook the two houses of the legislature since the last election with the ouster of moderates Finneran and Birmingham.)

Ironically, the best way to stand up to the Statehouse mafia is not with a Republican but with a Democrat that didn't need their support to get elected Governor. Dimasi and Travaligni are not so much about tax and spend liberalism as they are about patronage, pork and power, self interest and special interests. Find a Democrat that will stand up to that, even from the left, and you've got a Governor.

Enter Deval Patrick. A historic candidacy in the making. And not just for the obvious reason. But also for a compelling story of the rise to political power that rivals any immigrant son's. And for the tale the Dems will get to tell of how they won back the Governor's office with a real liberal.

The Dems set up at the line of scrimmage with one play. Now they have to call an audible. Will they do it?