10/08/08


It's time to change the city charter

Peter Larocque

\The new Buzzword in politics is:  “CHANGE.” Now I guess it’s my turn to use this word, but I must go back to the beginning. No, not that far back. I mean the beginning of my political carrier.

When I first ran for the Lawrence School Committee in 2005, I ran against the then popular incumbent Ms. Amy McGovern. She was very well loved in our community and particularly in the District.

To make a long story short, I didn’t make my campaign specifically against her. I was campaigning against how the School Committee conducted its business. Meeting after meeting, I watched how Ms. McGovern was frustrated and it seemed to me that the frustration that she was facing was due to a lack of communication between the Administration and the School Committee.

I knew this could not continue. But it really didn’t matter because she won the election hands down. As life goes, with all of its surprises and the changes they bring to the people’s lives, I now find myself (because of persistence and the Lawrence City Council in October 2006 and of coarse eventually the good people of District E in 2007) that I’m just about to finish my second year as a member of the Lawrence School Committee.

With all this being said, I now want to speak to what I believe needs to CHANGE in the City of Lawrence. Yes, I know I’ve written and talked about this before but, I am more convinced now, as we endeavor to move the City forward in a positive manner. To do this, I must say out front that I mean no disrespect to Mayor Michael Sullivan or Superintendent Dr. Wilfredo T. Laboy. This is not a personal affront against them. It is just my opinion, right or wrong, and it’s strictly business! (I have always wanted to say that). When I speak of the mayor or the superintendent, I am speaking of future Mayors and Superintendents in Lawrence.

The City of Lawrence will be getting a new Mayor in January 2010 and a new Superintendent after June of 2011. So now, in October 2008, it is my opinion that this is the perfect time to consider changing the Lawrence City Charter in the following areas:

1. Electing the Lawrence School Committee.
2. The mayor’s involvement on the School Committee.

It is my view that there needs to be the same passion from the Lawrence City Council and our citizens to change the City Charter as we saw for the Voter I.D.Bill # 4704.

I have seen more than enough examples in the last few months that speak directly to why a charter change is needed before the next Mayor takes office.

The Mayor should not be a member of or the Chairman of the School Committee. There are just too many areas that overlap and that may have the appearance of impropriety.

First there was the mistake by the Mayor’s Office delivering to the Lawrence City Council a FY09 LPS Budget different than the one voted upon by the Lawrence School Committee without School Committee knowledge.

Secondly, this past summer’s disagreement between the Superintendent and the Chief of Police over the number of arrests at the new Lawrence High School Campus. This dealt directly with the School Resource Officer Agreement, which is between the Lawrence School Committee and The Lawrence Police Department. There was a meeting to reconcile this involving the Mayor’s Office, but very little if any School Committee involvement.

Thirdly, is the situation with the Superintendent’s salary increase. I wonder if the outcome would have been the same if our Chairman of the School Committee were not also the Mayor of the City? For your reading enjoyment I would like to call your attention to an article in the Boston Globe dated September 30, 2008 by Globe Staff member Mr. James Vaznis entitled, Boston schools chief gets praise, no bonus. Take note of who the Chairperson of the Boston School Committee is, it is not Mayor Menino.

Fourthly, I believe the Lawrence School Committee needs to entertain the idea of acquiring a new Attorney. I sometimes wonder who the current Attorney represents?  

This brings me to the Superintendent’s contract. This is former Mayor Dowling’s handy work along with the Superintendent’s Attorney. I do not fault the Superintendent at all for getting a good contract in his favor like the one he has. Good for you Superintendent.

But with the coming of a new Superintendent means a new opportunity to work out a new contract between the Lawrence School Committee and whoever will be the next Superintendent. But what do you think are the chances that the contract would be any different if the Mayor of the City is still the Chairman of the School Committee? Would the contract be, in fact, between the School Committee and the new Superintendent?

How much input will the School Committee actually have? Or, will it again be put together from the mayor’s office?

A contract for the superintendent of schools should be between the Lawrence School Committee and the Superintendent. I would think that once an agreement is in place between these two, then the contract would need to be singed by the Chairman of the School Committee (who would be voted upon by colleagues of equal standing), the attorney for the School Committee, and the new Superintendent and his/her attorney.

Once again I would like to express my belief that the way school committee members are elected in Lawrence needs to change. Each member should be allowed to be elected in an at-large (city-wide) capacity rather than by districts. They should then elect their own chairman and vice-Chairman.

In order for this to happen, the city charter must be changed. My question to the Lawrence City Council and to the registered voters of Lawrence is: what are we waiting for? Please do not give me the Federal Government story. Times have changed in our city and it’s time we take care of our own business.

There are even some citizens who have expressed a desire to see the City of Lawrence have a City Manager handle the day-to-day operations of the City and that the Mayor would have other responsibilities.

So, to the Lawrence City Council, how about conducting a well-publicized public forum on the subject of a city charter change and review, and let the citizens be heard on the topic. At the very least you can place it on your agenda for discussion. What are you afraid of?

God Bless you all,

Peter Larocque is a member of the Lawrence School Committee. He was originally elected by the Lawrence City Coun-cil to fill the unexpired term of Amy McGovern in 2006 and then elected in his own right last month. You can email him at peterlarocque@hotmail.com

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