One more swing attempt at transfer
Published on June 4th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - The people of Stoneham have spoken, and they want to have a choice in expunging a $5 transfer they approved at the Annual Town Meeting on May 5.
The Town of Stoneham will host a Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, June 25 to decide whether or not to rescind a $5 transfer in Town Meeting moderator Michael Rotondi's budget approved at the Monday night town meeting session.
The Board of Selectmen voted by a 3-1 margin (Bob Sweeney voted against the meeting and Charlie Smith was absent) to open the Special Town Meeting Warrant.
According to the Stoneham Retirement Board, the transfer to a $205 Town Meeting moderator salary made Rotondi eligible for a pension and health benefits after he retires from the grueling 10-15 hours a year moderator post.
According to members of the Retirement Board, Rotondi could pair his moderator years with a future government job and leave Stoneham with a sizable pension portion for a very part-time employee.
"I think the real victims in this story are Town Meeting and the voters of Stoneham," said Board of Selectmen Chairman Mary Pecoraro. "They have a voice and they deserve to be heard. The process was not followed correctly the first time around, and now we need the process to correct the situation."
Outraged residents and apoplectic town officials had decried Rotondi's transfer as "a move to dupe the voters" and "deceptive" while Rotondi maintains that he was "discriminated against by the Retirement Board" and that the issue was "between himself and the Retirement Board."
"I feel like like this is a private issue about my benefits that has been dragged into the public arena," said the nine year Moderator. "I am an elected official, and there is state law that says that I am entitled to membership in the town retirement system."
Concerned citizens Edie Previdi and Terri Ghannam crafted a letter to the Board of Selectmen demanding that they be allowed to rescind affirmative Town Meeting votes that they "believe they were duped into giving." The grassroots rescindment campaign came to a climax just four weeks to the day after the transfer heard 'round the world.
Both citizens were pushing for a Special Town Meeting prior to July 1, the beginning of FY04.
Previdi and Ghannam both hoped to drop Rotondi's salary back to $200 before the new fiscal year, and potentially undo what they saw as "going behind the town's back." But even more important to the pair was return of the good name of Annual Town Meeting.
"I think the first order of business should be to restore the integrity of Town Meeting," said Previdi. "This will also give Mike Rotondi a chance to explain himself and his fund transfer...then we the people can make our own decision and put it to a vote."
"I just think that what Michael did was very deceitful," added Previdi. "I always thought that you were an excellent Town Moderator, but I just don't trust you anymore."
Rotondi refused to admit to any wrongdoing or misconduct, and instead blamed the weeks of headlines and hand-wringing on a simple misunderstanding.
"I feel very badly that people felt like they were mislead at Town Meeting," said Rotondi. "I think people feel like they didn't get to have full disclosure at the meeting...but I again feel like this is a personal issue between myself and the Retirement Board."
Pecoraro took issue with these claims that almost anything discussed at a public meeting by a public official could be so guardedly private.
"I can understand if it were a closed door meeting," said Pecoraro. "but this first came to people's attention after a public meeting between yourself and the Retirement Board."
Rotondi also claimed, as Town Meeting moderator, that he has full control over his budget and any line item transfers within the budget.
Within the discussion, the blame baton was carried back and forth as town officials began to snipe away during the two hour discussion.
Finance and Advisory Board Chairman Richard Gregorio grilled the Selectmen over their budgetary "review" habits.
"If you voted to support the article and then you don't know what is within the motion, then that's probably not a good thing," said Gregorio, who stated he knew nothing about the transfer during the May 5 meeting. "Is this the usual cursory review that the Board of Selectmen gives to an expenditure? The motion should never have been accepted."
Former School Committee member Jeanne Craigie likewise took Town Administrator Dave Berry to task over his comments and actions, or lack thereof, during the Rotondi snafu. Craigie took serious issue with a contention in a Boston Globe article that Berry "didn't want to get involved with the debate" about the Rotondi situation, and also questioned Berry's knowledge about the transfer prior to the fateful meeting.
"I didn't condone the transfer, and I wasn't fully aware what the transfer was going to be used for," said Berry as Rotondi audibly scoffed at the notion from his seat in the audience.
"As a taxpayer, I am appalled that you would say this is not your business," said Craigie. "Who is in charge of all the people and all the money?"
"I think you really need to start taking control in this town," said Craigie to the Town Administrator.
Berry denied that he told any reporter that it was none of his business, and said that he hadn't read the Boston Globe article.
The Board of Selectmen dangled several opportunities for Rotondi to offer back the $5 transfer and all benefits associated with the raise, but the moderator refused to budge. Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello then moved for a five minute recess in the middle of the public hearing, and several selectmen held a private discussion with, among others, Mike Rotondi.
"After having finished a discussion with Town Counsel and with the Selectmen...I am willing to rescind the $5 raise to put to rest any concerns about the transfer," said Rotondi.
The moderator still maintained his rightful entitlement to retirement benefits, but the offer didn't satisfy the disenchanted residents.
"I didn't anticipate adjourning to the outside hall and then coming back with a completely different attitude, and I don't think it's right," said Previdi. "The bottom line is that I want to rescind my vote from Town Meeting."
If the Town Meeting does rescind the $5 transfer, under Chap. 41 sec. 108 according to Town Counsel Bill Solomon, Rotondi may have to go back to the town Retirement Board yet again. The board has twice tabled opinions to wait out legal clarification, and hasn't made an official ruling on Rotondi's pension eligibility.
If stripped of the $5 by Town Meeting and then rejected by the Retirement Board, Rotondi could then appeal to the Public Employment Retirement Commission, and, if again turned down, appeal to the Supreme Court.
"Even though I didn't agree with your methods at Town Meeting, I still think you do deserve a pension," said Ciccarello. "If you were willing to give back the $5, I would certainly be willing to fight to help you get the pension."
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