CHUCK THE CHARTER EVERYONE

LYNN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

Administrative Offices — 90 Commercial Street, Lvnn, M 01905 

Tel. (781) 593-1680 Fax. (781) 477-7487 

 

Charlie N. Gallo 

VIA EMAIL ONLY 

April 30, 2015 

Mary Audley, City Clerk 

Lynn City Hall 

Lynn, MA 01901 

Re: Petition to rescind the vote to sever ties with Gordon College 

Dear Ms. Audley: 

I hope this letter finds you well. I write today to respectfully request that legal counsel be consulted by your office regarding two matters material to the above-referenced Petition, specifically: (1) should certain Petition signatures be de-certified, and (2) does the Petition as presented properly seek a public hearing under Section 7-9 of the City of Lynn's Charter? 

First) please note that several signers of the Petition signed their names on blank pages, or at least blank sides of pages, yet still had their signatures certified. Enclosed, as an example, is one such page, containing eight signatures. Other such pages may exists. (i have not seen copies of some, but not ail, signatures.) 

City Hail would not certify nomination petition signatures for a candidate for office on blank pages or blank sides of pages, for example. In my view, the same standard should apply here. Accordingly, ail signatures on blank pages or blank sides of pages for this Petition should be de-certified. 

If signatures on blank pages or blank sides of pages are permitted for the petition process, then City Halt runs the risk of certifying signatures of people who never even saw the petition that they are purported to be signers of. They may agree, disagree, or have no opinion about the issue presented by a given petition- They may or may not intend to request a public hearing. Moreover, they mav have no idea what they've signed, or what their signature will be used for. 

My understanding is that 153 signatures were certified for this Petition, meaning that decertification of the signatures on the enclosed page alone would cause this Petition to fall short of the required number of signatures needed for a public hearing under Section 7-9 of the Charter. I write today, first, ta ask that legal counsel be consulted by your office regarding whether signatures on blank pages or blank sides of pages should be de-certified. 

April 30, 2015 

Page 2 of 2 

 

Second, please note that the Petition does not specifically ask for a public hearing. The action petitioned for is as follows: "We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our school committee to act now to rescind the vote to sever ties with Gordon College and to continue the relationship with the college and its students." 

As you may be aware, some of the same individuals who are behind this Petition have been behind previous drives for public hearings. In 2012, one or more of them was involved in a drive for a public hearing regarding the School Committee's vote to re-hire Dr. Catherine Latham as Superintendent. 'n 2013, one or more of them was involved in a drive for a public hearing regarding the School Committee's vote to establish the Early Childhood Center. 

It might reasonably be inferred from the frequency of these petition drives that the individuals behind them have as true objectives the stalling, slowing down, and obstruction of the business of the Lynn Public Schools. I'm sure that the vast majority of people who signed the Petition do not share similar objectives, no matter how they feel on the Gordon College matter. Just because someone disagrees with the position of the Lynn Public Schools regarding Gordon College and registered that disagreement by signing the Petition, it does not necessarily follow that he or she wanted to revisit this settled matter, which was decided back in August of 2014, with a public hearing as the forum. 

Calling for a public hearing, most probably agree, should be an infrequent occurrence, reserved just in case the normal legislative and democratic process fails our students, schools, or city. In Lynn, over the last three years, I fear that it perhaps has been used instead as a procedural tactic on a repeated basis by a small group of individuals who do not agree with the direction of the Lynn Public Schools. If my fear is correct, then it is the case that the Lynn Public Schools is under a subversion attempt by a small but vocal minority, who have monopolized the School Committee's time by abusing the petition process. Few Lynners would want to be a part of that, regardless of whether they agree or disagree with Lynn Public Schools' position on Gordon College, or any other matter. 

A plain reading of the Petition in this case would indicate that the signers did not intend to request a public hearing. No person who signed the Petition would have known from its language that he or she was requesting a public hearing. Although Section 7-9 of the Charter does not require specific language to request a public hearing, common sense should dictate that 150 certified signers should have at least intended to request one. The language of the Petition, which could most generously be described as vague, deserves to come under consideration when determining whether the signatures as presented express any such intent- Thus, I ask that legat counsel be consulted by your office regarding whether or not the Petition as presented properly seeks a public hearing. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter 

Sincerely, 

 

Charlie N. Gallo 

CC* • Members of the Lynn School Committee, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, Dr. Catherine Latham, 

Dr. Jaye Warry, Ms. Sue Rowe, Attorney John C. Mihos ( * through Thomas larrobino) 

NOW LIL'LORI'S RESPONSE -

Good Morning Mayor,

I am writing in response to Mr. Gallo's letter to Mary Audley regarding the  petition and certified signatures requesting the school committee to rescind the vote to sever ties with Gordon College.  I have also sent this email to the law department. 

The blank page Mr. Gallo refers to and enclosed was the back of a sheet that did contain a header. I was told by Mary Audley that signatures could be gathered on the front and back of a sheet, but that each sheet, not side, must contain a header explaining what the petition was for.  Mr. Gallo only received photo copies of the signatures, not the originals, so it appears he just assumed it was a blank page.

As Mr. Gallo admitted, the city charter does not state that a petition must specifically request a public hearing.  The charter, as you know, states the city council or the school committee shall hold a public hearing and shall act finally on every petition which is presented to it.  The charter also does not state any specific number of times an individual or individuals can start and/or file a petition.  

The contents of Mr. Gallo's letter are based solely on his personal opinions, assumptions and accusations.  He mentioned only two other occasions where petitions were filed over a number of years.  The school committee has voted on and made decisions on numerous issues over the past few years, where a petition was not filed.  Therefore, his erroneous claims and assumptions that the true objectives of any individual are to stall, slow down and obstruct the business of the Lynn Public Schools are absurd and offensive.

The citizens and residents of Lynn have the right, per the city charter, to file a petition and present it to the city council or school committee.  City council and school committee members cannot and should not attempt to selectively stop these citizen initiatives merely because they do not agree with them, or as in this case, because it is an issue in which Mr. Gallo initiated, and it is in opposition to Mr. Gallo's vote.

I contacted Mary Audley several times during the period signatures were collected for this petition and I have full faith and trust in her knowledge and ability to perform her job.  

Thank you for your time and I look forward to the decision of the law department.

Lori D'Amico