The state legislature told the Town of Rochester that in order to pass special legislation to accept the June 8, 2015 Annual Town Meeting, which was held without a quorum, Governor Charlie Baker must be the sponsor of the bill, not the Town of Rochester.
Selectmen authorized Town Counsel Blair Bailey and Town Administrator Michael McCue to draft and submit the special legislation to the House of Representatives on behalf of the Town to accept the results of the Annual Town Meeting. McCue told selectmen on November 1 that he planned to attend a meeting the following week with the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government to speak about the special legislation, but on November 5 McCue said he no longer needed to attend the meeting.
“We’ve been instructed by the House to go a different route in terms of seeking legislation,” McCue said on November 5 during a special morning meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen. “The route now is to petition the governor.”
The board voted, authorizing McCue to send the letter addressed to the governor to Representative Bill Straus’ office, which will then be forwarded to the governor’s office.
“This is the way we should’ve gone about this,” said Selectman Naida Parker. She cited other towns that have had to seek special legislation similar to Rochester’s situation. “So this isn’t breaking new ground.…”
Immediately after the meeting, McCue scanned a copy of the letter to send electronically to Straus’ office, and he said he would follow that with a hard copy of the letter in the mail.
Selectmen postponed the November 30 Special Fall Town Meeting last week until the Annual Town Meeting matter is resolved.
By Jean Perry
