[MassHistPres] Clarification about alternate members of Historical Commissions (Ipswich Historical Commission)

[Tad Heuer]

>
> Agree entirely with Gretchen's observation that the "filling of a vacancy"
> on the Board (or the appointment of an individual as an "alternate member")
> must still be made by the appointing authority (Town Manager, Selectmen,
> etc.), while the designation of a duly-appointed alternate to participate
> in the absence of a principal member is made by the Chair on a
> meeting-by-meeting basis


One minor additional observation is that we have been advised by our town
> counsel in Wellesley that the word "shall" in the second sentence of the 8D
> amendment is to be interpreted as mandating that if the number of principal
> members present falls below the full complement, the Chair is required to
> designate sufficient alternate(s) to participate as principal members for
> that meeting, so as to reach (or get as close as possible to) the number of
> seats that comprises a full complement.



> In other words, the interpretation we have been given is that the 8D
> amendment is not simply to enable a Board to obtain a quorum, but is
> drafted to require that the Board have as full a complement available to
> discuss/vote as is possible at a given meeting.  To illustrate, if on a
> 7-member board four principal members are absent at a meeting but four
> alternates are available, we have been advised that the Chair should
> designate all four alternates to participate, not just the one necessary to
> assure a quorum.



> You own town counsel may also be able to advise on this as well, of course.


Tad Heuer
Chair, Wellesley Historical Commission

>


> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 12 May 2015 15:40:28 -0400
> From: "Gretchen Schuler" <ggschuler at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Clarification about alternate members of
>         Historical      Commissions
> To: "'Ipswich Historical Commission'" <historicipswich at gmail.com>,
>         <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>, "'John Fiske'" <jfiske39 at gmail.com>
> Message-ID: <009a01d08ceb$803b2f70$80b18e50$@verizon.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I don?t believe that you can fill a vacancy ? that can only be done by
> Town Manager/ Board of Selectmen, but the Chair of the Historical
> Commission can ask an alternate to vote in the interim as long as you do
> not exceed the 5 or 7 member commission that you  adopted in your
> Historical Commission bylaw.  Generally it is a meeting by meeting decision
> of the Chair to select an alternate to vote in lieu of someone who is
> absent or a slot that is vacant as the case may be.
>
> Gretchen Schuler
>
> Wayland HDC
>
>
>
> From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:
> masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Ipswich Historical
> Commission
> Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2015 1:35 PM
> To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu; John Fiske
> Subject: [MassHistPres] Clarification about alternate members of
> Historical Commissions
>
>
>
> We need clarification of the new law for alternate members on Historical
> Commissions.
>
> "Section 8D of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012
> Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the tenth sentence
> the following sentences:- Alternate members may be appointed in like manner
> as provided for in this section not exceeding in number the principal
> members.  In the case of the absence or inability to act on the part of a
> principal member, the place of such member shall be taken by an alternate
> member designated by the chairman."
>
> We have a vacancy on our Commission. Does the change mean the Chair should
> appoint an alternate to fill the vacancy until a new person is appointed by
> our Town Manager, or does it mean that the Chair can only appoint an
> alternate as a voting member in the absence of a quorum?
>
>
>
>
> Gordon Harris, Ipswich Historical Commission
>
> Stories from Ipswich <http://ipswich.wordpress.com>
> Historical Commission site <http://historicipswich.org>
>
>
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20150512/7678ac5f/attachment-0001.htm
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
>
>
> End of MassHistPres Digest, Vol 111, Issue 5
> ********************************************
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20150513/796b9a52/attachment.htm>