City Charter was taken up at the meeting and will be going on the ballot in November as a non-binding vote. Listen to the entire meeting on any device. CLICK PLAY.
City Council passed Charter changes on a vote of 9 to 2. However, only Councilors Jim Boone, Craig Cormier, Ronald Cormier, Paul Tassone, and Jim Walsh voted to mandate the City Council to go by the will of the voters.
Pictured are the Councilors who voted to respect the will of the people.
City Council Vote Leaves Some Councilors Vulnerable in Upcoming Gardner MA Election
The only item taken up was whether the changes to the City Charter would be approved by the Council – Approval was expected as at a prior meeting, the Council simply requested they have a copy in final format to approve. But, then a question came up. As the vote of the Council puts the question on the ballot in November, should the will of the voters be automatically respected? In other words, if the voters SAY NO, should the Council be required to VOTE NO. Councilor Walsh put forth an amendment which would require the vote of the people to be binding upon the Council, believing that the will of the people should be respected. His amendment was defeated by a vote of 6 to 5.
Binding: Must go by the will of the voters: Councilors Jim Boone, Craig Cormier, Ronald Cormier, Paul Tassone, and Jim Walsh – all pictured at left
Non-Binding : Whatever, the voters say, the City Council does not have to go along with it: Councilors Alek Dernalewicz, Karen Hardern, Dana Heath, Judy Mack, George Tyros, and Elizabeth Kazinskas. Notably, Council President Kazinskas was the last vote and could have committed the City Council to go with the will of the voters, but she chose to allow the City Council the flexibility to do what it wants.
How would other candidates for City Council have voted? Councilor at Large Candidate Carolyn Kamuda stated that her vote would have been for binding, “because the will of the people is important and when you have a ballot question and go through the time and expense, citizens want to know that their vote counts.” Other candidates are welcome to email News@GardnerMagazine.com and we’ll add their statements to the article.