Commentary by Frank Schroth
Ed Duffy brought his lengthy tenure on the Planning Board to an inauspicious end when he announced at the start of their session last Thursday that he was resigning from the board . It took many by surprise. Mr. Duffy is up for re-election this spring and had taken out nomination papers. For the moment his resignation leaves Cheryl Tougias as the only candidate seeking that seat.
Mr. Duffy left the Planning Board meeting immediately after making his announcement. The chair of the board, Alex Whiteside, commented that there is a procedure to follow regarding this. A call to the Town Clerk’s office confirmed that there are Massachusetts General laws that relate the to resignation of an elected official. First, a resignation is not effective until the official notifies the Town Clerk in writing of their intention to resign. Ms. Galvin, Milton’s Town Clerk, has not received notice from Mr. Duffy as of Friday afternoon. Technically Duffy is still on the board. In a conversation with Ms. Galvin, she said she would wait a week or so and contact the Secretary of State to determine if a public announcement, such as that made by Mr. Duffy, can serve as an expression of intent.
MA General Law, Chapter 41, Section 109 states:
No resignation of a town or district officer shall be deemed effective unless and until such resignation is filed with the town or district clerk or such later time certain as may be specified in such resignation
It is possible that Mr. Duffy could have a change of heart and remain on the board. It is our impression that is what Mr. Whiteside would like to see happen. There are some consequences that come with the decision. Thayer Nursery, for example, may be in a smll bit of a pickle.
The nursery is in the middle of a hearing on their special permit application to return their landscaping business to thei Hillside location. A special permit requires 4 out of 5 votes to pass. With Mr. Duffy’s departure, Thayer will need all 4 votes of the remaining members. An appointed or newly elected member would be precluded from participating in the vote, because s/he would not have been present throughout the hearing process. This situation highlights the reason why the Town Government Study Committee recommended the addition of an alternate member to the Planning Board. Such a person would be present throughout meetings and hearings but would vote only if an elected member were absent (e.g. resignation, recusal, illness etc.) The article was discussed at last October’s Town Meeting but not adopted. The TGSC and Planning Board had been unable to find a mutually convenient time to discuss the issues. It was referred back for further study. This may bring the issue back to the table.
If the Planning Board choses to fill the seat it would need to define a selection process, execute on it and then vote with the selectmen to appoint that person on an interim basis. We doubt they will do this given the election is in April. Even if they move quickly, an appointee would not be able to participate in the Thayer special permit hearing as that person would have missed a series of hearing sessions.
MA General Law Chapter 41, Section 11 states the following:
If there is a vacancy in a board consisting of two or more members, except a board whose members have been elected by proportional representation under chapter fifty-four A, the remaining members shall give written notice thereof, within one month of said vacancy, to the selectmen, who, with the remaining member or members of such board, shall, after one week’s notice, fill such vacancy by roll call vote. The selectmen shall fill such vacancy if such board fails to give said notice within the time herein specified. A majority of the votes of the officers entitled to vote shall be necessary to such election. The person so appointed or elected shall be a registered voter of the town and shall perform the duties of the office until the next annual meeting(election) or until another is qualified.
The last question that is why Mr. Duffy made the decision he did. In his brief remarks, he cited the lack of a traffic study related to the East Milton restaurant proposal, something he had argued for. The board did not support his request for a new study given that the recent Howard Stein Hudson report was comprehensive and could be used. Mr. Duffy, a resident of East Milton, had serious concerns about the traffic and parking impacts. He mentioned that in 6 or 7 other similar matters that traffic studies had been done and at the cost of the applicant. Perhaps he felt that East Milton was not being served equitably.
While the specific reasons for his resignation may be unclear, there can be no doubt that Mr. Duffy loves this town and loves his neighborhood. We are disappointed that he made the decision in this manner and hope he will reconsider serving out his term. Regardless, we thank Mr. Duffy for all the time and energy he put into the board over the last 12 years and wish him well.
Television is called a “Hot Medium” while radio is called a “Cool Medium”.
Unlike radio, just about anything you do on television is exaggerated from hand movements to facial movements and particularly voice tone. Beyond that, non-verbal communication often become more powerful than words themselves. One example comes to mind to demonstrate this point: President George H.W. Bush was debating Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in 1988. The camera caught him looking at his watch as Clinton and Perot were parrying with each other and that became the main focus of the post-debate discussion. The non-verbal signal Bush sent out was more powerful than words. It said, ‘ I am disinterested and I am not listening’ and may have crippled his reelection bid.
Locally, a good and honorable man, Ed Duffy, ran afoul of this fact. His passion for his community burst out on camera in a live cablecast. A comment he made that would have probably gone unnoticed off camera became exaggerated. It became the focus of attention blurring the positive and negative aspects of the Planning Board’s discussion of a new restaurant in East Milton. Let us not be too judgmental and that includes Mr. Duffy on himself.
It is the nature of the beast that is television and it is not going to change. What can change is an understanding of that medium on both sides of the screen. The viewer should not lose focus and should try to put the whole discussion in context. On the other hand, it might serve the community well if Milton Cable would offer an on-air training program for town officials both elected and appointed on how to use the medium.
No one I hope would want to go back to the time prior to local access cable when critical town issues were covered or often not covered in the printed press – Mytownmatters02186 and the Milton Times excluded. I believe the Patriot Ledger dropped its single Milton correspondent years ago and The Boston Globe’s “South Edition” has just become a calendar of events with little or no hard news.
So, the residents of Milton should want the open discussion of issues to continue and town officials should not fear that their passion will be misinterpreted because it is exaggerated in the ” hot medium” of television.
No matter what city or town we live in we as viewers should all want as town officials men and women who have passion for their causes. People like Mr. Duffy can still be open and forthright on cable without letting the medium control them. With some training they can control it and still get their points across to the viewers. Showing his passion on camera should not disqualify him from remaining on the Board until at least the end of his term. With that said, I too hope Ed Duffy will reconsider and withdraw his resignation from the Planning Board.