The Voice of the People Matters
Currently, the Westfield City Council is considering extending the term of Mayor and City Council to four years, and deciding whether to send a resolution to the State Legislature as a “home rule petition”
I oppose this measure for many reasons. The length of the term for mayor and city council affects many things, and is of great importance to people and voters in Westfield, who should have a say in the matter, before the council takes action.
The framers of our government put great thought and deliberation into deciding how long mayors, councilors and representatives should serve. The issue is about having representative government that is held accountable to the people, by “regularly scheduled elections”.
Rufus King, a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress said “It seems proper that the representative should be in office time enough to acquire that information which is necessary to form a right judgment; but that the time should not be so long as to remove from his mind the powerful check upon his conduct, that arises from the frequency of elections, whereby the people are enabled to remove an unfaithful representative, or to continue a faithful one.”
My question is, “What is the purpose for changing the term of mayor and city council? The old adage, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” seems to apply.”
I have not heard any arguments for extending the length of terms that rises to the level of the deliberations of our founding fathers. That is reason enough to vote against making this change. I will oppose sending a change to four year terms to the legislature as a “home rule” petition because it does allow for the people of Westfield to be heard, and I recommend voting down this casually offered measure.
I encourage people to make their voice heard.
Please attend the L&O (Legislative & Ordinance) committee on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Room 201, or during public participation at the beginning of the next City Council meeting on Thursday, April 7 at 7 p.m.
L & O Sub Committee meeting
March 29 Tuesday, 6 PM
Room 201, City Hall
For information to call or email city councilors,
Go to www.cityofwestfield.org/Directory.aspx?did=9
Dan Allie
Westfield City Councilor
