Framingham Selectmen Refuse To Call Special Town Meeting

Framingham Selectmen, in a split vote, decided not to call a Special Town Meeting for two articles, dealing with Veterans issues, even though a Framingham Town Meeting member and a candidate for Selectmen gathered enough signatures for the Special Town Meeting.

Town Meeting member Deborah Butler collected enough signatures to have the two article Special Town Meeting called, but Selectmen voted 3-2 Tuesday night not to call for the Special Town Meeting.

Butler’s petition for a Special Town Meeting was seeking Town Meeting members to “eliminate CORI” checks for Veterans, who apply for benefits. CORI is a Criminal Offender Record Information check. Selectmen argued those check do not take place by the Framingham Veterans Agent.

The second warrant article was to ask Town Meeting members to take a ”no confidence” vote on Town of Framingham Veterans Service Agent Peter Harvell. Selectmen argued Town Meeting members have no jurisdiction to take a no confidence vote.

Selectman Charlie Sisitsky warned his fellow Board members that they may not have a legal choice but to call the meeting.

“As much as we dislike the contents I believe we are obligated to follow the bylaws and schedule a Special Town Meeting,” said the chair.

Butler has been complaining about Harvell for almost a year. She post attacks about him on message boards in Framingham often over the past year.

The Framingham Town Manager has reviewed several of the complaints, and reported back to Selectmen several times in the last 6 months. Few actions were ever taken to change issues or discipline Harvell in each case.

Editor’s Note: As I was watching the Selectmen’s meeting on cable TV, I was unable to ask Butler if she will take legal action against Selectmen for their vote. Patch will update this report when we have that information.

The Town had already had a Special Town Meeting called for Feb. 23 and there is Annual Town Meeting set to start in April.

Butler could have presented her warrant articles before the Annual Town Meeting, but instead chose the option to gather signature for an additional Special Town Meting, which costs the Town of Framingham money.