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Citizens for Limited Taxation

Board of Selectman overlooks violations of state laws and town by-laws.
Katherine Murphy as Chairman of the Board of Selectman has decided to overlook violations of state laws and town by-laws of certain individuals because she has decided that they are privileged individuals.

I submitted this request to her and each member of the Board of Selectman on October 11, 2005 and have yet to receive a response from anyone on the board.

I have nagged Katherine Murphy at least twice in a public forum but she keeps telling me that she will respond someday.  Here's a newspaper article on the subject

Here's my request to the Board of Selectman. Anyone have any tips on what I should do? I'm tempted to go to the state's Attorney General to resolve this since Katherine Murphy is ignoring the issue. 



                                             65 Delmar Avenue
                                             Framingham, MA 01701
                                             October 11, 2005


        Selectmen's Office
        Room 121
        150 Concord Street
        Framingham, MA 01702
        Attention: Katherine Murphy
                   Chairman of the Board of Selectman


        Dear Mrs. Murphy,

        I am deeply troubled by my observations that certain town
        government officials are constantly violating certain bylaws of
        the town and are not penalized as the bylaws state that they
        should be.  There are clear penalties for violation of town bylaws.

        The first case is our town manager who is obligated by town bylaws
        to provide a long term financial forecast each and every year.
        For a period of two years, no such forecast was made available.
        There is no bylaw that states the town manager is exempt from
        this bylaw because the town did not have a CFO.

        The second instance is Edwina Weston-Dyer, the head of the
        Human Relations Council who had failed to file any minutes of the
        meetings of the Human Relations Council for over three years.

        Questions to be answered:

        1. How is it that George P. King, Jr. and Edwina Weston-Dyer are exempt
           from the penalties under our bylaws.

        2. Who else is exempt from the town bylaws?

        3. What are the requirements to be exempt from town bylaws?

        4. Why were penalties not applied to these individuals?

        If you have any questions on my request, you may contact me at
        508-877-5541 or via email at hjw2001@gmail.com

        I would prefer a written response to this request and you can
        notify me when it is ready to be picked up at the Selectman's
        office.


                                             Sincerely yours,



                                             Harold J. Wolfe





Article I:    Permanent Officers, Boards and Committees
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section
   5. General Provisions

   5.10 Each committee, board or commission shall provide for keeping of
        minutes of its meetings as required by Massachusetts General Law,
        Chapter 39.  Unless otherwise provided for by law, the minutes shall
        be a public record and shall be kept on file with the Town Clerk or
        in the office of said committee, board or commission.  In addition,
        the minutes will be kept on file at the Framingham Public Library for
        a period of seven years.

Article II Functions and Authority of Permanent Officers, Boards and
           Committees of the Town
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section
  19.        Chief Financial Officer
             the CFO, who shall be responsible to the Town Manager for
             the duties specified in Chapter 418 of the Acts of 1996.

  19.5       The responsibilities and duties of said CFO shall include the
             following:

  19.5.1     Except as otherwise expressly prohibited by general or special
             law or bylaw of the town, the CFO shall supervise, direct and
             be responsible for the overall management and administration of
             the department of finance.  In addition, the responsibilities of
             said CFO shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

  19.5.1 (d) to prepare and maintain long-term financial forecasts: including
             revenue expectations, future implications of operating budget
             program decisions and capital budget programs related to
             infrastructure maintenance, improvement and expansion;

Article X Miscellaneous Provisions
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Section 1. Penalties for Bylaw Violations

  Except as otherwise provided herein, the penalty for the violation of any
  provision of these bylaws, or any rule or regulation of the Town, shall
  be as follows:

  First offense:                                     $25.00
  Second offense:                                   $100.00
  Third offense:                                    $200.00
  Each subsequent offense:                          $300.00

  Each violation shall be considered a separate offense.  Each day that
  any such violation continues, shall be considered a separate offense.

Send comments to: hjw2001@gmail.com