Cambridge City Council Imitates The White House

This "dispute" within the Cambridge City Council is instructive in several ways. First it indicates that some of the Councilors decided that the goal is all that matters and procedure be damned. That is what the White House is doing with its executive orders acting contrary to the Constitution and laws of the United States. Under the Obama-Holder doctrine selected individuals may ignore inconvenient laws. This appears to be what is happening at the City Council. Perhaps Mazen and Carlone enjoy special privileges under Obama-Holder, and the rest of the Council remains clueless. But also the Council itself ignores its own rules. 

The Council is obligated to run its meetings according to Robert's Rules of Order. For more than ten years I repeatedly petitioned the council to do so. But it failed then and it still ignores that rule of its own  making. The most used rule under Robert's Rules is to suspend the rules. That eliminates the need to even learn the rules which few of the councilors ever know. If there is so much concern with bypassing procedure submitting  an order to the council without first going through the Planning Board or the housing or ordinance committees, why are the other rules less important? That is called selective enforcement of laws, which is what the council did for many years and still does. 

With a lawless White House and Attorney General in Washington DC, it was only a matter of time before state and local officials, ordinary taxpayers and voters began to ignore the laws of the states and the US. Is that why the US military is conducting civil disorder control operations with local police? Is that why Homeland Security is stockpiling billions of rounds of ammunition? 

[From article]

In a 1-7-1 vote, the policy order failed on Monday with Mazen voting in favor and Carlone being absent. The order asked the council to refer the proposed amendment to the Planning Board and Ordinance Committee.
“There’s nothing collegial about filing a zoning amendment without consulting or at least giving the co-chair of the Ordinance Committee the benefit of a brief discussion,” Vice Mayor Dennis Benzan told Mazen on April 13. “There’s nothing collegial about a zoning amendment coming before this council without having at least a brief conversation with the chair of the Housing Committee. It’s becoming a way that yourself and Councilor Carlone are doing business before this council.”

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150415/NEWS/150417734

Cambridge councilors' actions fuel strong criticism from rest of board
By Sara Feijo
sfeijo (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Apr. 15, 2015 at 12:06 PM
Updated Apr 15, 2015 at 12:42 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Who Needs Rules?

Cambridge City Council which is obligated to run its meetings using Robert's Rules of Order has a simple solution. Few Councilors know those rules. They suspend the rules (MA legislature does it too) when they want to do something. As for speaking too long the US Senate and US House restrict members' speaking to one minute on occasion. The Cambridge City Council has no limit for their members who drone on, and repeat what others say even after saying "I want to echo what my colleague said." It is humorous to watch them. Try it you'll like it. In olden times high school fraternities used Robert's Rules and it was never a problem. But that was then. Robert's Rules are way too rational for today, when emotions rule and propaganda dictates. Too bad that students are "very busy and have different time priorities” preventing them from learning how to run meetings.

Another consideration is how courts are run allegedly according to strict procedural rules. They too take time and are tedious. It is called Due Process. Perhaps for expediency those rules too can be ignored. Then people can just punish suspects who are accused of crime. It is not even necessary to give the suspect notice of what they are accused. Just punish them for whatever someone says. That is what numerous local police agencies, crime families, FBI informants, Communists, Harvard University campus police, building superintendents, and graduate students in psychology at Harvard Medical School did to me for 45 years. 

[From article]
As a result, some members of the Council are questioning the effectiveness of following parliamentary procedure, which they say causes meetings to run too long.
“I’m for it in theory, but it’s tedious in practice,” Nasrollahzadeh said.
[. . .]
Currier House representative Stephen A. Turban ’17 [. . .] said he believes parliamentary procedure should be done away with altogether.
“We exist as a student government, not a real government,” Turban said. “We’re a group of students that are very busy and have different time priorities.”
Council members point to some representatives’ lack of understanding of the procedures to explain why it slows down the process.
[. . .]
“You don’t want to give the power in the meetings to the few people who know parliamentary procedure,” he said. “It’s ironic.”
[. . .]
“People talk for far, far too long,” Kanuparthy added. “It’s the nature of things that people like to hear themselves talk.”

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/3/6/UC-procedures-process-tediousness/

‘Tedious in Practice’: UC Questions Meeting Procedures
By JALIN P. CUNNINGHAM

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
March 5, 2015

Robert's Rules Unnecessary in Cambridge

Tom Stolhman, asked "I’d like to know if [city councilors] understand Robert’s Rules of Order," (Letter: "Let’s break some rules in 2014," Cambridge Chronicle, Jan 5, 2014) On November 19, 2007, Councilor, now Clerk Magistrate, Michael Sullivan sponsored an order directing the Council to learn Robert's Rules of Order. For two years previous I wrote and spoke about the fact that Councilors did not know Robert's Rules or their own council rules. They know how to suspend the rules which is all they need. I asked why they wanted to learn the rules. Voters would expect them to learn other laws e.g., the Open Meetings Law, the Public Records Act, the Constitution. I warned the council that learning Robert's Rules was the slippery slope. It was a burden for councilors to obey laws then. Seven years later the rule of law evolved to a higher level. Inconvenient laws in Cambridge are optional The White House operates at this new higher level choosing which laws and which parts of laws to follow, and which ones to change or to ignore. Today it is unreasonable to expect the council to obey rules and laws. Mr. Stolhman may want to look to the Democratic leadership in DC. They don't even read bills before they vote on them. Rules? What Rules? I don't need to learn no stinkin' rules.
See video at http://youtu.be/64mxZDz3VT8

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1597053800/Letter-Let-s-break-some-rules-in-2014

Letter: Let’s break some rules in 2014
Cambridge Chronicle
Posted Jan 05, 2014 @ 02:43 PM
Tom Stolhman

Cambridge City Council Exhibits Cognitive Dissonance

Cambridge, MA City Council 2011-13

[From article]
The letter to the Attorney General argues the complaint should be dismissed chiefly because it came to council approximately six months after the alleged violation occurred. State law requires complaints to be filed within 30 days of the alleged violation or 30 days from when the alleged violation “could reasonably have been discovered.”
[. . .]
Reeves said there was an “omnibus” provision in the council rules that state, “We can do whatever we want when we want to do it, too.”
[. . .]
Reeves said. “I hope [the complaint] goes to the Attorney General, to the U.S. Attorney and to the president of the world to clear my name because I care about what is being said about me. If I’m doing some nefarious thing, I usually tell you it’s a nefarious thing.”

What is perplexing is how the City Solicitor and the City Council asserts a legal defense to a complaint about an open meetings law violation. It is only one of many city and state and U.S. laws regularly and for many years violated by the city council. The council defiantly violated its own rules for many years making all of what they do questionable. In Cambridge, in the state of Massachusetts bureaucracies, and taking a leadership role in the current White House the politicians flagrantly exhibit contempt for the U.S. Constitution and laws of the United States. Contrary to their oaths of offices, these officials show a relaxed attitude toward laws. Perhaps it is the way that Harvard University is granted the option to disobey inconvenient laws, that makes the local, state and US government follow their lead. It is laughable that Reeves cites a council rule which he says allows them to do whatever they want to do. That explains Reeves' conduct when running council meetings. The main rule that the councilors know is to suspend the rules. That makes rules unnecessary. What is so difficult for adults to learn Robert's Rules of Order? I learned them when I was 13 years old, to run high school fraternity meetings. Reeves has a Harvard College degree and one from the University of Michigan Law School. He certainly has the intellectual ability to learn those rules. More worrisome is Reeves' comment about "the president of the world" and that he "admits" his nefarious acts. Hahaha.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1565410242/Cambridge-City-Council-responds-to-Open-Meeting-Law-complaint

Cambridge City Council responds to Open Meeting Law complaint
By Erin Baldassari/ebaldassari@wickedlocal.com
Wicked Local Cambridge
Posted Nov 14, 2013 @ 11:59 AM

Cambridge City Council Passes Orders Contrary to Law. Are They Valid?

Published September 23, 2013 11:16 AM ET; Last updated September 30, 2013 7:57 PM ET

[This letter was published in the Cambridge Chronicle Thursday, September 26, 2013 print edition at page A11, and online at 
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x511629963/LETTER-How-far-back-do-City-Council-violations-go

See my comments on Council order to have City Council learn Robert's Rule's of Order and their own rules in this video clip






In "Highlights from the City Council meeting," September 12, 2013, Erin Baldassari reported "the Attorney General [of Massachusetts], ruled in June [2013] that [the Council was] violating open meeting laws by co-sponsoring policy orders before voting on them." Not reported is how far back do these violations go? If the orders going back some months, years are illegal are they valid?

A related matter is the failure of the City Council to run its meetings according to its own rules, e.g., according to Robert's Rules of Order. About 7 years ago I reminded the Council repeatedly that they were not obeying their own rules. The response was to tell me I was violating a rule that they 
never enforced. 

 

Does the Council's weekly work have any legal worth? Why is the City Council permitted to violate Due Process requirements and the Open Meeting Law? Does the Council operate under direction of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, with permission to ignore inconvenient laws as long as they do not anger their master?

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1837083976/60-SECONDS-Highlights-from-the-Cambridge-City-Council-meeting-Sept-9

60 SECONDS: Highlights from the Cambridge City Council meeting Sept. 9
By Erin Baldassari ebaldassari (at) wickedlocal.com
Cambridge Chronicle

Posted Sep 13, 2013 @ 11:08 AM

Cambridge City Council Labors On, Ignoring The City's Role In Terror Attack

Cambridge City Council

Reporter forgot the 5-4 vote on the rule allowing reconsideration of council orders at meetings The Council Rule conflicts with Robert's Rules of Order. The Council voted to ignore Robert's Rules under which, the Council's own rules mandate they are obligated to run their meetings. The City Council uses two rules for their meetings. One limits public comment to three minutes per speaker. The other is Robert's Rule which allows suspension of the rules. It is a form of controlled anarchy, under the pretension of not knowing what they are doing but appearing to know. One essential skill of politicians is being able to fool other people. In a late order from compassionate Councilor Denise Simmons, carried over from the previous meeting, the Council voted to continue funding for placing 3-year-olds in mental hospitals, in order to increase the number of city residents with a history of mental illness. 

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/5/6/city-council-parking-spaces/

City Council Considers Parking Space Rentals
By SONALI Y. SALGADO,
Harvard STAFF WRITER
May 6, 2013

Pro Se Lawsuit Challenges Judge Selection Process

If the process is flawed maybe all of the judges appointed will be removed from the bench. Politicians in MA have little use for laws and procedure. To them laws are optional due to the one party dictatorship in the state. In Cambridge e.g., the City Council rules demand their meetings be run by Robert's Rules of Order. None of them for 20 years that I've been watching know those rules. The only one they know is to suspend the rules. Legally all of the decisions violate due process rights of citizens. But what court in this depraved state would uphold the laws? Not likely at all. How many Judge Mark Wolfs are there in the world. See Howie Carr's newest book, Hitman to see how many overtly biased lawyers with relaxed rectitude are appointed to the state and US courts in MA. Same sex marriage was legalized in violation of the MA state Constitution. No one has ever recognized that flawed court decision which continues to create controversy by the spineless politicians with limited rational abilities who lead the state.

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20120727governors_council_approves_salinger_judgeship_in_face_of_lawsuit/

Governor’s Council approves Salinger judgeship in face of lawsuit
Boston Herald
By Andy Metzger
State House News Service
Friday, July 27, 2012

Robert's Rules of Order

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Roberts%27+Rules+of+Order

World Class Lawless City

World Class Lawless City

[This letter was published in the Cambridge Chronicle on August 14, 2008.]

Big difference between Boston and Cambridge. (Raymond P. Ausrotas, "It isn’t easy being a green room," Cambridge Chronicle, Aug 04, 2008) The Attorney General former DA for Middlesex is married to a Deputy Superintendent of the Cambridge Police Department. The Court Clerk is/was a Sullivan City Councilor for 40 years. Open Meetings law violations are enforced by the DA and the courts. Besides the City Councilors, their aides often block doors to meetings saying they are private. This happens especially when Harvard seeks special exemptions from city and state laws. The councilors have private discussions with selected citizens who are Harvard affiliates or grads. They did that with the sale of city land on Hingham Street and the grad dorms there. There are so many law violations with the running of the city it deserves the title a World Class lawless city. Each week they run council meetings in violation of their own rules, Robert's Rules of Order, and state laws. Much of what the council does may not be legal. But there is no one to challenge their lawlessness. After 10 years of making them aware it is clear that this city has no regard for law except to use it to silence their critics. Cambridge has few deep pocketed activists. Most of the city supports a lawless government. Trust Fund babies are not supporters of the rule of law.

Roy Bercaw - Editor ENOUGH ROOM

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x2043522362/Guest-commentary-It-isn-t-easy-being-a-green-room

It isn’t easy being a green room
By Raymond P. Ausrotas
Cambridge Chronicle
Mon Aug 04, 2008, 11:40 AM EDT

Clerk Wrong Twice on Rules

Clerk Wrong Twice on Rules

"City Clerk Margaret Drury said that as long as none of city councilors
realized there was not a quorum, or a majority of members present, or called for
a quorum beforehand, the vote stands."
"Drury also [said] the City Council�s voting procedures had never been
questioned in the past." The most cooperative city employee is wrong twice.
(Erin Smith, "City Clerk: Don't question councilors who missed vote," Cambridge
Chronicle, Apr 12, 2007)
Erin Smith correctly notes more is in play here than Robert's Rules. The
City Council's rules require a quorum. Rule 5 states, "The Mayor shall declare
all votes. [...] the mayor shall declare the results, but no such declaration
shall be made unless a quorum of the City Council has voted."
It is wishful thinking to say the council was never questioned in the past
about rules violations. The Clerk verifies my belief that City Councilors and
City employees ignore public comment. During several meetings a few citizens
openly challenged the council about having less than a quorum present. Once the
Mayor threatened to have me removed when I noted that there was no quorum.
In many letters to the council I pointed out the frequent anomalies
on voting (most recently my letter in the April 9, 2007 agenda). On that day
there was no vote on a motion to table an item. It was tabled without a vote.
There are frequent violations of city council rules on suspending the rules. I
detailed the violations dozens of time.
It is clear that city officials hear selectively, see selectively, speak
selectively, and worst of all enforce rules and laws selectively. That is the
major problem resulting from nine councilors being intentionally ignorant of the
rules of running a meeting. The city council rules mandate that the meetings be
run by Robert's Rules. It is a recurring problem with one-party government.
The Mayor admitted on April 9, 2007 he is now taking classes on how to run
a meeting after being a councilor for 18 years. It is never too late to learn.

Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM

City Clerk: Don't question councilors who missed vote
By Erin Smith/Chronicle Staff
Cambridge Chronicle
Thu Apr 12, 2007, 12:01 PM EDT
Cambridge -

There may have been only three city councilors voting, but that doesn't mean
that the Monday night vote didn't count, according to the city clerk.

The majority of city councilors exited the meeting through the doors of the
private "green room" before a discussion and vote to record a report from City
Manager Bob Healy on the Valentine's Day snowstorm.

City Clerk Margaret Drury said that as long as none of city councilors realized
there was not a quorum, or a majority of members present, or called for a quorum
beforehand, the vote stands.

"Robert's says that because of that, they don't go backwards on votes," said
Drury, referencing Robert's Rules of Order, a widely used parliamentary
guideline.

Drury also questioned why the Chronicle would highlight something as �diminutive�
as a vote to place a report on file, citing that the City Council�s voting
procedures had never been questioned in the past.

Only city councilors Craig Kelley, Denise Simmons and Mayor Ken Reeves were in
the room during the voice vote to place a city manager�s report on file. A
quorum, or majority of city councilors, is needed for all official votes,
according to the City Council�s rules. That means there needs to be at least
five city councilors present to take a vote.

City councilors Michael Sullivan, Anthony Galluccio, Marjorie Decker, Henrietta
Davis and Tim Toomey were all absent from the room during a discussion on the
city's response to the severe ice and snowstorm on Valentine's Day.

City Councilor Brian Murphy was absent from the beginning of the meeting due to
a family emergency, according to his fellow city councilors.

Several minutes after the vote was taken to record the report on the storm,
Decker and Sullivan emerged from the entrance to the green room.

The green room is an off-limits-to-the-public space where city councilors go to
relax, have private discussions or eat a catered dinner.

Galluccio entered the council chambers about a minute later, just in time to
speak on Healy's appointment of Robert Haas as the new police commissioner.

While some city councilors leave the chambers briefly to use the restroom or get
water or soda, others remain in the green room and are absent from the chambers
at weekly meetings for extended periods of time.

The Chronicle has been periodically reporting on voting delays and discussions
that take place when a majority of city councilors are in the green room and are
not present in the City Council chambers.

Last year, Mayor Ken Reeves set off a debate about the green room when he
asserted that the room was an extension of the meeting. He later backed down
from that view.

In February, City Councilor Craig Kelley attempted to get a legal opinion on
whether the City Council can conduct city business in their private green room,
but his colleagues shot down his bid. Only City Councilor Anthony Galluccio
sided with Kelley, voting in favor of the legal opinion.

"There are not five people in the back room at any time during the meeting,"
said Drury. "People can be other areas of the building."

Drury conceded that there is no way for the public to know when city councilors
remain in the green room because it is off limits to the public. She said she
monitors the room during recesses.

Said Drury, "I can look in that room quickly and say 'Come back in here.'"

City Council Quorum

City Council Quorum

[This letter was published in the Cambridge Chronicle print and online.]

After years and months of complaints about the Council violating their own
rules and Robert's Rules of Order, there is still no will to correct their
unlawful ways. (Erin Smith, "Clerks grapple to keep councilors in the room,"
Cambridge Chronicle, April 25, 2007)
It is not enough for the City Clerk to know the rules. All Councilors must
know them. That is the idea behind a point of order. Any Councilor can raise
that point which must be recognized immediately.
If only the clerk or even if the chairman knows the rules the rest of the
council remains in a coma if there are any violations. For too many years this
council ran its meetings without any rules. It is one certain indication of the
lawlessness of this one-party city.
The vigor with which officials retaliate against citizens who criticize
their lawlessness makes other citizens fearful of participating in the
governmental process. The councilors continue to be clueless about why young
people refuse to cooperate with the police. Clueless is as clueless does.

Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM

Clerks grapple to keep councilors in the room
By Erin Smith/Chronicle Staff
Cambridge Chronicle
Wed Apr 25, 2007, 09:58 AM EDT

Cambridge -

As a teary-eyed City Councilor Marjorie Decker continued her weekly tradition of
reading the names of the military dead in Iraq, only three other city councilors
remained in the room: Tim Toomey, Craig Kelley and Anthony Galluccio.

Toomey, who was chairing the City Council meeting, appeared confused when Deputy
City Clerk Donna Lopez told him there were not enough city councilors in the
room.
So, Lopez held up four fingers for emphasis.

As Lopez and Toomey continued to discuss what to do about the absent councilors,
City Councilor Denise Simmons walked back into the room to create a meeting
quorum.

A quorum, or majority of city councilors, is needed for all official votes,
according to the City Council's rules. That means at least five city councilors
must be present at meetings to take a vote.

Later in the evening, as discussions of the City Council policy orders began,
there were only four city councilors in the room: Denise Simmons, Anthony
Galluccio, Craig Kelley and Ken Reeves. City Clerk Margaret Drury quietly
stepped into the green room to motion more councilors into the room.

The green room is an off-limits-to-the-public space adjacent to the City Council
chambers where city councilors go to relax, have private discussions or eat a
catered dinner.

When Drury emerged from the green room a few moments later, she looked toward
the doorframe expectantly, but no one followed her into the council chambers.

Drury breathed a noticeable sigh of relief as City Councilor Henrietta Davis
exited the green room just seconds before a vote ended.

Last week, after a Chronicle report that only three city councilors were present
for a recent vote, Drury said she tries to monitor the green room when she
notices that not enough city councilors are present in the meeting chambers.

Drury told the Chronicle two weeks ago, "I can look in that room quickly and say
'Come back in here.�'"