Town Clerk Kelly McElreath appeared before the Select Board Tuesday evening to explain how a systemic failure led to dozens of residents appointed or elected to town positions not being sworn in within the required 30-day period.
McElreath was put in the spotlight after a revelation at the Sept. 9 board meeting that 66 people had failed to be sworn in as called for by a town bylaw. The discovery prompted a clash between board members David Golden and Kevin Canty over how to handle the problem. (At the following meeting, on Sept. 16, Golden successfully challenged Canty for leadership of the board.) The board decided to grant amnesty to appointees, and gave them until Sept. 18 to be sworn in.
But that still left a key question unanswered: How could this have happened?
So on Tuesday, McElreath detailed the process that led to a simple – but legally required – procedure not being followed. From 2022 to April 1, she said, her office tracked appointees and elected officials using a spreadsheet.
In January, however, the town started moving the data to a web platform. Because of errors made on the spreadsheet, McElreath said, some information about appointments was incorrect or missing.
McElreath admitted to having a somewhat informal approach to swearing in committee members – sometimes she administered the oath of office in the Town Hall elevator and was not always good about updating the spreadsheet.
From now on, she told board members, she will note on her phone when she swears someone in or will insist that they come into the clerk’s office.
In all, Plymouth has 549 appointed and elected officials, of which 204 are elected, 245 are appointed by the Select Board, and 100 are appointed by other boards, committees, and the town moderator.
After the Sept. 9 Select Board meeting, the clerk’s office emailed all officials for whom it had no record of having been sworn in. People either said they had in fact been sworn in or they came in to be sworn in, and the records were updated, according to McElreath.
By Tuesday night, she said, only four Select Board appointees had not been sworn in, along with one unnamed elected official and four appointees to other boards.
McElreath said that going forward, the new software – called OnBoard – will immediately send an email once an appointment is made reminding appointees that they have 30 days to get sworn in. Elected officials will be notified within 48 hours of certification of their election. If someone does not come in to be sworn in after 20 days, a reminder email will go out. If they don’t come in by the 30-day deadline, the clerk will notify the appointing authority that the position is vacant.
Town Manager Derek Brindisi pointed out that many of the people sworn in during the amnesty period were past the 30-day limit and thus are still not in compliance with the town bylaw. He said that means those seats remain technically vacant.
Brindisi recommended that the board submit a so-called governor’s bill – special legislation filed by the board – reaffirming the legitimacy of the appointments. Brindisi said his hope is that Governor Maura Healey will sign the bill by the Oct. 17 Town Meeting.
Canty said that the failure to swear people in within 30 days has had an effect on town government. Some committees don’t have enough members for a quorum, which means they can’t vote on town matters before them. Instead of waiting for Healey’s signature, Canty said, the board could make the lapsed appointments retroactive.
Among the committees without a quorum are the Affordable Housing Trust, the Board of Health, the Board of Registrars, the Cemetery Commission, the Climate Action Net Zero Committee, the Cultural Council, the Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund Committee, the Harbor Committee, the Plymouth Growth and Development Corporation, and the Wastewater Groundwater Discharge Citizen Advisory Committee.
Canty identified three groups of appointees who did not meet the 30-day requirement.
The first was the 44 people who took advantage of the amnesty to get sworn in. He recommended that their appointments be made legitimate effective Sep. 8.
The second group included 48 people who had been sworn in prior to the amnesty period but not within the required 30-day limit of their appointments. He recommended that their appointments be made effective the day before they were sworn in.
The third group involves Select Board members who failed to get sworn in within 30 days. They include Dick Quintal, appointed to five committees; Bill Keohan, appointed to two committees, including the Community Preservation Committee; and Deb Iaquinto who was appointed to one committee. Canty said their appointments should be made effective Sept. 8.
Golden agreed to put both Brindisi’s and Canty’s proposals on the agenda for the board’s Oct. 7 meeting.
The board also voted 5-0 to declare vacant four positions – those appointees failed to appear to be sworn in during the amnesty period. They include two positions on the Little Red Schoolhouse Committee, one on the Historic District Commission, and one on the Memorials Advisory Committee. Those positions will be readvertised.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.