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December 15, 2006     Barnstable Patriot
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December 15, 2006
 
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:7 Perry's position on illegal immigrants applauded Thankyou,our Representa- tive Jeff Perry, for promoting responsible efforts to address the local problem of illegal immigration. I remember hearing Perry talk about giv- ing State Police the authority to detain illegal immigrants and now it has happened. I also owe Perry a thank you for stopping my tax dollars from going to benefit s for illegal immigrants. It is nice to have a Representative take the lead on this and other important issues. Hopefully our new Governor will not undo the progress Perry has made. Gerry Nye Sandwich Council president should resign I had the opportunity last Thursday night to witness first hand the skullduggery orchestrated by the outgo- ing chairman of the Town Council,Hank Farnham.Prior to "public comment" he took the opportunity to try and justify why he openly violated the state 's Open Meeting Law, MGL c. 39 Section 23B, by e-mailing a quorum of town council members, his proposed motion to kill the public comment section of the council's meetings and did solicit debate and input from the members thereby in- cluding them in his campaign to violate the law. This action confirms what many citizens of Barnstable have suspected: the realbusi- ness of the council is kept from the public. There was no apology for this obvious illegal act, only a lame at- tempt to justify the action. The law requires the public's business be done in public as the town attorney reminded the counsel. E-mail debate is not public but a violation of the public's trust and the good faith and fair dealing duty public representatives owe to the voters. The majority of the speak- ers requested that town coun- cilors vote down the crushing of public comment. One pro speaker, Ms. (Cynthia) Cole of the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement Dis- trict, told the council that she speaks for the business people of the greater Hyannis area and that they want pub- lic comment done away with or substantially eliminated and the counsel should sup- port Mr. Farnham. I am per- sonallyunaware of anypolling of the business community on this issue and I have per- sonally talked to a number of business people who were shocked and dismayed that Ms. Cole would favor a de- struction of public comment and the rights of the citizens of Barnstable. Ms. Cole's ac- tion only enraged citizens and would have them believe that the Hyannis business community favors a closed and secret government. Per- sonally I would think the Hyannisbusiness would want good press. If Ms. Cole was acting outside the wishes of the business community,then she should resign along with Mr. Farnham. The last time I checked , we live in a democracy which requires as open government. If the councilors vote to kill public comment or move it to an empty and meaningless room,then their vote tells us, the voters , what we feared is true: town government is a closed and secret organiza- tion incapable of tolerating criticism. What little debate which did occur on Thursday was not about the merits of Mr. Farnham's motion , but how to enforce it and tweak it. The die is case that any vote to accept Mr. Farnham 's anti-American amendment to crush public comment is nothing more than the- ater for the benefit of those watching as the real decision was made in Mr. Farnham's secret e-mail meetings. Such a vote would therefore be an illegal action, notification or secret deal. Mr. Farnham should resign forthwith due to his illegal act and all e-mails between all council members for the period of time Mr. Farnham has been on the council be turned over to the clerk for public inspection. I venture it will provide interesting reading. Such an act takes courage and a belief in open government and based on what I saw and heard , does not exist in Barnstable. Michael W. Turner Attorney at Law Barnstable Put the hammer down I have no objection to the Barnstable Town Council structuring public comment at their meetings to provide a civil and non-threatening period of time for citizens to express their views. I most strenuously object to changing public comment to aforum where onlythe Presi- dent and Vice President are required to be in attendance. The charter states that time shall be provided for public comment at allmeeting of the Town Council. That proviso clearly implies that aquorum of councilors shallbe present for public comment, not just the elected officers. As the chairman of the meeting the President of the council has the author- ity, under Robert's Rules of Order,to declare any speaker out of order and end their remarks if he or she deems the remarks inappropriate. In other words , gavel the speaker down. The citizens of the town should not for- feit the ability to address their concerns to the entire Town Council because a few people are abusing public comment. Frances S. Parks Cotuit Heading off public comment Learning, that greatest Way-Back Machine, tells us in the 17th century a man named John Locke wrote the Second Treatise on Govern- ment , whichjustified ridding England of James II. Phi- losopher Locke declared all people had God-given rights to "life, liberty and property." A century later, our own Constitution upgraded Locke with "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Un- fortunately, some people still see "property " as the only valid value and "liberty" as a privilege. Locke didn't stop with naming rights; he insisted that government's role was to protect these rights, not limit them. There'sno divine right of kings, he said. And, I say, there'sno divine right of elected legislators either. Town Council without de- bate or discussion tried last week to censor public comment. They failed. Law- yer Smith couldn't work his "legal" sophistry. Listen to Locke once more: "Wherever Lawends,Tyrannybegins." To be continued on Dec. 21. Yet , grapevine word is out that the new Coun- cil President is as full of content-prejudice as her predecessor. Something like, "Public commenters? Off with their heads!" Well ... some of them, anyway. Merry Christmasto all, and to all a good night. Peter Doiron Barnstable Village - LL l 1L1VJ LjF American Home Mortgage Mashpee Commons/2Oak St. PO Box2106 Mashpee, MA 02649 Toll Free: (866) 875-2338 X 262 Cell: (774) 487-7648 Rue (866) 278-6160 PatrieiaX)liveira(a)arnericanhni.i*m www.americanhm.eoin Patricia Oliveira Mort4jag<> < >ripnat<>r Licensed Mortgage Banker orAuihoremd Lender m the FKry Slates Falo fbrtupies *nd ! *¦Dtanct ol Cokmim NYSE UsongSymbol ¦AHM Mvfaij A°m" MJliQcU' c\ -r J M^ li jt" %MV' J BL UltijlUr : ¦ ' ' iff; J We Offer Gift Certificates! BP01 CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:1 portive andlookingforward to dual membership at Hyannis, but there were objections to some of the fees. BillBigelow,president ofthe association, said that it stood to reason that fees would in- crease as a result of the two courses, but took exception to staff's suggestion that the fees were competitive with other area courses. "The fees at Old Barney are consistently higher than other courses," Bigelow said, includrng those towns with two courses. He also said that if there's success in plans for increased membershipfrom anew $1,500 non-resident option and in what's expected to be an ag- gressive marketing campaign for daily play, there will be fewer tee times for resident members. Pointing to last year 's $200,000 shortfall in revenue, Bigelow said he understands the financial needs could be realized, "but at the same to- ken, there are only a number of desirable tee times." Thetownmanagerapproved the fees as presented. Increased ice rental rates at the Kennedy Skating Rink were also approved. Curley said that the new fee schedule is an attempt to bring rates up to a level where the ice facility is fully self-support- ing. That will be important for the $18 million twin-rink community center,planned to begin construction sometime in 2007. The fee increase for Sandy Neck off-road vehiclepermits is intended to eliminate the daily ORV fee and free up congestion at the gatehouse. Sandy Neck Manager Nina Coleman said that the ad- ministration of what's now a $4 daily fee "clogs things up" at the gatehouse, backingup vehicles. The higher annual fee ($60 to $70 for residents, $90 to $115 for Sandwich residentsand $120 to $140 for non-residents) will allow the daily fee to be eliminated. Also approved is a new $10 resident sticker for the off-season, which would be available after Labor Day. A complete listing of rate increases is available at the town Web site, town, barnstable.ma.us. New fees schedule... V" V" 3*Jv «Wv sM/V ^'^ cSSt' «3& 3$ % *$ ^ $ 3$ igj Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Mostly Cloudy 55/42 49/35 50/32 44/32 44/28 42/25 45/30 IJIllU.MJIilflFMMMBMrema ^ Day Hi Lo Precip* i «« K Today we will see partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of Tuesday 34 19 0.00" S Jk showers, near record high temperature of 55°, humidity of Does lightning strike more Wednesday 49 14 0.00" 'f e^ l 82% and an overnight low of 42°. The record high temperature women or men? Thursday 53 39 0.00" for today is 58° set in 1953. The record low is 7° set in 1982. Fridav 37 20 0 00" Saturday, skies will remain partly cloudy in the morning and afternoon ^Q^wer: Men get struck almost twice j ' ... I . , ,¦ x . .. . » , . „ . , , . , as many times as women. Saturday 38 21 0.00 W|th mostly clear skies in the evening, high temperature of 49°, humid- Sunday 49 36 0.00" ity of 71% and an overnight low of 35°. Expect mostly sunny skies Monday 52 28 0.00" Sunday with a high temperature of 50°. Skies will remain mostly sunny . ^" *¦'*¦® • Precipitation includes snow converted to rainfall Monday With a high temperature Of 44°. V^^CCgfTaTlf/eaCfter.COm Day Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset Dec. 15. 1945 - A record December Barnstable Harbor Friday 7:01 a.m. 4:12 p.m. 2:04 am. 12:53 p.m. snowstorm buried Buffalo, N.Y. under pjy. High Low High Low 'Saturday 7:01 a.m. 4:12 pm. 3:08 am. 1:16p.m. 36.6 inches of snow, with unofficial 12/15 7:09 am 1:09 am 7:39 pm 1:46 pm ' Sunday 7:02 a.m. 4:13 p.m. 4:13a.m. 1:44 p.m. totals south of the city ranging up to 12/16 7:56 am 1:57 am .8:30 pm 2:37 pm Monday 7:03 a.m. 4:13 p.m. 5:21 a.m. 2:19p.m. 70 inches. Travel was brought to a 12/17 8:41 am 2:44 am 9:19pm 3:25 pm Tuesday 7:03 a.m. 4:13 p.m. 6:28 a.m. 3:04 p.m. halt by the storm. 12/18 9:25 am 3:29 am 10:04 pm 4:10pm Wednesday 7:04 a.m. 4:14p.m. 7:30 a.m. 4:00 p.m. 12/19 10:07 am 4:14am 10:48 pm 4:53 pm Thursday 7:04 a.m. 414 p.m. 8:25 a.m. 5:06 p.m. 12/20 10:50 am 4:57 am 11:31 pm 5:37 pm Dec. 16. 1835 ¦ New England experi- 12/21 11:33 am 5:41 am None 6:20 pm • New J^l First $jW\ Full ip g P Last enced one of their coldest days of Hyannis Port 12/20 £Jj 12/27 2p / 1/3 ILf, 1/11 record. At noon on that bitterly cold fjgy High Low High Low Wednesday the mercury stood at four 12/15 8:01 am 1:10am 8:31 pm 1:47 pm degrees below at Boston , 15 degrees 12/16 8:48 am 1:58 am 9:22 pm 2:38 pm All forecasts , data and graphics below at Norfolk , Conn, and 17 12/17 9:33 am 2:45 am 10:11 pm 3:26 pm pro vided by Accessweath er. com, Inc. degrees below at Hanover , N.H. 12/18 10:17am 3:30 am 10:56 pm 4:11 pm © 2006. All rights reserved. 12/19 10:59 am 4:15am 11:40 pm 4:54 pm ! 12/20 11:42 am 4:58 am None 5:38 pm 12/21 12:23 am 5:42am 12:25 pm 6:21 pm ^^nj SE jfefc New Home Construction CraigAshworth ¦ 385 Sea St., Hyannis -775-0457J ¦ Full-time , part-time and temporary staffing W jm * Workplace regulations ¦ Staff training Mm/ v*'> :*¦$£? ¦ Organizational planning B. HR Regulations begin to impact a small business/ tfl I after you hire your second employee. Don't be cfoghtpj j without the proper input from an HR professional. J? ¦ 1 A Virtual HR relationship with The Executive Suite will make a difference. « LOW COST ¦EFFECTIVE ¦ EFFICIENT Cape Cod's premier human resource conjultingcompany. Please call Elizabeth Harris, President, for an appointment. 1 I [NEW STORE1 | christy1|f 792 Main Street, Osterville I 508-420-4500 | GET PUMPED! The Sunday Cape Cod Times is only 99*2 when you buy 8 gallons of gas. 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