The Marion Planning Board continued discussion on board member Eileen Marum’s draft Planning Board Guidebook at its August 4 meeting. Opinions got heated before the dialogue ended in a motion to terminate all discussion on the guidebook. With five in favor and only two against, the guidebook was rejected.
Throughout the discussion, two documents were compared: Marum’s guidebook and a collection of resources from Massachusetts state and Marion town websites put together by former Planning Board member Ted North.
Chairman Stephen Kokkins began the discussion by saying state and federal laws already exist to govern the Planning Board, and these laws are for the board to follow, not interpret.
“They form the basis for the actions we take,” the chairman said, mentioning a few of his own ad hoc guidelines – general statements on how the Planning Board is run.
Marum began her defense of her guidebook by reading its purpose, which is “to assist the integration of new members to the Marion Planning Board by providing them with direction on how to appropriately carry out their duties and how to better understand the complexities of community planning, its purposes, and its benefits.”
Marum added that she hoped to help bring the board into the 21st century using her knowledge as a member of Southeastern Regional Planning Economic and Development District (SRPEDD); the guidebook, Marum said, is a simple step towards increasing efficiency and communication on the board.
“Nine years on the board and all of a sudden we’re not in the 21st century?” said longstanding board member Steve Gonsalves. “I don’t understand where this is coming from.”
In defense of the guidebook, Vice-Chairman Norman Hills said he has not been able to find official job descriptions of the Planning Board clerk, chairman, and vice-chairman elsewhere. Kokkins countered that these have become “over the decades more or less self-evident.”
“Both have a lot of validity and a lot of utility,” said board member Michael Popitz, referencing Marum’s guidebook and North’s resources packet. Popitz added that he holds great respect for Marum and the work she put into the guidebook.
“I think that it’s really key that we appreciate each other fully,” he said, gently reminding the board to retain respect and teamwork throughout the discussion. Unfortunately, tensions only mounted as the discussion continued.
A few board members expressed concern that Marum’s guidebook includes paraphrased laws and minor interpretations. Along with this, they don’t see the need to adopt the guidebook as policy when there are already resources available.
“The board has always worked fine in my opinion,” said Gonsalves, saying he simply learned as he went along after he joined the board. “There’s always something to learn; there’s always something to add,” continued Gonsalves.
Board member Rico Ferrari felt Marum’s guidebook could be useful as a library resource or posted online, but “it’s not in our space.”
After so much opposition, Hills again spoke in defense of the guidebook.
“I hear fear all around the table,” said Hills. “I don’t think it’s misinterpreting anything… Is [the guidebook] necessary? Why not?”
Marum said when she was elected to the board, she asked about an orientation. She was told board members typically spend the first year of their three-year term mostly just listening to “absorb the material through osmosis.” With her guidebook, Marum hoped board members would be “more effective and efficient from day one.”
Other board members disagreed, with Ferrari stating it only took him three meetings to feel comfortable with the board after he was elected. As the discussion heightened, Ferrari stated that the debate was Hills and Marum against the board. “To me, that’s the end of the story,” he said.
After a few more comments, Planning Board Clerk Robert Lane made a motion to end the discussion on the guidebook.
“I request a roll-call vote,” said Marum when the guidebook was rejected. No one was against having their name recorded with their vote.
Although the vote was already taken, the board took comments from the public. North took the stand to speak about his resources guide, which includes Internet links to laws, forms, and other sites of interest.
Lane then read a letter sent by former Planning Board Chairman Jay Ryder in which Ryder expressed a strong opinion in opposition to the proposed guidebook.
The meeting was wrapped up with old/new business points to be further discussed at the board’s next meeting. There were no further items of discussion on the agenda.
After the meet’s conclusion, Marum continued to defend her guidebook during a brief interview. “When you go for a job, you’re always given an orientation, and you’re presented a guidebook, and that’s to bring you up to speed with the organization to make you feel welcome,” she said. “This is what I was hoping to do with the board.”
Marum continued to say that she attended a meeting at the College of the Holy Cross organized by the Massachusetts chapter of the American Planning Association. She said many of their concepts are included in the guidebook, but “in no way have I ever interpreted or put my own spin on any law.”
When looking to the future of her guidebook, Marum said, “I think I’ll see what happens next year. There may be some new members on the board and perhaps those members may be more receptive.” Until then, Marum mentioned she might bring her guidebook to the library for town members to utilize.
Chairman Kokkins, on the other hand, supported the board’s decision on the handbook. “I think there was a common thread that we thought it was unnecessary, because we all understand more than some people think about how the laws work and the practices we have to follow,” he said. “I think it will come up again and maybe should … come up again, but I thought that the list of actual resources that Mr. North offered was a little more useful and that it was complete.”
Kokkins again expressed concern that Marum’s guidebook was incomplete, unnecessary, and included some minor interpretations of the law “that we’re not really empowered to do.”
Still, Kokkins said the guidebook could be used as a source of information if any board members would like to regard it. “They’re welcome to look at it; they’re welcome to use it,” he said, “It’s just that we don’t have enough time, space, and need, mostly, to actually go through and make sure that it’s official policy of the board, because we think we have that well in hand.”
The Marion Planning Board’s next meeting will be on August 18 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
By Renae Reints
