RUMFORD — Oxford County Superior Court ruled Friday that the Rumford Board of Selectmen were not in violation of the town charter when they refused to convene a special town meeting to allow residents to vote on a petition-initiated spending cap ordinance.
Justice Robert Clifford said in his decision that the spending cap ordinance proposed by the plaintiffs is “inconsistent with the Charter, and if it is to be considered by the voters of Rumford, it should be presented as a change to the Rumford Town Charter.”
He also wrote that the proposed spending cap ordinance is not consistent with the ballot forms for separate budgetary items set out in the charter, and regularly used by the town. He also said the proposed ordinance is “inconsistent with the procedure in the Charter for the voters, who have the final say on budgetary matters, to have the benefit of recommendations from both the Board of Selectpersons and the Finance Committee before voting on budgetary items.”
Clifford took the case under advisement after lawyer Tom Carey presented the complaint on behalf of plaintiffs Mark Belanger, Candice Casey, James Windover, Phillip Zinck, Len and Mary Greaney, Philip Blampied, Richard and Diana Pratt, Patrick Ryan, Diana Casey and Richard Suydam.
They filed the complaint on July 26 against Selectmen Greg Buccina, Brad Adley, Jolene Lovejoy, Jeff Sterling and Frank DiConzo. They are represented by town attorney Jennifer Kreckel.
The plaintiffs alleged that selectmen violated the town charter by refusing to convene a special town meeting to allow residents to vote on a petition-initiated spending cap ordinance that sought to limit 2013 spending to $6.2 million.
Belanger said it “was kind of disappointing to discover the judge agreed with the selectmen and went against the will of the people.”
“We’ve talked before about the charter, clearly stating that the town must prepare and issue a warrant for a special meeting after they approve the petition,” Belanger said. “If you read the judge’s ruling, it’s very convoluted and kind of muddy. He didn’t really address the situation of the charter.”
Belanger said that despite the judge’s ruling, the spending cap ordinance “is not a dead issue.”
“We’ll continue to push forward,” he said, adding that their next step may be to push the town toward a charter change.
Town Manager Carlo Puiia said the town will put an advertisement out for people to become charter commission members at the November balloting, though if approved by the town, they would have no specific agenda.
“I imagine that the spending cap ordinance would be a point of discussion, considering the number of signatures on the petition,” Puiia said.
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