Council Overturns the Mayor's Veto; Question on Nov. 6 Ballot

At a specially called Municipal Council meeting this evening, the Council voted to overturn the Mayor's veto yesterday of the Under-ride ballot measure by a 6-2 vote. Inevitably, there was some controversy and parliamentary maneuvering about it.

Councilor At-Large Donna McClure opened the meeting by proposing a motion to instruct the Clerk to place the $1 million Under-ride measure on the ballot. Her motion was not to over-ride the Mayor's veto but rather to not acknowledge it as valid in the first place. Significantly, her motion also included instructions to the Council President to take necessary steps to insure that the Under-ride be placed on the ballot and that the President be given the resources necessary to do this (lawyers?).

A discussion followed as to whether or not the Mayor had the authority to veto the over-ride or not, according to the Charter. Councilor McClure's motion clearly took the position that it was not valid. If the Council had voted to approve McClure's motion, then a crisis would have been set up. The Mayor had already received an opinion from the Town legal counsel that the veto was valid; Mayor Kezer would have instructed the Clerk to ignore this new measure and the question would have been left off the ballot (the Council not having overturned the veto).

This motion would have set up a clear confrontation--that probably could only be resolved in Court--between the Mayor and the Council. Looking to avoid this, District 4 Councilor Bob Lavoie proposed a 2nd option. He suggested that the Council re-approve the original motion to place the Under-ride on the ballot, knowing that the question would get on ballot the 'easy way' (as he put it) or the hard way (likely in court). After discussion, this motion (and not Councilor McClure's) carried the evening 6-2, with Councilor's Connolly-King and Benson voting No.

The whole question of whether or not the Mayor had the right to veto the ballot measure was not resolved, at least, it was not resolved on the part of the Council. In the end, the main point is that the 2/3 needed to overturn a veto was there, the veto was overturned and the Under-ride is on the ballot on November 6th!