Governor Deval Patrick laid his cards on the table pretty plainly when he vetoed a home rule petition from the town of Amesbury, Massachussetts.
Had Patrick signed off, the town could have adopted tougher restrictions on the use of eminent domain than the state as a whole. In fact, the town would have banned the use of eminent domain to transfer property between private parties.
Patrick says he rejected the petition because of “significant opposition to this bill at the local level.”
That opposition certainly isn’t coming from property owners worried about developers trying to grab their land.
As for Amesbury voters, they passed the measure to submit this petition at the ballot box, and it was unanimously approved by the town council. Then it made it through the state legislature before reaching the governor’s desk. About a month before he vetoed it, Governor Patrick himself voiced support for the bill when he was in Amesbury.
Of course, the persons who want a free hand to grab property whenever they like are the ones who oppose the petition. These include the current Amesbury mayor, Thatcher Kezer, who says there’s “no need” for Amesbury to differ from the rest of the state when it comes to stomping on property owners.
Deval cites such opposition as if it could justify his contempt for Amesbury voters and their property rights. But politicians like Kezer will never voluntarily relinquish the power to rob their neighbors.
Unfortunately, that’s common sense.
I’m Paul Jacob.
3 replies on “Two Pols vs. the People”
Robbing Your Neighbors…
In Amesbury, Mass., the mayor and several other local
politicians what to retain the power to “rob his neighbors,” and the
governor of (The People’s Republic of) Massachusetts agreed with him by vetoing
a measure to make it harder in.…..
Can the people of Massachusetts trust Deval Patrick? At his Amesbury ‘town meeting’, July 16, the Governor promised to support Amesbury’s 2007 initiative petition for a home rule of its ordinance protecting against eminent domain abuse. Why did he renege?
Was it the misinformation sent by Amesbury Mayor Thatcher Kezer and some councilors? Although Kezer signed Amesbury’s eminent domain ordinance into law, he wrote that he vetoed it in his letter asking the Governor to follow suit. Kezer even twisted a 25% ballot victory into 1%. Perhaps Patrick’s veto was a campaign expense? Regardless, the will of the people and the legislature was trampled.
Referencing Mayor Kezer’s and junior councilors’ inaccurate information in his veto message, Governor Patrick demonstrated no knowledge of the ordinance or the initiative petition. If the Governor did his homework, he would have understood the intent of the legislation, and honored the will of the people by signing the measure. Did deceptive information from a few fellow politicos or political favor subvert an election and undermine the sponsorship of the State Legislature?
Can the people of Massachusetts trust what the Governor says? In Amesbury, it looks like Deval Patrick just played to the crowd.
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