Burk claims after hours Tiverton budget intrigue

Points to late-night visit to closed clerk’s office

By Tom Killin Dalglish
Posted 5/3/17

Just when it appeared that all the drama had been drained from Town Hall chambers last Thursday by the Board of Canvassers' vote invalidating the elector's petition budget (see separate story), town resident and elector Mike Burk dropped a two-page complaint against the Budget Committee budget on the canvasser's desk.

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Burk claims after hours Tiverton budget intrigue

Points to late-night visit to closed clerk’s office

Posted

Just when it appeared that all the drama had been drained from Town Hall chambers last Thursday by the Board of Canvassers' vote invalidating the elector's petition budget (see separate story), town resident and elector Mike Burk dropped a two-page complaint against the Budget Committee budget on the canvasser's desk.
Citing procedural irregularities, Mr. Burk's "Resident Complaint Against the Budget Committee" alleged an after-hours night-time entry into the clerk's office by members of the budget committee to edit and print out and time stamp a copy of its final just-adopted budget.
The essence of Mr. Burk's complaint was that the budget committee's budget was submitted late to the clerk, after hours, just as had been the petitioner's budget —if the latter was invalidated as untimely, so too should be the budget committees'.
Neither the canvassers or Town Solicitor Anthony DeSisto offered opinions at the Thursday meeting about Mr. Burk's complaint. As of the time this paper went to press, Mr. Burk's complaint had not been acted upon by either — and it wasn't clear when, or even whether, it would be.
Asked Thursday at the canvassers' meeting by Mr. Burk when his complaint might be ruled on, Mr. DeSisto said he didn't know, he hadn't even read it yet.
In his complaint, Mr. Burk alleged that after the Budget Committee's meeting on April 6 — the 44th and last day under the Charter for filing the committee's budget with the clerk's office — the committee "at approximately 10 p.m. at Tiverton Town Hall, entered the locked Town Clerk's office. Entry was gained via keys possessed by the Town Council Vice President [Denise deMedeiros]. Upon entry, changes were made to the docket and a clean copy was printed. The Budget Committee then proceeded to time stamp their own submission as having been 'received' at 10:13 p.m.. It is important to note that the Town Clerk was not present in the office to verify the stamped date or the timely submission of the Docket."
Ms. deMedeiros posted this explanation on Facebook: "Nancy Mello was out of town with a personal matter [and] she gave me the key to her office since I was there every time the budget committee had a meeting as my role was town council liaison to the budget committee. When the budget committee completed their budget, I e-mailed it to Nancy Mello then printed it from that email and stamped [it] as instructed by Mrs. Mello. Councilors Chabot and Hilton were present as well as budget committee chair Cecil Leonard during the entire process."
Paraphrasing Mr. Burk's objection, as he expressed it in his complaint, how can it be justified, Mr.Burk asked, that the petitioners had to submit their petition by noon on their deadline day, but the budget committee had until midnight on their deadline day to submit theirs, well after the clerk's office had closed?
In a reply Friday to Mr. Burk's complaint, Justin Katz, a budget committee member, says that Mr. Burk's objection is not timely. He notes that the Board of Canvassers already on Monday, April 24 — prior to Mr. Burk's complaint — had certified the budget committee budget for the Financial Town Referendum ballot.
Also in his response Friday, Mr. Katz said Mr. Burk was too late, and that his complaint was "frivolous,"that it "has no foundation," that it should be "disregarded," and "summarily dismissed."
Mr. Katz did not address the question of an after-hours entry into the clerk's office or a 10:13 p.m. time-stamping.

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