Amherst: Uncovered papers support decision on election

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on September 05, 2008

AMHERST - Recently uncovered documents, as well as updated advice from town counsel, are bolstering the argument made by a majority of the Select Board that postponing the coming special election was the proper decision.

Select Board Chairman Gerry Weiss said that with more information now available about 1970s-era lawsuits regarding the establishment of an electoral process that fully involves area college students, he is "triply confident" the board made the correct decision at its July 28 meeting.

"It sounds like we ended up doing the right thing," said Weiss, who with members Anne Awad and Diana Stein voted in favor of delaying the election from Sept. 16 to Nov. 4.

At the board's meeting last month, the members who voted to postpone the election said it was necessary to allow local college students a better opportunity to vote and to minimize the risk of the town facing a lawsuit similar to one filed in the 1970s by the late political activist Eric Walgren.

The vote to delay the election to fill a seat being vacated by Awad faced criticism from those who had originally taken out nomination forms, with David Keenan saying it showed the board's lack of governance and Aaron Hayden saying it was the board reacting in fear of a lawsuit. Robert Phillips, Hayden's campaign manager, called the rescheduling a "violation of a good faith agreement."

Initially, the board's majority had reached its decision based on a 1974 admonition, in chambers, from federal district court Judge Arthur Garrity to then chairman Merle Howes about the town's election process. Howes recently related his understanding of what happened 34 years ago to Town Manager Larry Shaffer.

In a memo to the board, Shaffer wrote, "Further, Mr. Howes explained that Judge Garrity's admonishment about not scheduling elections when the students were not in town took into consideration the entire election process to include the appropriate filing the time period necessary for filing the appropriate papers."

Now, the board has documents from the U.S. Court of Appeals First Circuit from 1975 that lays out, in a strongly worded written decision from the bench, how the Select Board should behave in setting election dates.

It notes a town policy that developed from the lawsuit "to hold municipal elections on dates that afford all registered voters an opportunity to personally participate therein by casting ballots at the polls."

"I can't see how we'd be acting in good faith knowing what we now know," Weiss said.

Weiss said he is still getting comments from residents about the decision, on both sides of the issue. Though some may argue that the majority didn't have enough information at the time of its decision, Weiss said he made the decision based on what he knew was right in his heart.

"It isn't hindsight, it's how I read Merle Howes' statements," Weiss said.

In an Aug. 25 letter to Shaffer from Joel Bard, an attorney with town counsel Kopelman and Paige, this decision gets further support. "After having reviewed the Court rulings, it is my opinion that the Board acted well with its discretion in doing so," Bard writes.

Board members Alisa Brewer and Stephanie O'Keeffe voted against changing the date from Sept. 16 to Nov. 4. Brewer said these new documents still don't bring up the larger issue of participation and what it really means for students to be involved in the electoral process.