By George P. Hassett

Of the 271 appointed seats on the various boards, commissions and authorities in Somerville, 71 percent are vacant or filled by people whose terms have expired. Lawrence Paolella, Joe Beckmann and Barry Rifkind spoke about the power of the city’s 37 appointed boards and the dynamics surrounding them at the June 1
Somerville News contributors meeting.

Paolella, Beckmann and Rifkind are all part of an effort being led by the Progressive Democrats of Somerville (PDS) to identify the makeup of the boards and make them more accessible to the public. Paolella said most of the city’s boards are unknown to the city’s residents but PDS has compiled every board’s information on its Web site www.pdsomerville.org.

“It’s kind of mind-numbing to go through all this information but it’s there,” Paolella said at the meeting. “And it goes along with the goal of PDS whose mission is how do we make government more participatory, transparent and accountable.”

Rifkind recently became a member of the Human Rights Commission and said the process required to serve is not daunting. He simply went to a Human Rights Commission meeting, spoke with the current members and submitted a resume to Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone who appointed him. Rifkind said, at their best, the boards can serve as a check to the power of elected officials.

“The boards and commissions can give underserved communities a voice and can be a real way for citizens to get involved and have a say in their local government,” he said.

However, the appointed bodies are not always so pure, Paolella said.
“Mostly the selection process is driven by patronage, nepotism and incumbency,” he said.

Beckmann said even when those are not the driving factors, too often an open, public process is not followed resulting in the appearance of indecency.

Politics can also come into play when the terms of members of powerful boards such as the Redevelopment Authority and the Zoning Board of Appeals are expire. Board members whose terms have expired continue to serve until the mayor either appoints a new member or reappoints the incumbent. In Somerville, 40 percent of the 271 appointed seats are held by members with expired terms. On the Zoning Board of Appeals five of the seven seats are expired. This gives the mayor added power over the board because if he disagrees strongly with a member he can simply appoint someone more agreeable to the board, said Rifkind.

“There is no incentive for the mayor to appoint anyone,” Beckmann.

The boards are usually not political though, Beckmann said. They act as advisors and meet once every three to six weeks to discuss ideas and the community.      

Paolella said PDS would like to see the city initiate an outreach for qualified people to serve on the board and to have the meetings televised on the city’s cable channel.

‚ÄúWouldn‚Äôt it be nice to have some professional vitality on boards like the Zoning Board of Appeals or the Planning Board?‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúAnd it wouldn‚Äôt be difficult to put the meetings on television, but it may change some behavior.‚Äù