Methuen City Council fails to override insurance, no-confidence vetoes

METHUEN — In a raucous public hearing marked by verbal outbursts from the public, the City Council Tuesday night failed to override two out of three recent vetoes by Mayor D.J. Beauregard, meaning elected officials will remain ineligible for coverage by the city’s health insurance plan while a vote of no-confidence against school leaders will be revoked.

Because six votes are needed to override a mayoral veto, the “no confidence” override vote failed on a 5-2 vote, with councilors Joyce Campagnone and Nick DiZoglio voting against it and the other five councilors voting in favor of the override.

The health insurance override vote also failed on a 5-2 vote, with City Council Chair Ron Marsan and Councilor Joyce Campagnone the only two votes against it.

By City Charter, six votes – or two-thirds of the nine-member council – are needed to override a mayoral veto. Because only seven members of the council are currently sitting on the council (two members resigned over the summer) it was more difficult to get the six-vote majority needed.

The council came under fire for holding the meeting on the second to last day of the current term and public speakers leveled numerous accusations of unethical behavior regarding the timing of the vote. There were also a handful of procedural complaints that First Assistant City Solicitor Haleigh Reisman addressed during the meeting. Shouts from the crowd punctuated the meeting.

The insurance resolution had gained widespread condemnation in part due to its potential cost to the city which could be more than $400,000 annually if all possible 15 elected officials, including both the council and School Committee, were covered.

“I completely object to being included in the insurance vote,” School Committee Vice Chair Laurie Keegan said during the meeting. “It is a complete fleecing of the taxpayers of Methuen.”

The resolution’s sponsor, Councilor Jana Zanni Pesce, has said the financial impact of the rule change has been exaggerated and pointed out that while the insurance option had been available for officials in the past, it had been seldom taken advantage of.

When a past council had chosen to forgo the option, councilors had also approved an increase in elected officials’ salaries.

Resident Barbara Ell spoke about the challenges faced by seniors on fixed incomes in relation to the resolution some described as self-serving.

“You do not have our best interests at heart,” Ell said.

Neither Beauregard nor Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Maggie Duprey were present at the meeting. Beauregard had previously advised officials that he believed he had already articulated his reason for the vetoes.

“We provided them with sufficient information, including reasons for the vetoes and an updated financial impact statement that includes health plan costs for the School Committee,” Beauregard said prior to the meeting.

In a statement announcing his vetoes, Beauregard had also criticized a council vote of no-confidence against the School Committee and former Superintendent Brandi Kwong, who announced that she would retire at the end of the year but then shocked the city recently by going out on long-term sick leave.

The council no-confidence resolution vetoed by Beauregard cited poor student performance tests and a toxic administration among other critiques of the district leadership.

A third veto regarding private roads was approved on a 6-1 vote, with DiZoglio the lone dissenter. The resolution is intended to make it easier for residents on private roads to obtain help from the city with road repairs or improvements. Opponents, including Beauregard who vetoed the resolution, have said the change only benefits residents on those roads and could result in a high cost to the city.

In a financial analysis document, Duprey outlined some of the potential costs of the private ways rule change, noting that “a larger pool of projects ... could come forward” and that the city “would need to plan accordingly for specific projects with an appropriate funding source.”

Next month four newly elected councilors will be sworn in to the nine-member body.

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