A Haverhill City Council subcommittee endorsed Tuesday a proposal to ask voters to weigh in on whether local candidates should be allowed to hold multiple offices at the same time.
The Administration and Finance Committee recommended the non-binding ballot question suggested by City Council President Timothy J. Jordan, Vice President John A. Michitson and Councilor Melissa J. Lewandowski. City Solicitor William D. Cox Jr. offered language that would allow a person to consider running for more than one office, but not to hold more than one position.
“It says ‘Any person who is qualified to vote for a candidate for any elected municipal office, and who is a candidate for nomination thereto, shall be entitled to have their name as such candidate printed on an official ballot to be used at a preliminary election.’ So, this would allow somebody to take out nomination papers for all three offices, if they wanted to, but at the end of the day, they can only be a candidate for one of those offices. So, they would have to make an election by the deadline for withdrawing your name from nomination and, if they don’t do that, then it would simply be whatever office they first filed papers for,” Cox said.
Assuming voters agree with the language, Cox told committee members, the city would then file a home-rule petition on Beacon Hill.
“I believe that you can put forward whatever proposal you want to the legislature and if they adopt that as a special act, then it’s law,” he said.
The approach was approved by all three committee members, Chairperson Melinda E. Barrett, Michitson and Shaun P. Toohey. It asks voters’ opinions on a rule prohibiting a person from running for more than one elected position in the same election cycle. It also provides a second provision whereby if a person is allowed to run for more than one position, he or she would not be allowed to hold more than one municipal office in any one election.
Presently, in Haverhill, a person is allowed to hold two positions at the same time with the exception of mayor and School Committee member—a prohibited situation because it would give an individual two votes on the School Committee.
There are three individuals seeking more than one office this November. Incumbent School Committee member Scott W. Wood Jr. is running for mayor and Ward 4 School Committee, Fred A. Simmons is seeking an at-large City Council position as well as Ward 4 School Committee and incumbent School Committee member Toni-Sapienza-Donais is running for both the Ward 2 city council and School Committee seats.
Because of the situation, City Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan proposed adding language that would keep the status quo until after the upcoming election.
“I don’t want these to be seen as punitive, that we’re doing this just because of people who are running now. I don’t want that scenario,” he explained.
The proposal now goes back to full City Council of a vote at its next scheduled session Sept. 19.