Fahrenheit 911.
By Jim Conley • May 25th, 2007 • Email This Post to a Friend •
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Pemalink Update: Here’s what I’ve been able to piece together from those involved.
Friends of On Brookline have written in to say that things got so hot at last night’s Zoning Board of Appeals hearing (on One Somerset Road) that the police were called in. Apparently, as many as 10 police officers were on the scene.
Working on it…
Update: I’m hearing that it was ZBA member Lawrence Kaplan who called the police.
Jim Conley is publisher of On Brookline.
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Jim,
Do you know the ZBA members/alternates on the One Somerset Road panel?
In order to maintain order at a public meeting or hearing of a governmental agency, the Chair has the prerogative of recognizing speakers, including other members of the agency. This empowers the Chair to call in the police if the meeting or hearing gets out of control and may result in a breach of the peace. This was, I assume, a public hearing, so persons present would have the right to speak, subject to the Chair’s recognition. The ZBA now has in place Rules and Regulations that include the order and manner in which the matter before the ZBA is to be presented and heard. This is basically a fair, long recognized (but not always observed) process. I recommend to all persons who appear at a ZBA public meeting or hearing to familiarize themselves with these Rules and Regulations, including petitioners and their attorneys. It is up to the Chair, of course, to apply and enforce these Rules and Regulations (which are available at the Town Clerk’s websied). Kaplan is well versed in the law and I would guess that if he were Chair of the ZBA panel the action of calling in the police came about because of a serious situation that arose.
I hear it was a bizarre situation and that a citizen was threatened and that is what started it all - or perhaps it was the shameful decision that the ZBA came to.
either way - this must be investigated further