SHOOT FROM THE LIP BEATY!

WHEN RONALD BEATY JR. IS QUOTED, YOU CAN BE ASSURED IT'S SOMETHING IGNORANT, UNINFORMED AND OUT-OF-TOUCH. 

NOT ONE TO CHOOSE HIS WORDS CAREFULLY OR EVEN TO INFORM HIMSELF ABOUT AN ISSUE, HE ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF ANY ISSUE.

MORE INFORMATION BELOW ABOUT MR. BEATY'S EGREGIOUS CONDUCT. 

Proposal calls for elimination of county commissioner seats

By Geoff Spillane
Posted Oct 4, 2019

15-member Assembly of Delegates would assume regional board’s policy-making functions

BARNSTABLE — The three-member elected Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners could be on the chopping block as part of a county charter review next year.

The county’s Assembly of Delegates Charter Review Committee is seeking public comment at its next meeting on a potential proposal to restructure the executive branch of the regional government.

The proposal calls for eliminating the Board of Regional Commissioners and replacing it with an appointed strong county manager form of government.

The Assembly of Delegates, the 15-member legislative body composed of a representative from each town on Cape Cod, would assume the policy-making duties previously handled by the commissioners, according to the potential proposal.

The proposal was brought forth at a recent Charter Review Committee meeting by Assembly Speaker Suzanne McAuliffe of Yarmouth, who also leads the charter review body.

News of the proposal caught those who would be affected by surprise.

“Yeah, I was surprised,” said Ronald Bergstrom, chairman of the Board of Regional Commissioners. He added that such a radical proposal would be complicated and would take a lot of thought and planning.

Bergstrom said there will likely not be a discussion of the proposal at next week’s Commissioners meeting, and that he plans to take a “wait and see approach” until more is known about whether it has support and where it’s headed.

He also expressed concern that the potential charter review issue could have on influence on candidates interested in running for one of the two commission seats up for election in 2020.

“Who would want to pull papers and run a countywide campaign if the position is being eliminated,” Bergstrom said.

In a statement, Commissioner Ronald Beaty Jr. referred to eliminating the role of the commissioners as an “infantile proposal” that is “a misguided attempt at a regional power grab to the detriment of voters across Cape Cod.” He also contends the two branches of county government provide a system of checks and balances that is fine as is and functions well.

“Suggesting this amounts to an attempted coup,” Beaty told the Times on Friday.

Barnstable County Administrator John “Jack” Yunits Jr. was also caught off guard.

“Honestly, I was shocked,” he said late Thursday. “We didn’t know it was coming.”

McAuliffe told the Times that structural changes to the regional government have been proposed in past charter reviews, but not this particular proposal. She said she is seeking public feedback to determine if there is support for it among county residents.

“It has a long way to go,” McAuliffe said about the process required to make the charter change should there be public and committee support.

According to McAuliffe, the Charter Review Committee would have to discuss the potential proposal in a future meeting, and vote on whether it wanted to forward it to the Assembly of Delegates for consideration. Then, the Assembly would have to approve sending the petition to the state Legislature, which in turn would need to approve the petition in order for the proposed change to be placed on the ballot at a biennial November state election.

The Charter Review Committee is comprised of the same 15 members of the Assembly of Delegates, who serve in a different capacity as a “committee of the whole.” Each of the members of the Charter Review Committee has one vote and majority rules, whereas at the Assembly of Delegates, the weight of each delegate’s votes is proportionate to town population.

Therefore, a potential charter revision or change proposal could be approved at the committee level but not at the Assembly of Delegates, even though it is being deliberated by the same people.

McAuliffe said the hope is to have potential county charter changes and revisions on the ballot in November 2020.

The Charter Review Committee meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Oct. 16 at the East Wing Conference Center at the Barnstable County Complex, 3195 Main St., Barnstable Village.

Comments about the potential proposal can also be submitted by email to joconnell@barnstablecounty.org or by postal mail to: Assembly of Delegates Charter Review Committee, P.O. Box 427, 3195 Main St., Barnstable, MA 02630. Comments must be received by noon Oct. 15.

5th Barnstable District primary race heats up - SHOOT FROM THE LIP RON BEATY, CONVICTED FELON

Shoot from the Lip Ron Beaty !

EXCERPT:
Beaty, 57, is a real estate manager who served a 14-month term in federal prison for threatening to kill President George H.W. Bush and other politicians in the early 1990s. His constant tweets — in which he has called a survivor of the Parkland, Florida, school shootings an “opportunistic rat,” dismissed the #MeToo movement as “nonsense” and called for the killing of sharks with baited drum lines — led to a petition to remove him from office, although the county has no recall provision.


Challenger Beaty heaps criticism as incumbent Hunt laments polarized electorate.

HYANNIS — The most intriguing race on Cape Cod in next week’s primary election is arguably the Republican contest for state representative in the 5th Barnstable District.

Four-term state Rep. Randy Hunt, R-Sandwich, the only Republican incumbent in the House facing a primary challenge, will compete against Barnstable County Commissioner and frequent political candidate Ronald Beaty Jr.

The district includes the town of Sandwich, three precincts in Bourne, two precincts in Barnstable and one district in Plymouth.

Tension between two men began to simmer last summer when Hunt parked in Beaty’s designated space at the county complex. Beaty has since unleashed an almost daily barrage of criticism against Hunt on social media.