Opponents of Barnstable County official press for recall
By Geoff Spillane
BARNSTABLE — Barnstable County Commissioner Ronald Beaty Jr. harshly criticized Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivor David Hogg on Twitter recently, generating national media coverage, and now an online petition advocating his removal from office.
The change.org petition had nearly 800 signatures as of Sunday, but for now there’s no teeth behind it because there is no mechanism in the county charter to recall an elected official.
“The main point is to keep the conversation going,” said Meaghan Mort, a political activist from Marstons Mills, who initiated the online petition. “This is an important issue and needs to be addressed. There should be a recall provision.”
Since taking office 15 months ago, Beaty, who is also a Republican candidate for state representative in the 5th Barnstable district, has frequently stirred controversy with comments made on social media.
Last summer, he received national attention by advocating the use of baited drum lines to catch and kill great white sharks. A few weeks later, he was back in the spotlight after referring to the #MeToo movement used by women to identify themselves on social media as victims of sexual abuse or harassment as “nonsense.”
Beaty slammed the online petition in a statement made to the Times last week, calling it politically motivated, convoluted and misinformed.
“The fanatically liberal Democrats, and ultra-liberal Democratic Party controlled groups involved with the frivolous online petition are certainly entitled to their opinions, just like I am entitled to my Constitutionally protected opinions and freedom of speech,” he said. “We will simply have to agree to disagree regarding some of those opinions and issues that have come up. They are over the top politically liberal extremists, and I am a Conservative Republican. There are bound to be differences.”
Despite his staunch support online for the Second Amendment and the National Rifle Association, Beaty, a convicted felon who spent more than a year in federal prison for threatening to kill President George H.W. Bush and other politicians in the early 1990s, is not legally allowed to own a gun.
Earlier this week, Beaty disclosed he was considering pursuing a presidential pardon that would restore his Second Amendment rights, even though he says he may not even want a license to carry a gun.
There’s a 21-page application to request a Presidential pardon, but Beaty speculates his appeal may be fast-tracked because the president can make a decision at his own discretion, regardless of whether an application had been filed.
“I think my profile has been heightened enough that I may be on ... (President Donald Trump’s) radar,” he said.
Beaty tweeted shortly after midnight Thursday that he had received “sage advice” not to pursue the pardon until after the 2018 mid-term election cycle.
Even if Beaty is granted a pardon, it is unlikely a truce would be forged with his detractors.
“He clearly should not be holding a firearms license,” said Mort. “He is not of sound mind. It would be irresponsible of the state of Massachusetts to give him a license. ”
Proposed county recall provision under review
BARNSTABLE — Calls for the recall of Barnstable County Commissioner Ronald Beaty Jr. because of incendiary social media posts and contentious views on issues ranging from the #MeToo movement to the Parkland, Florida, school shooting to sharks face a significant challenge: There is no mechanism in the county charter to recall an elected county official from office.
At least not yet.
A move is under way in the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates — the 15-member body with one delegate from each Cape town — that serves at the regional government’s legislative branch, to add a recall provision to the charter.
But it won’t happen overnight, or even, perhaps, before Beaty’s four-year term expires in 2020.
A proposed ordinance for amending the charter to include a recall procedure for elected county officials was submitted to the assembly in December by five of its delegates — Ronald Bergstrom of Chatham, John Ohman of Dennis, Susan Moran of Falmouth, Edward McManus of Harwich and Brian O’Malley of Provincetown — but has not been moved forward yet.
At an assembly meeting earlier this month, substantive issues with the proposed change were disclosed after a review by county legal counsel and an attorney from the state Election Division, in effect sending the proposal and its sponsors back to the drawing board and a game of beat-the-clock.
For the recall provision to be voted on by county residents in this year’s state election in November, a petition would have to be reintroduced, approved by both the assembly and county commissioners and approved by the state Legislature — all by June 20, according to Suzanne McAuliffe, the assembly’s current speaker and Yarmouth delegate.
The sponsors will be incorporating the legal suggestions and resubmitting the proposal, with the goal of having it placed on the assembly agenda soon, Moran said.
“It’s a very complicated prospect to work with the charter,” McAuliffe said. “You almost have to start (on charter changes) right when assembly members get elected every two years. This is more complicated than the initial proposers anticipated.”
Getting the ordinance brought before the assembly in the next month for discussion and a vote could be tough, since the next few meetings will be consumed with finalizing the county’s fiscal year 2019 budget, McAuliffe said.
McAuliffe is considering forming a charter review subcommittee to take a more in-depth look at other recommendations for changing the document.
“I think people want things to happen quickly,” she said. “But the charter requires legislative approval. With a review, we could put all the suggested revisions together and send them all at once to Beacon Hill.”
Moran, however, is not a fan of that approach.
“This (the recall provision) is something that should be done ahead of a (larger) review,” she said.
The question remains as to why there was no recall provision incorporated into the charter when it was written in 1988.
“It might have been an oversight,” said McAuliffe. “I don’t know if it was something that was on people’s minds when the charter was written.”
MASSACHUSETTS DOESN'T NEED AN ANGRY, EXPLOSIVE OFFICE HOLDER IN ANY POSITION!
JUST SOME OF THE HISTORY:
Reading H4065 is the extent of my time commitment to disprove Mr. Beaty's Fairy Tale....if this is your candidate, maybe you should conduct your own FACT CHECK before you blindly follow.Here's the CCT exchange:
AMENDED ATTACK COMMENT FROM MR. BEATY ADDING THE INCORRECT BILL NUMBER [LAST YEAR'S AND CORRECTING HIS SPELLING ERROR IN RESPONSE TO MY CRITICISM]:
Beaty for State Senate•4 days ago
For the sake of political transparency, open state government and accountability news reporting on Beacon Hill seriously needs to be beefed up to help keep the public informed and educated about exactly what their state legislators are doing to impact their wallets and their person-hoods. As a case in point, rabidly left-wing Obamaphile Democrat State Senator Dan Wolf has co-sponsored legislation which will supposedly reform existing zoning laws but in reality will be horribly detrimental to the private property rights of Massachusetts residents: House Bill 1859 https://malegislature.gov/Bill...
middlebororemembers•3 days ago
It's difficult to know which is more offensive, writing an attack without including the bill number for the public to review or that CCT posted it.
It would seem the Beaty comment constitutes electioneering by a Tea Bagger!
While the SHNS article offers some great information, it also seems to have offered an opportunity for Mr. Beaty to share his lack of familiarity with the function of Massachusetts State Government. Thanks for the revelation!
Poor man can't even spell Middleboro or Middleborough:
Beaty for State Senate middlebororemembers•2 days ago
Middlboroogh [SIC], for your reference, the Bill was House Bill 1859: https://malegislature.gov/Bill...
Relative to your nonsensical comments, you provide some entertainment for the readers and me somewhat like a circus clown. Thank you for that.
RON BEATY
middlebororemembers•2 days ago
The bill is H4065 and the text may be found here:
https://malegislature.gov/Bill...
Having read the text, it appears simply a clarification not infringing on the rights of local and regional zoning/planning to implement their rules.
Please clarify which sections of this proposal you find troublesome.
Did you attend the hearings and raise those objections?
It might seem that Massachusetts voters have witnessed how non-productive attack rhetoric lacking substance has been in Washington and have the sense not to replicate the experience at home.
A cursory review of your extensive postings fails to reveal your previous experience...beyond blabbering uninformed Grover Norquist/CLT economic policy. Perhaps you could clarify that issue.
middlebororemembers•2 days ago
Below is the original attack comment posted by CCT and posted here:
http://middlebororeview.blogsp...
For the sake of political transparency, open state government and
accountability news reporting on Beach [sic] Hill seriously needs to be beefed up to
help keep the public informed and educated about exactly what their state
legislators are doing to impact their wallets and their person-hoods. As a case
in point, rabidly left-wing Obamaphile Democrat State Senator Dan Wolf has
sponsored legislation which will supposedly reform existing zoning laws but in
reality will be horribly detrimental to the private property rights of
Massachusetts residents..
For my part, this was a simple Click-n-drag!
Now, instead of Beach Hill there's a correction. Who corrected your misspelling, Mr. Beaty?
Mr. Beaty's subsequent attack of me also includes a spelling error and I can only suggest that Mr. Beaty THINK before he writes and conducts a SPELLCHECK.
Who needs another uninformed Tea Bagger?
Phew! Ya just can't get rid of Ron Beaty and his Tea Bagger Extremism! [Note comment below.]
Even the Closeted Tea Bagger Charlie Baker figured out that most folks favored Cape Wind and changed his position....at least for now.
This is partisanship at its worst and shortchanges our future with myths and misstatements.
Cape Cod Republicans seem to attract the mentally ill, ignorant, uninformed and childish who lack the sense to keep their mouths closed!
Such is the case below....Ron Beaty
Hunt said Monday he was running late to a meeting at the Superior Court building and was told by Barnstable County Administrator John “Jack” Yunits Jr. to park in one of the three commissioners’ spaces because they would not be in on a Friday afternoon.
Beaty placed a note on Hunt’s windshield saying, “if your vehicle is found parked in this space again, then it will be towed away at your own expense.” The note was followed up by an email to Hunt on Friday.
“Here’s a guy who can’t distinguish what’s important and what’s not and doesn’t know when to stop,” Hunt said.
The issue escalated Saturday when Beaty sent an email suggesting Hunt may have developed a “Beacon Hill attitude of entitlement” and a “Texas-sized ego.” Beaty maintained the parking directly interfered with other public officials efficiently carrying out their own respective duties.
Hunt replied to Beaty after what he called a “ridiculous rant.”
“Never contact me again,” he wrote.
In a voicemail message, Beaty cited several reasons he was considering a run for state representative against Hunt. He said Hunt may have become jaded by not having Republican challengers in the past and may only be running again to obtain the 10 years of service to qualify for a state pension.
“If he wants to get off his rear end and actually do his job and help the people in his district and obtain some real achievements during the next year or so, then perhaps I’ll reconsider running against him,” Beaty said. “But at this point, I think he at least needs to be challenged.”
“I unintentionally pushed a button and he has a history of taking things too far,” Hunt said. “Here’s an example of it.”
