SOUTH HADLEY — Voters can voice their concern about potential political corruption with a resolution on the annual town election in April.
The nonbinding resolution, if passed, would establish the town’s position “that tough, new anti-corruption laws for politicians, lobbyists, and outside groups such as Super PACs are necessary in order to protect and promote the First Amendment free speech rights of all citizens, regardless of wealth, and to restore ordinary Americans as the most important stakeholders in government instead of major donors.”
Resident Halley Gmeiner proposed the resolution at the Feb. 7 Select Board meeting. Gmeiner serves as the national membership engagement manager for Represent.Us, a self-described bipartisan organization focused on promoting anti-corruption laws.
“This is not binding legislation and I think that it sends a message,” Select Board member Sarah Etleman said. “I think it’s a good message and I don’t think it hurts us to agree to this.”
Debate between board members last week revolved around whether the town should focus on local issues rather than wade into a state or national issue. Chairman John Hine said he would be more interested in efforts pertaining to South Hadley.
“What, as a local government, can we do to minimize the chance of corruption in our town?” he asked.
Hine said he preferred a resolution — or even a bylaw change — to ensure governmental matters were handled correctly locally.
Select Board member Ira Brezinsky said he struggled with the same issue.
“I agree with virtually every syllable of this. There may be a few words I would change, but South Hadley has a long, long tradition of sticking to delivering local services and trying to do it, not always successfully, as efficiently and economically as we can and staying away from taking positions like this,” he said.
But Select Board member Francis DeToma said he saw real value in statements like this emanating from communities across the country.
Despite the debate, Select Board members unanimously decided to put the resolution before voters.
Reached via Facebook after the meeting, Gmeiner wrote that her organization’s Massachusetts chapters have set an “ambitious goal” of passing 30 such resolutions throughout the state this year.
“I noticed that South Hadley was one of the towns where a nonbinding resolution could be passed and was incredibly excited to help out,” she wrote. “I really love my town, and my job, so this was pretty much an awesome combination of the two things.”
Represent.Us launched in November 2012. The first local branches formed in 2013 and the group now has around 60 chapters nationally.
Northampton-based Represent Western Mass has about 50 members and has grown quickly since Election Day, according to Reed Schimmelfing, chapter leader.
“One of the basic tenets of Represent.Us is a grassroots, bottom up approach, because trying to get the people in power to change how elections happen and how ethics [are] dealt with is never going to work, so the people have to insist on that to happen,” Schimmelfing said.
Experience, Schimmelfing said, has shown that individuals in power are more likely to alter the rules to loosen ethics regulations.
“Even when the vast majority of voters are wanting something, it doesn’t happen if the deep-pocketed contributors don’t want it to happen,” he said.
Schimmelfing said they are making similar efforts in Amherst, Hadley and Hatfield. One resolution already passed in Leverett, according to Schimmelfing.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.