CHESTERFIELD — Chesterfield is joining a growing number of municipalities in the state — and the first in western Massachusetts — to support the state auditor’s longtime effort to audit the state Legislature.
In an April 6 letter addressed to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka, the three-member Chesterfield Select Board said Massachusetts is among the least transparent [states] in the nation and is one of only four state legislatures exempt from public record laws.
Additionally, “The legislature remains the only state entity that does not permit oversight by the State Auditor’s Office,” wrote board members Roger Fuller, Patricia Colson-Montgomery and Donald Willard.
Nearly 72% of Massachusetts voters approved Question 1 on the November 2024 election ballot, which called for Auditor Diana DiZoglio to complete a wide-ranging review of the state House and Senate’s budget. In Chesterfield, 66% of residents approved Question 1.
Top Beacon Hill Democrats have pointed to concerns about the law’s constitutional validity ever since, and the issue is currently tied up in court. Attorney General Andrea Campbell and DiZoglio have gone back-and-forth during respective media appearances regarding each other’s roles in the process.
The Chesterfield letter continues, saying, “While legislative leaders have claimed that internal audits by a privately procured vendor are sufficient, the voters of Massachusetts have clearly expressed their desire for an independent review.”
Chesterfield resident Matt Barron brought forward the idea for the letter, inspired by the town of Reading, which became the first community in the state to send a letter to the Legislature’s highest-ranking members.
After Reading, the eastern Massachusetts towns of Dighton and Somerset voted to send similar letters, and the town of Wilmington will vote at its next meeting. The Revere City Council, however, shot down the idea of sending a letter after 62% of residents voted in favor of Question 1.
“People are very upset that this law we voted for — 72% of the state — is not being implemented,” said Barron. “The will of the people is being ignored.”
Both Barron and the Select Board members said a handful of residents voiced support for the audit during a town hall in Chesterfield held by state Sen. Paul Mark, D-Peru, and state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton.
“I am always grateful for communities raising their priorities, and I look forward to a resolution of the matter before the court so we have clear legal guidance on how to properly implement Question 1,” Sabadosa said in response to the letter.
Fuller, the Select Board chair, said audits aren’t a bad thing to complete. “If the government can be audited, it can prevent waste. So in my mind, if I’m not against it, I’m willing to sign the letter.”
Both Fuller and Colson-Montgomery said that they signed the letter because an audit is the will of the people in their community.
“The majority of [Chesterfield] voters supported it, and the majority of voters in the state supported it,” said Colsen-Montgomery. “Given that, it seems like the auditor should follow the wishes of the people, and the people asked for it to be done.”
