Citizens’ Group Keeps Recall Threat “On Hold” Awaiting Action on Civic Center Replacement-September 9, 1977

A citizen opposition faction organized against the sale of the Norwood Civic Center announced that while their threatened recall campaign against the Board of Selectmen has not yet been launched, it remains an “active option” depending on how town leaders handle the replacement facility issue.

Group Stance and Demands for Replacement Facility

With the end of summer vacations, spokesmen Ambrose J. Kelly and Jeannette M. Troiano stated that the recall strategy is currently “on hold,” giving selectmen a window of political dormancy to take firm initiatives in securing a new site for a replacement Civic Center before Norwood Hospital takes possession of the current 5.65-acre site.

“I’m not going out to make a recall just for the sake of a recall — for exercise,” remarked Kelly, a former finance commissioner. However, he warned that if selectmen fail to personally take charge of selecting and developing a comparable recreational facility, it will be “off to the races” with a full-scale recall petition drive.

The group previously charged selectmen with malfeasance and malpractices in public office over the Civic Center sale, as well as alleged failures to protect municipal interests regarding the abandonment of Winter Street and threats to water supplies at Buckmaster Pond and the Ellis well fields. Kelly criticized the reactivation of the Civic Center replacement study committee as an inadequate response, mocking the approach as a “Pontius Pilate form of government” where selectmen attempt to wash their hands while the clock ticks down on the existing facility.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger