Young Voices Make Impact at Annual Town Meeting-This Day In Norwood History-June 13, 1981

Jaycees Parade Coordinator Michael Saad Secures Extra Fourth of July Funding While Conflict of Interest Motions Stir Debate

NORWOOD – The voices of a new generation of Norwood Representative Town Meeting members are beginning to be clearly heard across the community, marked by a series of assertive legislative moves during the third and final session of the annual town meeting this week.

Several male representatives in their early to mid-20s prominently made their presence known on the auditorium floor. Michael Saad of District 8 seemingly single-handedly convinced the assembly to add $4,000 to the baseline $3,000 appropriation for the upcoming Fourth of July celebration, which had been originally recommended by the Finance Commission (FinCom). Speaking in his capacity as the official parade coordinator for the Norwood Jaycees, Saad argued that limiting the festive budget to $3,000 next year would force him to constantly seek out matching funds from local businesses and banking institutions. The current $6,000 allocation meant he was successfully able to book 12 individual marching units for a high-quality parade. Saad asserted that while “$7,000 is a lot of money… think of the kids out there.” Though the initial voice vote sounded close, a subsequent show of hands clearly backed the extra funding.

In other legislative action, Steven E. Wilkinson of District 2 backed an unsuccessful move introduced by fellow district member Joseph DiMaria to appropriate $208 for town meeting personnel. The underlying intent of the proposal was to make dollar-a-year employees out of town meeting members, operating under the belief that this status would legally prevent them from holding separate town jobs. The motion was declared defeated on a voice vote by Moderator Robert C. Capasso. Wilkinson later explained that the true aim of the measure was to eliminate potential conflicts of interest by preventing regular town employees from serving as voting representatives within the town meeting. Wilkinson’s immediate bid to have the issue reconsidered was soundly defeated by the assembly, which includes a notable number of active town employees.

Defending her dual role, Emilie Moses of District 6, who works as a regular town hall employee, explicitly reminded the proponents that town meeting members who happen to be municipal employees are taxpayers too. Addressing the assembly, Town Counsel Justin C. Barton clarified that the state conflict of interest law explicitly excludes town meeting representatives from its restrictions, except where it pertains to the severe crime of bribery. Barton noted that the recent aggressive activity of the State Ethics Commission, which he described as “swinging a lot of swords around,” had stirred up widespread local questions regarding possible conflicts of interest.

The session also featured a reform debate led by Paul Poznick of District 5, who proposed a new set of procedures to formally recall derelict or persistently absent town meeting members. However, Clifford J. Ryding Jr. of District 4 pushed forward an amendment that ultimately emasculated Poznick’s reform. On a close voice vote, Ryding’s amendment passed. Numerous representatives spoke out forcefully against the stiffest penalties of Poznick’s original recall protocol. “We have a hard time getting a quorum and you want to throw people out,” exclaimed Edward F. McKenna of District 9. Judith Berkowitz of District 4 voiced similar apprehensions, fearing that the implementation of direct recall powers could inadvertently transform individual town meeting district delegations into “small-type vigilante” groups.

The assembly also rejected Poznick’s secondary proposal, which sought to require all candidates for town meeting—including long-standing incumbents—to gather 20 physical signatures on their official nomination papers. Under current guidelines, the requirement stands at 10 signatures, and incumbents can simply sign a statement signifying their intent to seek a new term to place their names directly on the ballot. Poznick argued that his reform “will put the candidate for re-election out on the street like the challenger,” though the body ultimately disagreed.

Another young town meeting member, Paul J. Wasil of District 7, urged a late reconsideration of the school administration budget, which had lingered as a nagging issue during the second session last week. Wasil sought to slash $25,000 from the nearly $1 million appropriated for school salaries, arguing that the account still contained “too much fat.” His motion to reconsider was rejected at 11 p.m., just moments before the annual town meeting officially dissolved. Wasil’s vocal presence on the floor reminded long-time observers of the absence of his father, Stanley J. Wasil, a familiar and outspoken fixture in the front rows of past town meetings. The younger Wasil noted that his father was deeply disappointed to miss the session, but was away in western Massachusetts on business.

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