North Andover Selectmen Deny Jewish Menorah, Christmas Trees on Town Common
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
By: Tom Duggan, The Valley Patriot
Some North Andover residents say The Board of Selectmen have hijacked the “Town Common” after a vote Monday night that sent shock waves through the town.
Each year Rabbi Bronstein of Chabad House in Andover requests permission from the Town of North Andover to display a Menorah on the Town Common for the eight days of Chanukah.
And each year, the Board of Selectmen in North Andover routinely approve the request without any problems or controversies.
But, when Rabbi Bronstein submitted the same request this year the Selectmen refused, saying a new policy passed by the board last month restricts the use of the common to one day only.
Because of the new policy, the Board then amended Bronstein’s original request, limiting the menorah display to one day.
Rabbi Bronstein did not ask for the amendment, in fact he told the board Monday night that “this was going backwards” and with the new restrictions said that he might not place the menorah on the common at all this year.
Bronstein was clearly upset by the new policy and the board’s actions as were other North Andover residents in the audience who spoke in favor of the menorah.
Selectman Bill Grodon did make a motion to support the Rabbi and asked the board to make an exception to allow the menorah for eight days, but not one member of the board would even second the motion for a vote.
Those selectmen who refused to support the Gordon’s motion to grant an exception to the Rabbi were: Rosemary Smedile, Rick Nardella, Tracy Watson, and Dan Lanen.
For months the Board of Selectmen in North Andover debated the proposed new policy of restricting access to the Town Common for gatherings and public displays. During those discussions the public was assured that exceptions could be made at the discretion of the board of selectmen. But, no language was ever inserted into the final wording of the policy to make such exceptions.
Selectmen also revealed Monday night that because of this new policy, there will no longer be a Christmas tree display on the common because that would also exceed the board’s new one day rule.
Selectmen said that the new policy was enacted because they wanted to preserve the integrity of the common and avoid unnecessary damage to the green space with multi-day events and fairs.
However, one selectman said she doesn’t believe having a menorah or Christmas tree on the common for eight days would damage the common and is not relevant to the intent of the policy and flies in the face of the founding fathers of the town.
Chairman Tracy Watson spoke with The Valley Patriot Tuesday morning saying she was “very concerned now” about the affect of the new policy. Directly after the meeting she says she contacted the town attorneys to figure out how to adjust the new policy to accommodate the holiday displays and other exceptions that were not put into the new law.
“There were rules in place and we couldn’t just change them, but we did not take this into account and we need to look again at the policy again,” she said.
Watson said she was proud of the fact that she voted to allow the menorah on the common for eight days last year and found it disconcerting that she could not vote that way again because of the policy.
“We are a policy making board and we had to stick to our own policy.” Watson said defending the board’s actions.
The Board of Selectmen will meet again in two weeks before the first night of Chanukah, (which starts December 11th) and according to Selectmen who spoke with the Valley Patriot on and off the record they are hoping to correct the problem before then.
If the board does not reverse or amend it’s one day policy for public displays on the common the Town of North Andover will be without a Christmas Tree and a menorah this holiday season.
The Valley Patriot will follow this story and update it as more information becomes available.
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Tom Duggan
:
Tom Duggan is the President of The Valley Patriot, Inc. A former Lawrence School Committeeman, and hosts the Paying Attention! radio program at WCAP, 980 AM, every Saturday morning from 10a.m - noon.
valleypatriot@aol.com
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