WHITMAN – With the school district assessment settled before Town Meeting convened on Monday, May 1, voters turned their attention to other issues, approving a debt exclusion for a new $17.8 million DPW building to debates on citizens’ petitions. [See story, this page.]
Two of the petitions, calling for the banning of nip liquor bottles and a proposed change to the way the Finance Committee is appointed, were rejected – and a bylaw change to require that all public meetings be recorded was approved.
Hanson voters met simultaneously in Town Meeting on May 1, which will be covered in the Thursday, May 11 Express.
The ban on nip bottles, sought by a petition begun by students in the WHRHS Student Environmental Awareness Club (SEAC) after recent participation in roadside cleanup work sponsored by the group, as well as Green Hanson, failed despite an encouraging response to their remarks, The cleanups that inspired the students yielded nearly 1,000 bottles during the annual Clean Up Green Up and about 350 along a mile of Franklin Street in one hour alone in front of the high school.
W-H Student James Molito, of 5 Butternut Lane, spoke for the group before Select Board member Shawn Kain’s request, and the Town Meeting vote, to let students in the visitors’s section vote.
“The reality is, this is beyond just a few nips,” Molito said, while outlining his appreciation and support of town businesses. “Anyone who has gone down the side of the road can see this is more than a small problem.”
Molito also expressed concern about the drunk driving implications the discarded nip bottles represent as well as the fact that it takes an estimated 450 years for the plastic bottles to biodegrade.
The article proposed a ban on sales of alcoholic beverages in containers equal to 50 milliliters or smaller to help prevent plastic waste and promote safer roads. The Board of Health and health agent would have administered the ban which called for written warnings to violating establishments on a first offense, a $50 fine for the first violation after a warning and $100 fines for second and each additional violations.
Proponents pointed to the environmental cost and the dangers posed by people drinking and driving. Nip bottles have also been found on school property and near the high school, Molito and other students said.
“Every one of the 350 nips we found represents some driver or some person who took an irresponsible opportunity [to] do something they shouldn’t and risking their life,” he said, noting that he recently lost someone because of a “dumb mistake on the road.”
“What we are witnessing here is leadership and vision by our younger members of our community,” said Christopher Scriven of 363 School St., who was a charter member of SEAC. “So often, we as elected officials in this town, complain to each other about lack of engagement. … They’re looking to the future – their future. They understand the implications of not being good stewards for our planet… we turn them away, what’s the message we send?”
Opponents called it governmental overreach and pointed to the plastic bag ban as a failure of such a ban, since stores have begun using thicker plastic bags as reusable items, which are being thrown away, too.
Select Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci expressed concern about the article’s effect on the tax rate, set every year as a unified tax rate for both residential and commercial property owners.
“I have always voted to help all businesses in Whitman because we don’t have a lot of businesses, other than car dealerships,” he said. “For us to do something like this, I think, is wrong because … I also see straws, I also see Dunkin’ Donuts cups. Are we going to tell Dunkin’ Donuts they can’t sell takeout?”
Unless the ban is done on a statewide level as is reportedly being considered, he and other opponents said, it would only hurt Whitman.
“You can’t prevent people from throwing stuff, but I don’t think we should penalize businesses in Whitman by doing this,” he said. “If the state does it, it’s not on us.”
Molito said the business concerns were taken into consideration by a six-month delay in implementation for businesses demonstrating a hardship caused by the ban.
“We care for the businesses, yet we also have to care for our planet more,” he said.
Health Board Chair Danielle Clancy said the article, if passed would place an unreasonable strain on her and her department, as was the bag ban. She also said nips were just a vehicle for the larger problem of alcoholism.
“I am for whatever the town decides, [but] we are one health agent and the Board of Health,” she said, listing the sewer hookup, rodent problems and other issues the department deals with. “I want you to remember that each year when we come here to decide these things.”
Businessman Thomas Vemis of Regal Marketplace said he grew up in Whitman and loves the town as part of his family, but while the article might not force his family out of business, it could mean cuts, to staff and how the business gives back to the community as an “unfortunate side effect of what the article could do.”
He commended the students for having the courage and dedication to come before Town Meeting, and come up with a vision for a better future, but challenged them to meet with him to develop a plan to beautify and clean up the town.
“Do not put the burden on our businesses that do employ local people, keep business in Whitman, and at the end of the day, it’s not going to stop the littering issue that we have,” he said.
After a standing vote count, the article had been rejected by a tally of 113 to 56.
Finance Committee
A citizen’s petition aiming to amend bylaws to change the appointment process for Finance Committee members, taking it from he hands of the town moderator and placing that authority to the Select Board for approval. It also prohibited members of the Finance Committee from holding any other office or serving on any other committee except for the Building Facilities Committee with the approval of the town moderator and Select Board.
The Finance Committee unanimously voted against recommending the article, Chairman Rick Anderson said.
“Our moderator has appointed a very dedicated cross-section of this community to represent your financial interests,” Anderson said. “We ask that you continue to support these efforts and vote no on this article.”
Like the state and federal government, he said, the town is governed by three branches – the Select Board and town administrator are part of the executive branch in order to formulate and present budgets to the Finance Committee represents the town’s legislative branch, Town Meeting.
“Article 38 upends this by making the Finance Committee accountable to the Board of Selectmen,” he said. “This ultimately would handicap Town Meeting’s ability to vote on all financial matters, when the recommendations are coming from one source.”
In its current form, Anderson argued that the Finance Committee in its current form has been instrumental in saving millions of taxpayer dollars in the past five years alone, demanding accountability for things like non-mandated busing, the use of the statutory method of assessment and Chapter 90.
Michael Hayes, of 18 Diane Terrace, who had served as moderator for 30 years, said the bylaw as it stands is “near and dear to me” and he was in complete opposition to the article.
“The existing bylaw has been in effect for many, many years and is uncomplicated, nonpartisan and highly, highly effective,” he said. “The moderator, who is accountable to the voters, makes three-year appointments – three each year.”
The moderator does not attend nor oversee the Finance Committee meetings, but continuity is important for a moderator, and vacancies caused by disagreements could leave the town under-staffed.
“This proposed bylaw, I believe, greatly complicates the process,” he said. “The proposal is absolutely unnecessary and unwarranted.”
Scriven asked the Select Board why the article was on the warrant.
Moderator Michael Seele said, as a citizens’ petition, all that is required is the obtaining of at least 10 signatures to place an article before Town Meeting.
Gregory Eaton, 5 Old High St., said he brought forward the petition and noted it is not without precedent, because East Bridgewater uses the method he proposed to appoint the Finance Committee.
“The FinCom is appointed by one person and one person only in this town,” he said, raising loud objections by adding, “that means the town moderator has basically a dictatorship on who’s allowed on the FinCom.”
He said he wants to see a more public vetting process so the town can see the qualifications of those presented for appointment to the Finance Committee.
“It’s very simple right now,” he allged. “The only way to get on the FinCom is to be buddies with the town moderator.”
“Out of line!” Salvucci shouted. “Way out of line!”
Resident Marshall Ottina rose to ratify what Anderson and Hayes had said, noting he would not respond to Eaton’s charge.
“The work is putting together Article 2 and the budget,” he said. “That comes together through debate.”
Putting the Select Board in charge of those appointments could eliminate that debate, he said.
Tom Evans, 68 Temple St., agreed, voicing his “strong opposition” to the article, and questioning its intent.
Recording public meetings
Former Town Administrator Frank Lynam was among the petitioners seeking the article to revise bylaws to require all town boards and commissions to make audio or audio/visual recording of public meetings, excluding executive sessions, with recordings forwarded to WHCA-TV form broadcast and posting on its YouTube channel online.
“All of the appointed … and elected boards and committees in the town of Whitman operate under the Open Meeting Law,” he said. “The Open Meeting Law requires that those meetings be open and accessible.”
That should not be limited only to the Select Board and the School Committee, Lynam said.
“If, in fact, the comments and reviews that occur in these public meetings are of value to people, then they all should be available,” he said, noting that Hanson records all its public meetings. “If you are taking a public position on a request, then people should be able to know that, they should be able to hear it.”
Not all members of town boards and committees shared his viewpoint, but Town Meeting approved the article to make the bylaw change in any case.
Finance Committee Rosemary Connolly, did agree with Lynam, disagreeing with her committee, which voted not to recommend the article. The committee’s objection was the lack of information on the cost of the article, and the FinCom is in “complete compliance” with Open Meeting Law requirements.
“If they’re video-taped, you’re going to see you have an amazing Finance Committee,” she said. “You’re going to see the work we do.”
ZBA Chair John Goldrosen, however opposed it because there was no appropriation for video equipment, unlike during the pandemic when members used their home computers to hold meetings over the Zoom platform. The ZBA secretary attends meetings and takes notes, using a digital recorder to supplement what she remembers from meetings and sound quality is not good.
He said minutes submitted to the Town Clerk, as required by law, is a more effective way to know what is going on, he said.
IT Director Josh MacNeil said public documents he sought turned out to have been deleted, along with that of “seven or eight” other meetings around that same time. Notes are not exactly what is happening during meetings, as recordings are, he added.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think we’re getting a real indication of what went on in that meeting,” he said of meetings without an audio or audio-video recording.
The recording secretary for the Finance Committee took issue with that characterization.
There were also questions as to when, exactly meeting are considered public records and when they become public. The digital recordings are not considered official records of a meeting, since the laws were written before the technology existed. Written minutes submitted to the town clerk meet the law’s requirements and are available, when filed.
But Town Counsel Michelle McNulty said once a recording is requested by someone, it is considered a public record and each board keeps its own record.
“The Town Clerk doesn’t keep all the public records of the town,” she said. “There are minutes, which you are required to proscribe under the Open Meeting Law …public records can be digital, they can be emails, they’re not just paper records.”
Former state Rep. Geoff Diehl spoke in favor of the article.
“I think transparency in government is fantastic,” he said. “I think, having served on Finance Committee, it would be enlightening to a lot of us – to see how the decisions are made, how the work gets divvy’d up.”
He also noted that there are communications people don’t realize are public records, such as the radio conversations and every phone call police officer make while on duty.
“The technology exists, the cost is borne by the town, so it’s totally possible to have these conversations recorded and provided in a way the public can consume,” he said.

WHITMAN – The Select Board on Tuesday, April 18 voted to declare three 9-month old pit bull puppies and their mother to be nuisance dogs, as much as a way to protect the animals as to control them while their owners have them trained.
The vote followed a hearing in accordance with MGL Ch. 140 Subsection 157 regarding the dogs owned by Jean Karger of 221 High St. Complaints have been received from Patricia Parent, Eric and Joseph Connolly, according to Chair Randy LaMattina.
Nearly every person testifying during the hearing stressed that these are very friendly dogs that are still puppies, even though they weigh more than 40 poiunds each. The neighbors’ concerns center on the dogs tendency to roam the neighborhood, and the way they jump up on people.
“Obviously we have to stop this behavior of the dogs getting out,” LaMattina said. He argued for imposing requirements that the dogs be on a leash whether on or off the property, until the animal control officers can work with the owners to create a secure kennel. The board also approved that requirement.
The board had considered requiring a dog run on the property.
Animal Control Officer (ACO) Joe Kenney cautioned there are tethering laws in Massachusetts that limit dogs to being tethered outside for no more than 15 minutes at a time. ACO Laura Howe said runs condition dogs to become aggressive.
Town Counsel Peter Sumners said the board could make a determination immediately or at the next meeting if they felt confident in doing so, but a written decision will still have to be issued.
“I would suggest if you haven’t had a chance to weigh all the evidence, you should take that opportunity,” he said, noting the board could also issue an interim finding that the dogs are either dangerous or a nuisance.
A dangerous dog is described by statute as a one that attacks without provocation causing serious injury or death to a person or owned animal or behaves in a way that would make a reasonable person concerned that an attack could happen. A nuisance dog that, by excessive barking or other disturbing behavior causes a reasonable person to feel it is disruptive to quiet peaceful enjoyment of their home, disturbs a sick person in the area or exhibits a threat to do so.
An owner of a dog deemed a nuisance can be ordered to take immediate steps to solve the problem. There are specific statutory authorizations involved if a dog is deemed dangerous, including restraint including when being removed from premises, confining to premises, removal from premises neutering or euthanasia.
Board member Shawn Kain said they could be considered dangerous for “recklessly having fun on High Street” where traffic is heavy, but he said he wasn’t sure that’s how the law reads.
“I don’t think we have a dangerous dog,” LaMattina said. “However, we clearly have nuisance dogs … disruptive behavior to one’s quiet and peaceful enjoyment.”
Howe said she met in October with Karger and her partner, who gave his name only as Raoul, and was told Karger had voluntarily surrendered nine of the 13 dogs she had then owned after a female she owned had puppies.
The 5-month-old puppies had not been spayed or neutered and had not been given their rabies vaccines and Animal Rescue League took custody the following day, reporting back that all nine had been given behavioral assessments, vaccines and were spayed or neutered and placed out.
At about nine months, the puppies are between 50 and 75 pounds now. They also recognize Howe and Kenney and “split the scene” whey they are called, making for a potentially more dangerous situation. They don’t chase dogs when the animals start to run, because the dog(s) would be running in fear, which could motivate them to bite or run into traffic.
“A few days later, we learned there were four dogs left on the premises,” Howe said, noting it was not a search and seizure or court involved,” she said, adding that it was explained Karger would need to obtain a license for a kennel because the town’s threshold for kennel designation is three animals, not four. “Eventually we caught … all four, and I held them until they got their rabies shots.”
She explained that the rabies shots were important, as rabies tests cannot be done on a living animal.
“Things just progressed from there,” Howe said, with the dogs running free on a regular basis. “It could be as much as every day. I have heard different reasons, I understand them, but animals can’t protect themselves. We sometimes have to go to extremes to protect the animals.”
She said this was an extreme case.
Howe said her recommendations are and always have been to have a secure kennel floor, of cement for example, and something with a roof “because they climb over everything.” The last time, Howe said electric fencing, as is used to train dogs, delivering a mild shock via a special collar, has been another thing they suggested.
Howe said she wasn’t sure if a cement floor was feasible because Karger and her partner do not own the property, they rent it. She added later in the meeting that the owners had provided proof they were buying a house in another town, but the purchase intended to be closed in January, did not go through.
“Their dogs are not in any type of bad situation other than roaming free throughout the neighborhood all the time, which is dangerous – not because they’re such aggressive dogs, because they’re not – but the mentality of a pack dog is quite different than one or two dogs, as well as they live on a very busy street,” she said. “Hopefully, we can find a solution.”
Select Board member Shawn Kain asked if there has not been any issue with bites, but Howe said that, while that was an issue concerning a dog they no longer own, it has not been a problem with the dogs in question now.
Joe Connolly of 226 High St., confirmed Howe’s assessment, and added that he has witnessed “multiple situations” in which the dogs have gotten out without a leash to run free and tie up traffic.
“For some reason or other, they hang out in the middle of the street a lot,” he said. “I find it very dangerous, because I often wonder why there’s a tie up of traffic – and, sure enough there’s a dog in the middle of the street.”
He pointed to Whitman’s leash law, and, while stressing that the dogs are very friendly, expressed concern that they could knock over an elderly person when they jump on them. He also said that, if he had little kids, “This would be whole different ball game, for me.”
Parent, of 220 High St., who has had several encounters with the dogs, has grandchildren for whom she is concerned. She also said she walks her dog on a leash and no longer walk past the property because her dog is so fearful. She said one of the dogs picked up her dog and shook it, and although her dog was not hurt, it is now fearful.
“It’s really not fair for us to be unable to use our neighborhood,” she said. “I feel sad [for the dogs in question], they look so happy when they’re running around, but somebody’s going to get hurt.”
Joan Butterfield, of 231 High St., wanted to start by saying the dogs are very nice and very friendly, but they are strong and jump up on people.
Adam Casey, 173 Pine St., described how the dogs leap over his four-foot high fence after he fixed the holes they made under it.
“It’s gotten to be the fact that they like to play at my house, and I understand that for dogs,” he said. “They’’re not mean dogs, but they are dogs and I do have kids. I just hope we can resolve this and get them contained.”
Raoul said he has had the fencing improved and has installed the electric fencing problem, but there were problems with it after the company’s owner moved out of state.
“They’re escape artists,” he said. “I’m trying my best.”
“We are human,” Karger said. “We do have the same thoughts and concerns that everybody else here in the room have.”
“I’m not comfortable that they can negotiate this in a way that’s safe for the dogs or the people around them,” Kain said. “I like the recommendation from Ms. Howe, but again, I’m not confident that they’re going to be able to implement the recommendation in a short amount of time.”
He said he is worried that a dog is going to be hit by a car sooner rather than later.
A neighbor asked why the dogs’ owners couldn’t walk their dogs on a leash and put them back in the house like everyone else does.
LaMattina asked how many times animal control has had to return the dogs home. Howe replied they are called once or twice a day and times and frequently three or four times a week and agreed they are escape artists.
“I feel they need a trainer at this point because they do not know anything at all,” she said. “That make it harder. I’m less concerned if they’re 10 pounds or 100 pounds, because a Chihuahua is more dangerous than, possibly, these dogs.”
She said it was not apparent how many pups they were initially dealing with because some neighbors were returning them home. Another concern is the pup’s maturing, as one of them appears to be in heat, which will lead to a dog fight as other behaviors come into play.
“I never say something, by law, under oath, of what could happen,” Howe said. “I am saying things that will happen because of animal behavior.”
She said she is willing to work with the owners on her own free time.
Salvucci asked what is needed to complete the electric fence and when it could be done. Karger said she would call the company the next day.
“I would suggest, until you get that done, the dogs don’t go outside,” Salvucci said.