Lawrence City Council overrides mayor veto to post job descriptions for three appointed school committee seats

The Lawrence City Council on Thursday voted to override Mayor Brian A. De Pena’s veto and moved to post job descriptions for three appointed, at‑large seats on the newly reconstituted seven‑member school committee.

The override clears the way for the council’s personnel committee to post the positions, accept applications, interview candidates and appoint three members who — under the city’s Home Rule changes adopted earlier this year — would join three elected at‑large members and the mayor on the school committee.

Council President Rodriguez and councilors said the council drafted the job descriptions in public meetings earlier this year after the council’s Home Rule Petition was approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor. Senior Adviser (administration) told the council the mayor vetoed the posting because, in his view, parts of the job description duplicate duties spelled out in the city charter and he perceived an overreach into executive powers. “The mayor feels that there’s a problem of overreach into his executive powers,” the Senior Adviser said at the meeting.

The mayor’s written comment on the personnel request, read into the record, said he supported pay adjustments for an ADA coordinator and expressed overall support for certain personnel moves. The mayor also sent a separate letter — read at the meeting — on the school committee job descriptions, saying he had concerns about the drafting; the letter did not direct the council to stop posting. In the letter the mayor wrote in part, “I am fully supportive of this adjustment.”

Council members who spoke said the Home Rule Petition approved in March established that three appointed school committee members should possess particular experience: one with legal experience, one with finance experience and one with education experience. The job descriptions were written to reflect those qualification requirements and to allow the council to collect resumes and begin the appointment process.

Council Vice President Infante and other councilors urged that the council’s earlier public work — including an ad hoc committee and multiple meetings in which language was negotiated — be respected and that the appointments proceed. The council made a motion to override the mayor’s veto; after a roll call the council recorded unanimous support from the members present. The clerk was authorized to post the job descriptions “ASAP” and to begin accepting applications so appointments can be made in time for the committee to be seated in January, as officials described.

The council did not change the Home Rule Petition itself at Thursday’s meeting; several councilors said any disagreement over charter language would require a separate legislative effort to amend the Home Rule Petition or the charter through the state process.

What the council voted on A motion to override the mayor’s veto of the council‑drafted job descriptions was moved, seconded and carried by roll call. The council recorded yes votes from Councilor Reyes, Councilor Marmol, Councilor Del Rosario, Councilor Luzon, Councilor LaPlante, Councilor Lehi, Council Vice President Infante and Council President Rodriguez. The clerk was then authorized to proceed with posting and the personnel committee process.

Background and next steps In March the council sent a Home Rule Petition to the state that altered the composition of the Lawrence School Committee to seven members: three elected at‑large members, three appointed at‑large members (to be appointed by the city council) and the mayor as the seventh member. The governor signed the change into state law, and the city held an election this year for the three at‑large elected seats. The council said Thursday that appointing the three appointed seats requires the council to post and accept applications under the job descriptions it drafted in public.

Council members and staff said any changes to the charter language would have to follow the Home Rule Petition process through the state legislature; the override vote allows the local appointment process to proceed under the existing law.

Speakers at the meeting who addressed this agenda item included the Senior Adviser (administration), City Clerk Madeline Claire, City Attorney Tim Newton, Personnel Director Garcia, Council Vice President Infante and multiple councilors; the mayor’s written position was read into the record.