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Mayor says Gardner charter gives council oversight as Teamsters item is removed
Summary
Mayor Nicholson told the council the city charter enumerates the clerk, auditor and treasurer as offices subject to council oversight; after the mayor spoke about a Department of Labor Relations conversation, the council removed a Teamsters union letter from the calendar for further review.
The Gardner City Council on May 4 removed from its agenda a letter from Teamsters Union Local 170 about union negotiations after Mayor Nicholson asked to address the council and described concerns about the matter.
Mayor Nicholson told the council that, in his view and that of his administration, the city charter specifically enumerates the city clerk, city auditor and city treasurer/collector as offices that fall under the council’s purview and financial check-and-balance. He said those provisions inform how the council and executive coordinate on personnel and compensation matters.
The mayor also reported he had spent about an hour on the phone with an attorney from the Department of Labor Relations to review technical aspects of the situation and said the conversation left him with additional concerns that he planned to discuss with the city solicitor. "I've...had some learnings that I'll be speaking with the solicitor about, and if appropriate, we will meet on the topic again," he said.
After the mayor’s remarks, the council voted to remove the Teamsters item from the calendar so members could follow up; the council indicated the matter may be revisited, potentially in executive session to consult with legal counsel.
The council recorded the removal as passed by voice vote; no formal vote on the underlying labor issue occurred at the meeting.
