By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The Environmental Sustainability Committee has overstepped its bounds by expanding its own role far beyond what the Town Council intended when the ESC was created in 2019.
That was the consensus of the Town Council at their meeting this week.
Environmental Sustainability Committee chair Tiana Veldwisch and ESC member Melissa Eusden were called before the Town Council by Chairman Michael McLane after Eusden sent an email to McLane asking to come before the Town Council to discuss a zero-emissions vehicle policy for the town that the ESC has been working on.
McLane explained that there seemed to be a difference opinion regarding the town’s obligations after accepting a “Climate Leader Communities” state grant last April.
He said at the ESC had earlier indicated that the town was required to create a zero-emissions vehicle policy as a condition of the grant. But the consultant that was assigned to the town as part of the grant has told the town that a zero-emissions policy is not required.
“I want us to be on the same page,” McLane said.
He asked the ESC representatives if it was their opinion that the Town Council should be voting soon on a zero emissions policy.
Eusden said that the ESC has been doing research but had no set date to bring such a policy forward.
McLane said that having watched some of ESC meetings, it appeared that they were doing “more than research,” when they were asking town department heads for things like vehicle lists.
Eusden and Veldswich also acknowledged that the ESC has been working on a “town-wide climate plan” that would apply to homes and businesses as well as municipal departments.
“Have we tasked you with that?” McLane asked.
The ESC representatives admitted that they had not been asked to create such a plan.
Councilor Jonathan Chines said that it seemed to him that the ESC was simply doing what it had been created to do.
But Town Councilor Edward Dombroski pointed out that when the ESC was created, it was assigned a very brief and generic mission statement. He noted, however, that the mission statement posted on the ESC’s official town web page was much longer and included a far more expansive list of roles and responsibilities than it was originally assigned.
He pointed out that the Town Council had never voted on the longer mission statement.
Eusden and Veldswich admitted that the ESC had created the newer, expanded mission statement on its own and had voted to approve it a number of years ago.
“That’s not your charge,” Dombroski said, adding that it is not appropriate for any committee appointed by the Town Council to redefine its responsibilities and duties.
He said he was “deeply troubled” by what the ESC has been doing, noting that it has taken on a “far more activist role” over the years, with members at ESC meetings openly plotting strategies for getting their agenda through the Town Council.
“I don’t believe you are merely gathering information,” Dombroski said. “I think you have lost your way.”
McLane suggested that other Town Councilors watch the ESC meetings, noting that subcommittees of two or three individuals have been putting together a town-wide climate policy that would affect all residents and businesses.
“This body (the Town Council) is the policy-making body in town,” he stressed.
Town Councilor Robert Vincent said that he had also watched videos of recent ESC subcommittee meetings.
“It is clear to me,” Vincent said, “that the Environmental Sustainability Committee is not simply doing research. They are putting together a zero-emissions fuel efficiency policy.” He added that ESC members have been approaching town department heads. He noted that the Police Chief was told that there was in fact a zero-emissions policy and it would apply to the Police Department.
Town Councilor Douglas Butler said that even if the ESC is advocating for a policy, they’re not making the decision but rather just proposing.
Chines added that in his view nothing that the ESC is doing is contrary to their mission or contrary to how other committees operate.
Councilor Mehreen Butt observed that Wakefield doesn’t have an environmental director like other towns do, so the ESC was created.
“They are not a rogue group,” she insisted.
McLane said that it was clear to him that there was a belief among ESC members that the Town Council would have to go forward with a zero-emissions vehicle plan.
“This is more than research,” McLane said. “This is outreach. They’re talking about a template for the zero-emission policy.”
Dombroski noted that part of the Town Council’s responsibility is to manage costs, but he had yet to hear anyone on the ESC talk about the financial impact of their objectives.
“There is a tremendous disconnect,” he said, “between having passion for what you believe is right and the achievement of goals at any cost.” He said that he could not think of any other town committee that does not weigh costs as part of their discussions.
McLane said that he had backed off somewhat in inquiring about the cost of participating in the Climate Leaders program because it was his understanding that the ESC was only working on the initial “decarbonization roadmap.”
Dombroski brought the discussion back to the two-page mission statement on the ESC’s web page that outlined duties and responsibilities that far exceed the ESC’s charge when it was created in 2019. He moved to have the expanded mission statement removed and replaced with the original, more generic charge.
As a legal matter, Town Counsel Thomas Mullen agreed that no appointed body can, on its own, adopt a mission statement that goes beyond the statement of purpose that was given it when the appointed body was created.
Vincent read the relevant town Bylaw: “With respect to each multiple member body, there shall be a list of designated powers and duties. For appointed multiple member bodies, this shall be created by the appointing authority.”
In the end, the Town Council determined that it did not need a vote, and simply instructed Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio to remove the ESC’s self-created mission statement and replace it with the original one that was issued in 2019 when the ESC was formed.
