'Mandate' for change: Newly elected selectmen pledge to renew residents' faith in board

ROCKPORT — The day after becoming Rockport's newest selectmen, Conservation Commission member Andrew Heinze and former state lawmaker Ellen Canavan agreed Tuesday's vote was a "mandate" from voters eager for change in Rockport's government.

Heinze — the top vote-getter in each precinct Tuesday — received 1,177 votes and Canavan 1,089 to beat out Open Space Committee leader Christopher Lewis for the two open seats. Lewis placed more than 200 votes out of the running, with a total of 871.

Heinze and Canavan will assume the board seats that had been held by Chairman Joseph Lisi and Roxanne Tieri — neither of whom sought re-election.

"I was somewhat surprised because I've only been here for two years; most people hate to have someone new come along and tell them the way they've been doing things is wrong," she said. "With those votes, (Heinze) and I got a mandate — people really do want to be able to trust their government, and they don't trust them right now."

Heinze campaigned on a platform of bringing transparency back to local government and cutting back on Town Administrator Michael Racicot's responsibilities.

"My first thought was that the people agreed with what I stand for as far as open government, being fiscally responsible and trying to give the government back to the people," Heinze said yesterday. "This is a mandate; the people want a change in the way the government is run and to be treated with a little more respect than they're getting.

"They want us as selectmen to take over control of the government," Heinze continued. "Mr. Racicot is supposed to do research and advise on what we should do on issues, but should have nothing to do with personnel, volunteers or citizen concerns."

Heinze said the "light turnout" — about 34 percent of registered voters cast ballots Tuesday, when officials had predicted up to 50 percent — indicated to him that those who came out were people who have lived in town for years and were fed up with the way they saw things going.

"The first thing I'll try to change is to amend the job description of the town administrator and take things out that shouldn't be in there, like the power to recommend appointing people to volunteer committees," Heinze said. "There are things in the job description that (Racicot) shouldn't have to do."

Canavan said the first goal she'd like to accomplish is to change how the board meetings themselves are arranged. She said the board should not have 40-minute executive sessions at the beginning of meetings. She also vowed to review the volunteer appointment process.

"The people want to see someone who is used to the hurly-burly and won't just fade," said Canavan yesterday. "They want people who have opinions and stand and vote for them."

"I've worked in municipal government since 1970 with mayors, selectmen, boards of aldermen, and change is inevitable," Racicot said. "I'll work with the new people — and am looking forward to them actually seeing what transpires in government. I'm sure they will have good ideas as well."

"I'll be very surprised if anything transpires that I haven't seen somewhere before," she said. "I've been in this a long time, and though it's different issues in Rockport, the process and the bylaws are very clear; it's parliamentary process and I've been working with that for many years."

Heinze indicated people shouldn't need to become board members in order to see "how things work."

"We should've been able to see how it works before now," Heinze said, alluding to Racicot's comment. "There shouldn't have been 5-0 votes and no public knowledge of what's going on. How do they arrive at 5-0 votes? When they get that many 5-0 votes, suspicions come up."

A Times story last week documented that, from April 3, 2007, through April 29 of this year, the Board of Selectmen not only approved every item that came to a vote, but did so unanimously.

Lewis — the only selectmen candidate who did not put up campaign signs around town — said he enjoyed the experience and was already looking forward to continuing his work on the newly formed Open Space and Recreation Planning Committee.

"It was wonderful; I had the time of my life," Lewis said yesterday. "It was an incredible 10 weeks where I walked just about every street in Rockport, solidified relationships and made a lot of friends. I'm thrilled that 871 people felt good enough to support me, and I thank each of them for putting an 'x' next to my name."

Heinze credited Lewis for having "many good ideas" but added voters most likely realized those ideas would cost money.

"Lewis had a lot of good ideas, but these ideas are going to cost money," Heinze said. "Where's it going to come from? Rockport can't have a Cadillac on a Ford budget."

Heinze, who will have to step down from the Conservation Commission and the Open Space Committee, and Canavan are scheduled to be sworn into office by Town Clerk Fred Frithsen on Tuesday, May 13 at 6:45 p.m. The ceremony will come just prior to the board's next meeting.

Photos

Rockport Selectman-elect Andrew Heinze Staff photo

Rockport Selectwoman-elect Ellen Canavan Staff photo