Worcester City Councilor Misses 30% of Votes Since January 2012

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Tracey Minkin, GoLocalWorcester Features Editor, with Kelly May

Retired insurance executive, hockey coach, and absent Councilor--Michael J. Germain.

Worcester City Councilor Michael J. Germain was absent for 9 of 59 City Council meetings and missed more than 30% of the roll call votes since January 2012, an examination of the city's records show.

Germain, a retired insurance executive and head hockey coach at St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic High School in Worcester, was the most absent member of the City Council by a considerable factor, having missed 303 out of 941 roll call votes, according to agendas posted online by the city. In addition to missing 9 of the 59 meetings of the latest Council term beginning January, 2012 (up to June 18, 2013), Germain was also tardy for 12 additional meetings.

"One current member has established a most unfortunate record of skipping Council meetings for the sake of visits to Florida," said David L. Schaefer, Professor of Political Science at Holy Cross. "He needs to decide whether he wants to be a Councilor or a snowbird. Such absenteeism definitely needs to be publicized, and anyone guilty of it needs to be challenged."

Most votes missed

While Germain, who is serving his third two-year term on Council, lead the council in absences as well as missed votes, several other Worcester City Councilors missed more than 85 roll call votes in the session. They are:

Councilor-At-Large Joseph O'Brien, who missed 131 votes,

Councilor-At-Large Frederick Rushton, who missed 98 votes,

District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera, who missed 88 votes,

Councilor-At-Large Kathleen Toomey, who missed 87 votes,

and District 2 Councilor Philip Palmieri, who missed 85 votes.

Anyone home? Which Worcester City Councilors actually showed up to meetings?

Palmieri, who is serving his 6th two-year term, pointed to the City Council's lack of scheduled breaks as part of the cause of his missing votes during meetings. "A lot of time members walk out to talk to constituents," Palmieri said. "There are no breaks." Palmieri added that while each meeting's agenda is available ahead of time, the Mayor may move items around, meaning that he and his fellow Councilors cannot predict when votes will come up. (Calls to Mayor Joseph Petty for comment were not returned.)

Other Councilors who spoke to GoLocalWorcester about their attendance and voting records echoed Palmieri's observation. Repeated calls and emails to Germain have gone unanswered.

An obligation to participate

"Absenteeism among City Councilors is a matter of serious concern," said Holy Cross professor David Schaefer. "Barring personal emergencies, anyone who agrees to serve on the Council has an obligation to attend every meeting and participate in deliberations on every item - whether or not he or she finds a recusal occasionally necessary." (Recusals, wherein a member removes him- or herself from a vote because of a conflict of interest, were not added to missed votes totals.)

Jennifer Duffy, senior editor for the Cook Political Report in Washington, DC, said that missed votes were particularly important. "Voters care much more about missed votes than perfect records," Duffy said. "Even if a political office doesn't come with a paycheck, voters expect the people they elected to represent them to show up for work."

If a voter failed to show up for work or missed lots of meetings, Duffy said, "that person would probably get fired." And voters "can only 'fire' someone for absenteeism on Election Day," she said. "There are more than a few members of Congress who lost re-election for missing votes and committee hearings."

Councilors respond

He's just doing his job--the best vote percentage goes to Councilor George Russell.

GoLocalWorcester contacted all 11 of Worcester's City Councilors for comment on their records. Seven of the 11 responded: some were surprised at the numbers, but none disputed them. Only one, Kathleen Toomey, offered a medical reason for missing the two meetings she'd missed since 2012. To ensure her attendance, Toomey said she plans vacations around Council meetings.

Sarai Rivera, who has missed 3 meetings and 88 votes, offered that in circumstances when many votes are bundled at one time, such as in a budget, an absence could raise the numbers.

Konstantina Lukes said she once walked out of a roll call vote because she was angry.

In addition to Mayor Petty and Councilors Germain and O'Brien, Frederick Rushton did not respond to repeated calls for comment.

The 100% Club

At the other end of the spectrum, several Councilors posted low absenteeism and missed very few votes.

Anthony Economou, William Eddy, Frederick Rushton, and George Russell all were marked for 100% attendance since January 2012. Economou only missed three votes during that time, and Russell topped the good-Councilor list with only one missed vote out of nearly 1000.

"I prioritize attending the weekly council meetings," Eddy said. "In my six years on the council, I have missed one meeting (in 2010) when I was away on a family trip. As a councilor, who works a full time job and also has school age children, I do my best to be present for votes in order to represent voters in District Five."

Economou echoed Eddy's commitment. "I am elected by the people of District 1 and I am responsible to be present to take votes so I make the effort to be there," he said. "Sometimes during topics I leave if there is a constituent there that I want to thank."

Russell put it more simply. "I just want to do my job," he said.

To see every City Council member's attendance and voting records, go here.

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink