Another solid editorial – this is from today’s Sun:
EDITORIAL
City, Bayliss can start over
The City of Lowell and Lowell Licensing Commission Chairman Walter Bayliss are headed for a legal showdown Wednesday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn.
The hearing should never take place.
The city and Bayliss should agree to a compromise and halt the proceedings.
Bayliss is fighting his “forcible removal” from office by City Manager Bernie Lynch, who has accused Bayliss of engaging in “inappropriate behavior” at commission meetings.
Bayliss, who has served on the commission since 1995, says Lynch’s charges are “false, baseless and aimed at damaging my family’s good reputation.”
Peter Nicosia, Bayliss’ attorney, says Lynch failed to give Bayliss a “predischarge” hearing, so his removal from office is invalid. He said there isn’t so much as a single reprimand in Bayliss’ long public service file. Furthermore, Nicosia is questioning whether the city has the right to handle his client’s appeal through a City Council hearing. Nicosia believes only a Superior Court judge can decide Bayliss’ fate.
What a mess. And it will get uglier if Bayliss and/or Lynch take the witness stand in court.
If the judge rules that the City Council has jurisdiction over Bayliss’ fate, it will open the door to an even bigger public display of the he said/he said nature.
The city does not need another long, divisive legal case whose result can offer nothing more than community bitterness and personal recriminations.
We urge both Bayliss and the city to compromise and settle their differences immediately and amicably:
• Bayliss should be reinstated to the board pending a court ruling on the proper way to discharge a board official.
• The city should agree to have Bayliss serve out his six-year term, which expires in June 2014, or negotiate with Bayliss for an earlier departure date that will lead to a smooth transition for a new appointee.
• Bayliss and the city manager should agree to terms that will improve communications between the Licensing Commission and City Hall.
• Bayliss and the city manager must each commit to become willing partners in a collaboration that better serves and safeguards the public from alcohol- related violence in the downtown and elsewhere. Drinking establishments violating the city’s liquor policies must know they will be dealt with fairly but firmly by the Licensing Commission.
The growth of the downtown has resulted in many positives for residents and businesses.
Issues are bound to crop up and late-night drinking and violence are the most pressing right now.
They threaten to kill the golden goose unless drinking establishments are held to strict compliance of the law.
Bayliss and the Licensing Commission have to be a major part of the solution, working with the city and police officials to ensure decorum downtown. The way we see it communications have broken down among all the parties — and all share in the blame for what has transpired.
We appeal to Bayliss and Lynch to make amends and start anew for a better Lowell.
This is an excellent editorial. But, somehow, I have a feeling that Bayliss is not going to back down. The whole thin g has been handled badly by both sides. Perhaps the Manager should have called and said something to the effect of – The downtown is out of control and you need to do something, or else. …. But then I stop and think of Bayliss’ apparent preference for the bars interest’s over the other business owners and residents. I remember his remarks about the police picking up more men for public urination. I remember his remarks about there being too many or not enough police officers at a hearing. All of the aforementioned led to his removal. I think Bayliss got his dander several months ago when the real criticism began. No one is going to tell him how to run the License Commission, what rules to change and look where we are now. It may be too late for a compromise, even if the Manager is willing to try. . .