I know I'm big time when I see my name in an editorial rather than a regular news article. (via the Somerivlle Journal)

 Via the Somerville Journal; as previously disclaimed: reposted in it's entirety without any permission whatsoever, inasmch as nobody reads this blog and the Somerville Journal articles disappear from their website after some period of time.   I have an interest in this, as its subject took much of my time and focus for the past month and a half of my life!  (is this more legal now that it's italicized?  No?  rats!)

Somerville —

After a month of applications and interviews, Ward 1 has a new School Committee member. We’re impressed with Ben Echevarria’s resume and his commitment to the community, and we think he’ll represent the ward well in the remainder of this term. But we’re less impressed with the non-democratic process that put him in office. It needs further review before it’s used again to fill vacancies.
The Ward 1 seat was empty because Ward 1 Alderman Bill Roche stepped down from his seat back in December. As is custom, and is allowed by the city charter, he nominated a person to fill that position for the remainder of the term. Roche chose Maureen Bastardi, who was the previous Ward 1 School Committee member, and the aldermen unanimously approved her. As well they should have – Bastardi has experience serving the interests of Ward 1 and its voters had approved her for public office already. She’s a fine replacement until this November’s election and from what we’ve seen, a strong candidate to run for the seat on her own.

But her leaving the School Committee created a vacancy on that board, with no obvious Ward 1 representative to fill the position. A special election would take time, and the regular election only 10 months away would mean whoever won would have a very limited term anyway.

So the School Committee decided on a different way to fill the seat. They accepted applications and resumes from interested Ward 1 residents, getting 10 applicants in all. Then they interviewed the candidates publicly and voted, with the four highest vote-getters moving to another round of interviews. After those interviews, which were also public, the committee voted again and chose the new member.

We’re glad the School Committee’s process was so public. And as Mayor Joe Curtatone, who sits on the School Committee, pointed out, the field of 10 initial applicants was much larger than the standard field of candidates in an election, leading to a diverse body for the committee to choose from.

But it was the School Committee – and not any Ward 1 residents – who made that selection. And their decision seems haphazard.

After the final interviews, the first vote produced a 4-4 tie between Echevarria and applicant Steven Roix, who Bastardi had nominated to fill her seat. The second vote saw three people switching their support – Curtatone and School Committee Chair Mary Jo Rossetti backed Echevarria after previously backing Roix, and Ward 4 member Christine Rafal voted for Roix after previously voting for Echevarria.

That’s a surprising number of people changing their mind. What would make them switch their votes, especially so quickly after the first ballot? From what the flip-floppers said afterwards, their choices were barely considered anyway.

“I could have voted for any of these candidates,” Rafal said.

"I switched but I would've voted for all of them," Rossetti said.

"If we made a call, it would not have been a bad call," Curtatone said. "I felt we had great candidates."

 How does this serve Ward 1 voters? If they wish to choose a candidate at the voting booth by flipping a coin, that’s their right. But for non-residents to deprive them of that choice and then make their own so haphazardly is insulting and undemocratic. The process where an alderman or committee member nominates his own temporary successor also skirts the democratic process, but it at least allows a member of the ward to choose that ward’s representative. And to make that choice with presumably greater consideration than the School Committee showed this week.

We agree with Curtatone that the committee had great candidates to choose from. It’s too bad several committee members did not give those candidates the respect of full deliberation. The Board of Aldermen will be looking at this new kind of selection process over the coming months and weighing whether to change the charter’s rules for temporary succession. This slapdash selection does not argue well for making the application process a new standard for the city.