Rauseo Tells Selectmen He May Have Conflict Of Interest

When it comes right down to it, $450 really isn't a lot of money. But it could be enough to prevent Town Moderator Keith Rauseo from overseeing one of the most important Town Meeting votes in the history of Tewksbury.

Rauseo appeared before the Board of Selectmen at its April 10 meeting and told members that he could have a conflict of interest when it comes to the

As town moderator, Rauseo receives a $450 stipend. If voters adopt the changes recommended by the Special Act Charter Committee, Town Meeting and the position of town moderator would be eliminated and with it, Rauseo's stipend. Rauseo told the board he reached out to the State Ethics Commission and was told the situation did represent a financial interest for him and therefore created a potential conflict of interest.

Approval of the charter changes will take two votes. As town moderator, Rauseo is scheduled to oversee the STM and the debate over the charter changes. If approved there, the charter proposal would go before voters in a ballot vote.

The date of that ballot vote is key. According to Rauseo, if the ballot vote does not take place until 2013, there is no conflict, because any changes to the charter would take effect Jan. 1 2014, when his term expires. But if the vote takes place in September, 2012, as the SACC hopes, the changes would take effect Jan. 1, 2013 and Rauseo would lose a year of his stipend.

Rauseo said he recognizes the historic significance of the charter vote and has been feeling great angst over possibly having to step aside.

"I've been very depressed about the possibility of not being able to do this," said Rauseo.

Selectman Scott Wilson, chairman of the SACC, said if the charter changes are approved at the Special Town Meeting, they will also have to be approved by the State Legislature before a ballot vote can be taken. For that reason, he said, it would be difficult to try and predetermine a date for the ballot vote.

If Rauseo does recuse himself from the Special Town Meeting debate and vote, a replacement would have to be chosen by voters that night.

The board expects to revisit Rauseo's situation at their April 24 meeting.

During his talk with the selectmen, Rauseo also suggested that the town send out notification postcards to all registered voters, reminding them about the Special Town Meeting on May 8 and the issue top be debated and voted on.

In other business:

• Selectmen gave their approval for a road race on June 24. The event will be sponsored locally by _ and promoted by Harry Pratt of Ultra Marketing. The event will serve as a fundraiser for the Friends of the Patriotic Activities Committee fireworks fund. Sauro has already pledged $5,000 to the fund.
• Selectmen approved a common victualler license transfer for _