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Massachusetts Judge Voids Governance DealA Massachusetts Superior Court judge ruled September 23 that a two-year-old contract transferring governance of the 10-branch Springfield City Library system from a private nonprofit association to the city is “void and unenforceable.” Judge Constance M. Sweeney declared the agreement nullified because it was never properly signed in accordance with municipal and state law.Springfield Mayor Charles V. Ryan told the September 27 Springfield Republican that he was “very pleased” with the ruling because the main library could have been evicted in 2006 from its current facility, which is the property of the Springfield Museums Association, under the terms of the now-voided contract. Ironically, the municipality had proposed the transfer of authority to save the three branches SMA was about to shutter due to budget shortfalls. City officials began disputing the contract’s legality earlier this year, pointing out that a majority of the five-member library commission hadn’t signed the agreement until two days after it went into effect on July 1, 2003. SMA attorney David A. Shrair had countered that the point was moot since the commission was not formed until July 3. However, Judge Sweeney ruled that then-Mayor Michael J. Albano signed the contract in October, a month after it was no longer in draft form. City attorney Patrick J. Markey characterized the ruling as setting library governance “back to ground zero,” although both attorneys anticipated that the municipality would continue to operate the library system. Among the points to be clarified in a new contract is which entity owns the library system’s assets; currently, SMA allows Springfield use of library property. Posted September 30, 2005. |
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