Last modified: Sunday, August 12, 2007 1:03 AM EDT Rehoboth recall signs on Route 118 in the area of 36 Bay State Road. (Staff photo by TOM MAGUIRE) Recall efforts growing in area BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Rehoboth - In New England, fall is the time for brightly-colored leaves, apple picking and football games. In the Attleboro area this year, it could be a season for settling political scores as well. Petitions are under way to schedule recall elections against selectmen in Mansfield and Rehoboth, and some residents in Wrentham are talking up the prospects for a recall against a regional school committee member. Anger against Selectmen Chairman Chris Morra in Rehoboth prompted the formation of the Committee to Reclaim Rehoboth, which plans to present additional lists of names to the town clerk's office Monday to ensure a recall election sometime in October or November. Morra says the effort against him is being backed by development interests upset over rigid enforcement of town bylaws, and pledges to contest any recall. In Mansfield, selectmen Louis Amoruso and David McCarter are the subject of recall petitions being circulated by a local resident in reaction to a $1.45 million federal court judgment against the town manager. Amoruso and McCarter have supported the manager, John D'Agostino, in the past. The board of selectmen so far has failed to heed calls for the firing of D'Agostino, who was the subject of whistleblower lawsuits by two former electric department employees. A recall, if petitions are successful, might not come until November. Wrentham residents have discussed recalling its representative on the King Philip Regional School Committee, but the town's newly-voted recall provision has not yet received requisite state approval. Although area communities have had recall elections in the past, seldom has there been such fervor in multiple communities at the same time. However it's not uncommon for voters who believe government has gone off the rails to take things into their own hands rather than wait for the next municipal election. "You tend to see recall elections at times of great stress," said David Luberoff, a professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. "In some cases, the stress could be for political reasons, such as a rivalry between newcomers and longtime residents. In others, it could be because of fiscal stress, at a time when communities are finding costs rising faster than revenues and overrides are being put forth." Potential contests shaping up in the Attleboro area show both colorations. Rehoboth's pro-recall forces, headed by Robert Davis, contend that Morra has acted vindictively in attempts to replace town officials and discipline town employees and had violated the open meeting law. Morra, a former East Providence, R.I., resident, says the claims are fabrications, and that he has become a target of entrenched factions in town that profit from real estate development and earth removal projects. In Mansfield, political outrage is being vented at Amoruso and McCarter. Some community members, led by resident Keith Purrier, are outraged over the verdict, which stems from allegations that the D'Agostino fired former electric department Director Jack Beliveau. The suit alleged that Beliveau was axed for siding with a female employee in her claims of sexual harassment against the town manger. The town is weighing an appeal. Amoruso, a nine-year selectman who was eyeing retirement when his term runs out next spring, says he feels compelled to contest the recall to defend his reputation and service to the town, which also includes service on the school committee, charter commission and cable access board. McCarter could not be reached for comment. Financial and management issues are at stake in a possible Wrentham recall. Wrentham resident Francis "Chip" Faulkner, associate director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, is among citizens who say they favor recalling King Philip School Committee Chairwoman Clare Sullivan over the school district's agreement to pay 75 percent of a former high school principal's health insurance costs for life. Sullivan said the negotiated perk was an attempt to retain the then-principal at a time when the district was losing top administrators. However, proponents may have to wait awhile because the town's recent recall provision is awaiting state approval. While many Massachusetts communities are facing financial and political turmoil over growth and finance issues, it's not clear whether recalls are becoming more or less popular in the Bay State. The Massachusetts Secretary of State's office does not track recalls, nor does the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association. However Sally Hayden, Rutland town clerk and president of the clerks' group, said she's unaware of any major trend. "We don't tend to hear about them a lot," she said. Recall elections owe their existence to an ingrained distrust of entrenched power that runs throughout American history, beginning with Colonial days. Early discussions on the drafting of the U.S. Constitution included a recommendation for a recall procedure that could be used against members of the House of Representatives according to Joshua Spivak, a New York attorney who wrote his master's degree thesis on recalls. The recall was struck from the Constitution before ratification. But recalls found their way into state governments with increasing regularity beginning in the 1890s, during the heyday of the popularity of the populist and progressive movements. As of 2003, measures allowing the recall of state officials was law in at least 18 states, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State. Massachusetts has no statewide recall provision, but a number of municipalities have obtained special legislation to allow them to hold local recalls when voters are aggrieved by actions of public officials. Opinions differ widely on whether recalls are a valuable check against unbridled power or a dangerous cudgel capable of being wielded by special interests and political factions. "It's a process that should be reserved for gross misfeasance, something on the order of illegality or something else equally reprehensible," said Michael Kryzanek, a professor of political science at Bridgewater State College. Kryzanek said recalls conceived for any but the most egregious misdeeds constitute a costly deviation from the normal electoral process and a ticket to divisiveness. He said repeated recalls might even dissuade future leaders from trying their hand at politics because of the fear they might be recalled for vague or frivolous reasons. Meanwhile, townspeople always have the option of "throwing the bums out" at the next regular municipal election. "The best check and balance is in the ballot box," he said. Proponents of recalls tend to think of their favored remedy as an exercise in democracy rather than a distortion of it, however. "This is not something we have taken lightly," said MaryBeth Moriarty of Reclaim Rehoboth, who said members judged the alleged conduct by the incumbent serious enough that he should not complete his term. "We feel it's part of the democratic process. It's there to be used." She said the fact that recall forces were able to amass 1,000 voter signatures in four days is ample evidence of how upset voters are with the incumbent. One thing not seriously open to debate is that recalls can often be messy, argumentative and lead to lasting divisions among neighbors. Then again, so can every other election. In 1991, a slate of recall candidates challenged all five members of the Mansfield Board of Selectmen after the town fathers voted controversially not to renew the contract of then-Town Manager Thomas Dwyer. However, the selectmen acted within contractual limits, turning the recall essentially into a philosophical referendum on the town's management and future direction. None of the selectmen who were subjected to recall were removed, and the recall candidates went down to defeat. Some moved out of town. The recall campaign was accompanied by controversy, including the vandalism of a number of signs that had been posted by recall opponents. Edward Tartufo, a former selectman who was one of the targets of the recall, remembers the discomfort of being targeted for removal. "I'm the type of guy who holds everything in," said Tartufo. "I think really it was harder on my family." However, Tartufo said he believes that in retrospect most of those in the pro-recall forces were thoughtful, sincere people who simply had different ideas. After 1991, he said he had no trouble working on town projects with those who had been opposition candidates. John Dunn, who won a seat on the board of selectmen in an earlier recall battle, was on the other side in 1991, and remembers being humbled by the defeat. "Before a recall, I think the challengers feel they're on the righteous side," said Dunn who ran against then-Selectman Will Sarro. "After the loss, you feel kind of timid." Nevertheless, Dunn said he too retains a feeling of respect for those involved in the 1991 campaign, and says any ill feelings have long since faded. "Today when I run into Ed or Will, I still stop and say 'hi, how're you doing?' " Dunn said. Risks of embarrassment and hurt feelings haven't changed much throughout the history of recall elections, but other factors have increased their impact and potential for success. In Rehoboth, pro-recall forces created a sensation by opening up a Web site chock full with letters critical of Morra, video clips from selectmen's meetings and statements accusing the selectman of everything from targeting the police officer-daughter of a former opponent for potential discipline to political motivations in non-reappointments of certain volunteer officials. In less than a month, the site accumulated more than 9,000 hits. Morra immediately branded the accusations as false and retaliated by erecting his own Web site stocked with letters and copies of meeting minutes intended to rebut opposition claims. "Where is the smoking gun?" Morra asked. "If I had done the things they say, you'd expect that the district attorney or the attorney general's office would be calling me." He said he has received more than 100 responses and letters of support and plans to post materials contradicting each of the claims made by Reclaim Rehoboth. The battling Web sites can be visited at www.reclaimrehoboth.org and www.keeprehobothours.com. Morra says he's being targeted by pro-development forces, many of which profit from earth removal, and which oppose tight enforcement of gravel regulations. One, he says, is former selectman and contractor John Ferreira, who according to handbills provided by Morra has hosted recall-related meetings at his house. Ferreira said he approves of the recall, but is not a puppet master pulling strings to get Morra fired, and is not financing the recall effort. He says he and other Rehoboth residents are opposed to Morra because of what they feel are his unilateral actions and abuse of power. Morra says he'll contest the recall and let the voters be his judge. "When I announced my reasons for running, I said I wouldn't let people down," he said, "and I won't." RICK FOSTER can be reached at 508-236-0360 or at rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.