Barnstable County Bill of Rights Proposal Defeated

ThinkstockPhotos-466732416 (1)BARNSTABLE – The proposed Barnstable Bill of Rights, which is an amendment to the Home Rule Charter, was defeated last week after it failed to garner the two-thirds of weighted votes needed to pass at the Assembly of Delegates.

The bill asserted the rights of local towns to enact laws protecting health, safety and welfare.

That includes the right to clean drinking water, as well as the ability to control and limit toxins, radiation, pollutants and fertilizers.

Brian O’Malley, a Provincetown delegate for the Assembly of Delegates, was in favor of the bill and pushed for the bill to pass.

Although the bill did not pass, O’Malley is grateful that its message got through to people.

“A real diversity of people across the Cape, about this subject, got engaged, that is what a democratic revolution is about, it’s about the people actually getting involved in what’s going on and making known what they’re preferences are, what they’re political leanings are,” said O’Malley.

One of the concerns that those who opposed it had were that it could expose the county to lawsuits, but O’Malley said he did not think so.

“This is known as defining law, it’s not regulatory law,” said O’Malley. “It’s a relatively unfamiliar aspect of law but what’s it’s about is who has legal standing,” said O’Malley.

By JUSTIN SAUNDERS, CapeCod.com Newscenter

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