Peabody zoning board adopts attendance rule

PEABODY – Members of the Planning Board are no longer the only municipal leaders in the city to adopt the Mullen Rule.City Council voted unanimously last week to approve the use of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 39, Section 23D for members of the Zoning Board of Appeals. The new law addresses voting disqualification in regards to missed attendance by municipal board, committee and commission members.The law states that a member shall not be disqualified from voting solely due to the member’s absence from no more than a single session of the hearing at which testimony or other evidence is received.It further states that “before any such vote, the member shall certify in writing that he has examined all evidence received at the missed session, which shall include an audio or video recording of the missed session or transcript thereof.”In April, the Planning Board approached the Council to adopt the Mullen Rule. The Council unanimously approved their request, noting that with frequent meetings, it’s difficult for a member to be at all the meetings.The Council voted to test drive the Mullen Rule with the Planning Board for a year to monitor how often it’s utilized and why. Councilor James Liacos suggested doing the same for the ZBA. Members of the two groups will have to notify the Council anytime they choose to put the law to use.If all goes well, the Council agreed to consider applying the law to their own meetings, as well as other committees in the city.