Colucci to appear on Lynn fall ballot

LYNN – Ward 4 Councilor Richard Colucci will not have to run a sticker campaign to try and hold onto his seat, according to an opinion handed down from the city’s Law Department.”I’m relieved,” said Colucci. “It’s good news.”While he is relieved, Ariana Murrell-Rosario is undaunted and plans to take her fight to the Secretary of State’s Office, which she hopes will force the city to comply with voting regulations as she interprets them.Murrell-Rosario challenged Colucci’s nomination papers claiming he did not include a notarized statement when he turned in his papers, which is illegal under state election laws. That action forced the longtime councilor to consider a sticker campaign to hang onto his seat.City attorney James Lamanna said that Murrell-Rosario was citing the wrong section of law when she claimed that Colucci and all candidates needed to include a notarized statement with their nomination papers.”She would have been absolutely correct had the people voted on it ? but they haven’t,” he said.According to Lamanna, the section of state law that Murrell-Rosario cited applies to the form of government that has a city manager. The section of government that covers Lynn, which has a mayor and city council, only requires the notarization if the measure has first been approved by the voters at the ballot box. Lamanna said research shows that the issue of notarizing nomination papers never went before voters.”As such, there exists no requirement that candidates for office for a preliminary election in the City of Lynn have any nomination papers notarized,” reads the decision rendered by Lamanna.”That’s really different spin on the law,” Murrell-Rosario said.She said she was quoting requirements listed on a home rule petition under the Acts of 2003 that explicitly lays out a timeline and requirements for nomination papers.”There are standard requirements for every community to get on the ballot,” she said.Murrell-Rosario said as a newcomer to the election process she was told she had to have her papers notarized and she believes there is a double standard that protects the incumbents.”I think this is why this city is so backwards,” she said. “I will follow this up with a public records request to look at all the nomination papers to show that it’s a citywide problem.”