Genocide survivor visits Council, witnesses council wrangle

Armenian genocide survivor visits town Council

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Armenian genocide survivor Arika Derkazerian visited the Watertown Town Council on Tuesday to support Councillor Marilyn Devaney's proclamation urging the Massachusetts Municipal Association's continued co-sponsoring of the Anti Defamation League's No Place for Hate program.

Watertown severed its ties with the ADL's NPH program after TAB columnist John DiMascio brought to light the ADL's continuing denial of the Armenian genocide.

Mrs. Derkazerian's testimony was preceded by an embarrassing inside-baseball wrangle between At-Large Councillor Marilyn Devaney and the remainder of the council. The council wanted to bring the issue forward as a resolution, while Councillor Devaney brought the issue forward as a proclamation. Resolutions are not signed by individual councillors, while proclamations enable individual councillors to associate their name with a particular issue.

"On the way, I couldn't walk, they threw me on the side of the street, and I started crying, saying, why are you leaving me over here? Well, you can't walk, we can't carry you. If we went one way, we were afraid someone would kill us; so we had to go very quietly to Jerusalem...I don't remember it, I was only three, but I had older brothers who told me the story."

Before leaving, Ms. Derkazian said, "I'm here to support Marilyn."

"Arika has come out on a cold winter night to support me, and yet you're not allowing it, Father Barkmakian and all these people have come out to support it, they have read it and they support it, and now you're saying we're throwing out the rules and I can't do it...I'm asking you, Mr. President, follow the rules and let me do this."
Councillor Sideris said, "This was brought to the council at the last meeting at the last minute ---"

"I brought it to the Council President and he didn't put it on David Boyajian was with me when I wrote it!" exclaimed Councillor Devaney. "I'm not going to be called a liar!"

"We have one person speaking, so you have your seat over here, " said Council President Younger. "No, I'll stay here," said Devaney.
"Well, get away from the microphone," said Younger.

Councillor Sideris took the floor and said, "This was brought forward at the previous meeting and handed to the council at the last minute. It was brought forward as a proclamation. A proclamation, in the form usually used by the council, is used to congratulate a retiring employee, as we did today with Councillor Romanelli. The councillor claims that we need to follow the rules, but Council rule 9.2 states, and I'll read this for the record, all proclamations, ordinances, orders and resolution approved by the town council shall not have a reference to "sponsored by" or similar language identifying the councillor that brought it forward. "

"That was changed," Devaney said softly.

Sideris continued: "The bottom of the proclamation says, "Sponsored by Councillor Devaney." Over the last two weeks, I made the effort to draft a compromise resolution, which Councillor Hecht assisted me with. We felt a resolution would be more of a sense of the council and would be more appropriate to bring to the MMA. I gave a copy of this to the Council president for him to review it, and he put it on the agenda. So what we have before us tonight is a resolution, not a proclamation."

After Councillor Sideris read the resolution, Devaney said, "It looks like any reference to the ADL was taken out, and I think that's what it's all about. If we're going to talk about severing ties with the ADL, we have to talk about what the ADL is."

Ultimately, the council voted to adopt the resolution as written by Councillors Sideris and Hecht.