State lawmakers call for county commissioner to resign.

BARNSTABLE — Six of the eight members of the Cape and Islands legislative delegation issued a statement Thursday asking Barnstable County Commissioner Ronald Beaty Jr. to "stop besmirching the reputation of everyone in county government” by resigning immediately.

"Enough is enough," the statement says.

The lawmakers said they were coming to the defense of two colleagues — Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, and Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro — in the wake of a tweet Beaty posted Tuesday asking whether gay politicians were too “self-absorbed and self-centered” to fairly represent all constituents.

Peake and Cyr are both openly gay. Although Beaty said his tweet was not directed at anyone in particular, it came just days after the two were appointed to leadership posts in the Legislature.

“Two from our group were singled out by inference in a completely inappropriate tweet by a Barnstable County commissioner who continues to spread hurtful, bigoted and juvenile commentary,” the statement says.

The lawmakers said Beaty "engages in this boorish behavior to elicit reactions for his own amusement."

Ron Beaty Reprimand Letter by on Scribd

“… We would prefer to simply ignore this latest example of his tone deaf rhetoric and have the press and social media do the same,” they wrote. “However, our silence could be interpreted to imply indifference, and that would be a gross misinterpretation of how we feel about the situation.”

The statement was signed by Sen. Viriato “Vinny” deMacedo, R-Plymouth; Rep. William Crocker, R-Centerville; Rep. Dylan Fernandes, D-Woods Hole; Rep. Randy Hunt, R-Sandwich; Rep. Timothy Whelan, R-Brewster; and Rep. David Vieira, R-East Falmouth.

Cyr and Peake were the only members of the delegation not to sign the statement.

“I’m humbled by their support of not only me and Julian, but of all LGBTQ elected officials,” Peake said. “Their letter is evidence of how closely we work together and our joint commitment to represent the Cape and Islands in the most effective way possible. I love them for standing up.”

Cyr declined to comment Thursday, saying he thought the statement from his colleagues spoke for itself.

Whelan was the first elected official to demand Beaty’s resignation, hours after the tweet was posted. Four members of the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates also called for his resignation at a meeting Wednesday.

In a call with the Times, Beaty referred to the joint statement by the lawmakers as “no biggie,” saying he was not surprised because none of the six men supported him when he ran for office.

Beaty contends his comments are protected under the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and says he has no intention of apologizing or stepping down. He retweeted the original post about gay politicians at around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“Regarding a rumored letter calling for my resignation recently issued by some members of the Cape Cod legislative delegation, Legislative Delegation members did not put me into office as a Barnstable County Commissioner, the voters of Cape Cod did,” Beaty said via email. “It will also be the same voters who will decide whether or not I stay in office in 2020, not a group of apparently elitist politicians.”

The current controversy is not the first time Beaty's social media commentary has led to calls for his recall or resignation since he took office two years ago. He also has come under fire for comments disparaging the #MeToo women’s movement and a survivor of the Parkland, Florida, school massacre.

The county charter still has no mechanism to remove an elected county official from office, although five members of the Assembly of Delegates introduced an ordinance in 2017 to amend the document to include a recall.

“It’s more complicated than people would think,” Ronald Bergstrom, chairman of the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners, said. “It has to go on a ballot during a statewide election cycle.”

Suzanne McAuliffe, speaker of the Assembly of Delegates, said a charter review is planned for the spring, after the county’s fiscal 2020 budget is finalized.

A recall provision and term limits are among the amendments the assembly will likely propose to a charter review committee, according to McAuliffe. Any amendments the committee supports would be on the November 2020 ballot in all Cape towns, a ballot that Beaty also would be on if he chooses to run for re-election. If the proposed amendments are passed by voters, they would then require ratification by the Legislature.

Hunt’s office was asked by a constituent about five years ago to investigate why there was no recall provision in the charter. Hunt said when the county charter was sent to Beacon Hill for approval in the 1980s, it did contain a recall provision, but that was stripped out of the document.

According to Hunt, the provision was eliminated because recall processes were not included in other county charters in Massachusetts, and the state likely did not want to absorb the expense — over $100,000 — to pay for a recall election that occurred between even-year elections.

The constituent who requested that Hunt's office look into the matter? Ronald Beaty Jr.

— Follow Geoff Spillane on Twitter: @GSpillaneCCT.