Williamstown Selectmen Cleared of Open Meeting Violation
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The attorney general's office has found one town board in violation of Open Meeting Law but cleared another of any wrongdoing.
Both complaints were lodged by Ken Swiatek and related to deliberations around the application for a federal grant to purchase and close the Spruces Mobile Home Park and the possibility of using the Lowry and Burbank properties off Stratton Road for affordable housing in response to the closure. Swiatek has been an outspoken opponent of the plan and founded Friends of Williamstown Conservation Lands to lobby against it.
The attorney general's office found that the Affordable Housing Committee had violated Open Meeting when Chairwoman Catherine Yamamoto had emailed a draft of a letter to the editor she was writing asking the other members if they wished to sign it on March 3 and 4. (The letter was published on iBerkshires on March 4, 2013)
The complaint was filed on March 14; after reviewing the committee's response, the emails and meeting minutes, the office determined that: "this is a violation because the emails were sent to a quorum of the body's members and concerned public business within the committee's jurisdiction." The finding was posted on Friday, Aug. 9.
The committee, it noted, acknowledged the violation at its April 24 meeting "and apologizes for its violation." The office commended the committee and, because of its acknowledgment, "we strongly encourage complainants to reconsider whether further review by this office remains necessary." The AG's office considered the matter closed.
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The second complaint, filed by Swiatek on Dec. 10, 2012, and posted by the AG's office on Aug. 1, cleared the Selectmen of improperly holding executive sessions.
The complaint referred to meetings on March 12 and March 26 in 2012. The office reviewed the complaint, minutes of the executive session, and a request by Swiatek for further review on Jan. 22, and spoke by telephone with the chairman at that time, Thomas Sheldon.
On March 12, 2012, the board had entered into executive session to discuss strategy regarding litigation with park owner Morgan Management. At that time, Town Manger Peter Fohlin had presented a plan to resolve the lawsuit using a federal Hazard Mitigation Grant to help buy the park, which had been heavily damaged the year before by Hurricane Irene. A similar discussion took place at the March 26 executive session and the grant submitted on April 2.
Swiatek alleged the meetings were held to hatch a plan to purchase property without input by residents, particularly those of the Spruces, and not about the lawsuit. The application for the grant was not revealed until November.
The AG's office, however, disagreed, stating the "discussions were appropriate under Purpose 3 because they related to a pending lawsuit against the town."
"The Board's discussion of a grant application to assist with the potential purchase of the Spruces was directly related to a proposed resolution of that lawsuit. The Board did not engage in a substantive discussion about such a purchase, however, since grant approval was a necessary precursor to settlement."
It also did not find deliberations were made outside of properly posted meetings. Sheldon, Fohlin and Selectwoman Jane Allen may have meet to discuss the topic, but Fohlin is not a member of the board and two selectmen do not make a quorum.
The AG's office also considers that complaint closed.
Tags: attorney general, legal opinions, open meeting complaint,
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