The state will not review an open meeting law complaint against the Board of Selectmen.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The state will not review the open meeting law complaint lodged against the Board of Selectmen.

 

The complaint was filed by resident Richard Cohen, who has filed multiple open meeting law complaints, but was made too long after the alleged violation. 

 

At issue with the Board of Selectmen is a letter current School Committee member Robert Barton wrote expressing opinions regarding school issues while a member of the Board of Selectmen. Cohen claimed the email addressed to the entire board and the School Committee was a deliberation.

 

More information on the complaint itself can be found here.

 

"Because the letter at issue is now more than a year old, and because Mr. Barton has not been a member of the Board since that time, we decline to review this complaint," reads the response from Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Sclarsic. "Although we do not review the merits of the complaint, we remind the Board that 'deliberation' is defined in the Open Meeting Law as an oral or written communication through any medium, including electronic mail, between or among a quorum of a public body on any public business within its jurisdiction." 

 

Complaints must be filed within 30 days of the alleged violation or 30 days from when the alleged violation could "reasonably have been discovered." Sclarsic wrote that it is unclear if the letter in question could have been discovered. 

 

Cohen has claimed there were violations on the Superintendency Union 71 Board and the Lanesborough Elementary School Committee as well.

 

The attorney general's office ruled that Superintendency Union 71 had not broken the law and last week issued a statement saying it will not even review the one against the Board of Selectmen. 

 

The state has yet to rule on another complaint in which Cohen says the School Committee held a meeting just hours before the public hearing for the budget with the intent to make changes to the document. The budget must be made available to the public 48 hours in advance of the hearing and Cohen says the meeting before the hearing did not allow for the final budget to be available in enough time.

 

Beyond the open meeting law complaints, Cohen is requesting that Barton provide every communication he has had regarding the school since being sworn in on the School Committee. Cohen has received copies of emails from Committee member Jim Moriarity already, though Cohen believes there is more.

 

Cohen has been debating with Barton over the records and now the school's attorney has agreed to oversee compliance with that request.