BRTA Board Sees Open Meeting Law Complaint
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The BRTA Advisory Board is reforming its search for a new administrator after an Open Meeting Law complaint.
This includes a re-evaluation of all submitted resumes and amending the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority's governing bylaws. On Thursday, the board held a special meeting to address the complaint from a member.
Rene Wood alleged that the search for a new authority administrator "was not properly noticed for the average person to understand."
She said there was no agenda posted for a search committee meeting in July when potential candidates were moved forward, and insufficient information was provided for the June meeting during which members were appointed to the task.
"I felt that it was appropriate to inform the public of this major action being taken by this board, and that's why I suggested review and redo," Wood said after recusing herself from the boardroom table.
Board members agreed to consider the resumes and consider amending the BRTA bylaws, which haven't been updated since 2013, during their regular meeting on Aug. 28.
Administrator Robert Malnati is retiring next year after more than two decades with the transportation agency, and the search has begun for his successor. According to meeting minutes, Malnati announced his upcoming retirement to the board on May 22 and said the Finance Committee would appoint a search committee.
In the complaint, Wood reported being told that the July 9 meeting was private and did not need to be posted. She asserted that there are no private meetings for an organization subject to Open Meeting Law.
Malnati explained that the ad hoc search committee meeting over Zoom narrowed the applicant pool to the top four or five applicants. The meeting was not posted.
"That was the extent of the meeting and the next steps, what were the next steps," he said.
There was a total of 16 applications, which were narrowed down based on qualification. A job posting describes the administrator as being the "face of the agency," with strong leadership, integrity and responsibility, communication, and resiliency. The incoming administrator would earn between $140,000 and $160,000 annually.
Search committee members were approved at the Finance/Audit Committee's June 25 meeting, and Wood believes there wasn't enough information in the agenda for the average person to know what they were searching for.
The agenda reads "Approval of Search Committee Members- VOTE."
"Reviewing all the available agendas posted on BRTA's website going back to 1/30/25, there is no mention in any agenda of what this Search Committee is to do, just as there is no mention of the search for a new BRTA Administrator to replace Mr. Malnati, or that authorizations to proceed will be discussed or voted upon," the complaint reads.
Wood included an iBerkshires.com article from June 23 announcing the administrator's retirement in the complaint packet.
In reviewing the BRTA bylaws, she found that the Advisory Board, Budget Committee, and Compensation Committee are the only bodies listed. The complaint asks, "There is no formal status for a Finance/Audit Committee; As such, is it legal to hold a meeting on 6/25/25 with an agenda including 'Approval for Search Committee Members- VOTE'?"
She asked that the BRTA start the administrator search activities over, only have committees that are listed in the bylaws, review and redo actions taken this year that violate OML, and require members to attend OML training.
"I think my bigger concern is, what do we do to update the bylaws to address the issue that we are having committees meet that don't exist?" said Mayor Peter Marchetti, the city's representative on the advisory board.
"... If you have an ad hoc committee that's the search committee, if it doesn't exist in your bylaws, by whose authority is that search committee working?"
The applications will be shared with Advisory Board members and, at the next scheduled meeting, they will decide which candidates will move forward to interviews.
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