Open Meeting Law complaint filed in Great Barrington

A small drama is beginning to unfold in Great Barington.

In response to an Open Meeting Law complaint by Eileen Mooney of the monthly newsletter “THE NEWSletter,” the Great Barrington Board of Selectmen turned over documents she requested. She found these documents didn’t have enough detail, however, and filed another complaint.

The documents in question were the minutes from the selectmen’s Sept. 10 executive session, which was called to review Town Manager Kevin O’Donnell’s contract.

Ms. Mooney asked for the minutes on Sept. 26, as the reason the session was held had been made public and acted on. The board voted on Sept. 24 not to renew Mr. O’Donell’s contract. Board of Selectmen Chairman Sean Stanton replied that the minutes would be provided once they were approved.

Having not received the documents, Ms. Mooney sent a request by mail and email for the documents again on Oct. 12, but received no reply.

When, at its Oct. 22 meeting, the board approved the minutes of the regular meeting on Sept. 10, Ms. Mooney asked when they would act on the minutes of the executive session. Chairman Stanton said they would have to approve them in executive session. According to Ms. Mooney, no board member suggested at this time the minutes be acted upon.

This sequence of events prompted Ms. Mooney to file an Open Meeting Law complaint. The response of the selectmen at their Nov. 13 meeting, however, was to agree to make the minutes public and available to Ms. Mooney.

She was not satisfied with the minutes, however, and filed another complaint.

In this complaint, Ms. Mooney alleges the selectmen acted improperly during the Sept. 10 executive session by discussing the town manager without giving him a chance to be present, not recording a roll call on motions made during the session and not attributing any statements recorded in the minutes.

Ms. Mooney’s complaint asks the selectmen to provide more detailed and accurate minutes for the Sept. 10 meeting and substantiate the entire executive session matches the reason it was called.

The only comment the selectmen gave on this subject in their Nov. 26 meeting was they were consulting with their attorney. Ms. Mooney could not be reached for comment.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on December 6, 2012. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry