ZBA Chair files Open Meeting Complaint against Planning Board, Demands "Public Apology to the Board of Selectmen for Using the Town Green."

 

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Tonight at 7PM the Planning Board will review an "Open Meeting" complaint from Lancaster  ZBA Chair Jeanne Rich.  The complaint demands "...a public apology to the Board of selectmen for using the town green without permission and violating the open meeting law."    Ms. Rich filed her complaint on 8/15.   You can grab a copy of her complaint from this link:  Jeanne Rich's 7/15 OML Complaint.

The response requested in Ms. Rich's complaint.

Ms. Rich alleges:

"On Saturday, July 16th and Sunday July 17th, 2022 I was parked on Thayer Memorial Drive to collect signatures for possible recall's [sic] in the town of Lancaster.   At approximately 9:00 a.m. Planning Board member Carol Jackson and Roy Morabito [sic] appeard on the town green with lawn chairs and sat across from me.  About a half hour later Planning Board member C. Peter Christoph appeared and sat with Carol and Roy.   I overheard him say  "I just got your message."  The three members sat together until 12 noon on Saturday."

The "Open Meeting Law" is intended to ensure that government decisions are made in open meetings that the public can attend.  Ms. Rich is apparently contending that they held an illegal meeting when a quorum of the Planning Board gathered to observer her recall efforts on 7/16 and 7/17.   But not every gathering of a quorum is a meeting -- there are specific exemptions in the "Open Meeting Law." and "public and private gatherings" are exempted as long as the members aren't deliberating.

Ms. Rich's complaint continues.   "Roy sat with a sign, C. Peter Christoph sat with a sign and Carol held a sign.  Whenever citizens approached me Carol would stand up and hold her sign for residents to read.  Her sign stated:  "Jeanne Rich on Planning Board for approx. 30 years TAXES INCREASED!   Ryan Aldrich can't bwe [sic] bothered to show up on ZBA."     It's not clear what would be an open meeting violation here.   (Ryan Aldrich was one of the "first 10" signers on the recall petitions: he resigned as a ZBA member earlier this year, and did miss more than 50% of their meetings during his tenure.)

Ms. Rich concludes:  "My understanding of the Open Meeting Law  is that the communication between these three members, whether text, phone, etc. to meet on the town green constitutes a violation of the Open Meeting Law."    Her understanding is not correct:   even discussions about the scheduling of actual meetings are exempted from the definition of deliberation.   (It would be very difficult if boards couldn't schedule meetings without breaking the law.)

"Secondly, the discussion Carol Jackson had and C. Peter Christoph [sic] with members of the general public should not have taken place without a properly posted meeting."   Speaking with the public isn't an open meeting violation.

"The mere presence of three members of 5 constitutes a violation and should be addressed."   Members aren't prohibited from gathering outside meetings, for the reasons discussed above. 

Boards that receive an "Open Meeting" complaint have to review them and respond within 14 business days.  If Ms. Rich is not satisfied, she'll have the opportunity to forward the complaint to the state Attorney Generals office for an appeal.