More Select Board Skullduggery

Elizabeth Scheibel, District Attorney
One Court Square
Northampton, Ma. 01060
8/3/2007

Dear Ms. Scheibel:

According to the Open Meeting Law: “When quorums of two or more bodies meet jointly, it is a meeting of each of the governmental bodies, and therefore both bodies must give notice of the meeting.”

On August 1, 2007 I briefly attended an Amherst Planning Board and Town Commercial Relations Committee joint meeting (duly posted by each board with the Town Clerk) and observed a quorum of the 5-member Amherst Select Board present: Rob Kusner, Anne Awad and Hwei-Ling Greeney.

The town clerk confirmed that the Amherst Select Board did not provide notice of such a joint meeting.

When I mentioned this to Mr. Kusner (who deliberated at length at that joint meeting, as did Ms. Awad) he replied that Ms. Greeney unexpectedly attended BUT, did not speak.

If the Amherst Select Board is operating under that assumption then perhaps a refresher on the Open Meeting Law is warranted.


Larry Kelley
Amherst Town Meeting Precinct 5
Amherst Redevelopment Authority
Onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com
#####################################################################################
UPDATE (9:45 AM)The dog at it, the check is in the mail, The sun got in my eyes.
So the excuse the Select Board will use is that they were attending that 8/1 joint Planning Board/Town Commercial Relations Committee meeting not as “Selectmen” but as Select Board “liaisons” to those committees, Greeney to TCRC and Kusner and Awad to Zoning Subcommittee.

Hmmm, let’s see. That means all five can show up to a Joint Meeting without posting it, giving them the element of surprise. On 7/23 Ms Awad became the second “liaison” to the Zoning Sub Committee. The Budget Coordinating Group also has two Select board liaisons.

Gee, I can’t wait to see whom they will assign to be our ARA liaison. Or Perhaps two.

Obviously what THEY are doing is trying to nip in the bud any and all of the Town Manager’s zoning initiatives to stimulate economic development.

And when elements of the Select Board combine this early in the process with the NIMBY’s like Mary Streeter and Fred Moseley, it’s a very bad sign.