Friday, August 21, 2020


Templeton Board of Selectmen
c/o Carter Terenzini
Town Administrator
160 Patriots Road, P.O. Box 620
East Templeton, MA 01438
By e-mail only: cterenzini@templetonma.gov

RE: Open Meeting Law Complaint

Dear Mr. Terenzini:

This office received a complaint from Robert May on July 1, 2020, alleging that the
Templeton Board of Selectmen (the “Board”) violated the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, §§
18-25, as modified by Governor Charles Baker’s March 12 order temporarily suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law. 1 The complaint was originally filed with the Board on June 1, and you responded, on behalf of the Board, by letter dated June 24. 2020 The complaint alleges that the Board violated the Open Meeting Law when it held a meeting on May 27 and did not provide the public with real-time access.
Following our review, we find that the Board violated the Open Meeting Law as alleged.
In reaching this determination, we reviewed the original complaint, the Board’s response to the
complaint, and the request for further review filed with our office. In addition, we reviewed the
notice and open session minutes of the May 27 meeting, as well as a video recording of that
meeting.
1 All dates in this letter refer to the year 2020.
2 We take this opportunity to remind the Board that the Open Meeting Law requires that within 14 business days of receipt of a complaint, a public body must meet to review the complaint’s allegations; take remedial action, if appropriate; send to the complainant a response and a description of any remedial action taken; and send to the Attorney General a copy of the complaint and a description of a any remedial action taken. G.L. c. 30A, § 23(b); 940 CMR 29.05(5).
See OML Declination 8-7-2019 (Pepperell Board of Selectmen). Here, the Board did not respond to the complaint until June 24, although its response was due June 19. We remind the Board of its obligations under the Law.


(working on posting the complaint / response in its entirety)

2 comments:

  1. Chairmans SNAFU seemingly leading town down the same old path..............Maybe we need a Civilian Command that understands Accountability? Maybe we need a Chairman that understands who works for whom?

    ReplyDelete
  2. There is structure when people are on a Committee and are involved in town related business. The Open Meeting Law is in place for a reason. No Committee member can do their own thing. The term "Open Meeting" is there for a reason. The sooner department and Committee members under stand that, the better off we all will be.

    ReplyDelete