What the town of Templeton has never done (according to town meeting records and town clerk) is vote to accept MGL c45, section 2 that states:

Section 2. A town may elect a board of park commissioners, consisting of three or five persons and prescribe their terms of office, or the members of a town planning board or department of public works, or road commissioners may if so authorized by vote of the town act as park commissioners therein. In a town which has not elected a board of park commissioners or has not authorized the town planning board so to act, the selectmen shall act as such board of park commissioners and have authority to approve or disapprove the acquisition of lands by eminent domain as set forth in section seventy-nine of chapter ninety-two and shall have all other powers and duties of a park commission.

What the town of Templeton did do, back in 1948 (according to town meeting records) is accept MGL c114, sections 22 - 26.

Section 23. Said board shall have the sole care, superintendence and management of all public burial grounds in its town, may lay out any existing public burial grounds in its town or any land purchased and set apart by said town for such cemeteries, in lots or other suitable subdivisions, with proper paths and avenues, may plant, embellish, ornament and fence the same and erect therein such suitable edifices and conveniences and make such improvements as it considers convenient; and, subject to the approval of the town, may make such regulations, consistent with law, as it deems expedient.

From the sections of MGL c114 that the town accepted, the cemetery commissioners do not have authority over parks and playgrounds. Seems Templeton has been doing it wrong for a while and this is why records such as annual town reports are critical as well as the information on the town web site. Templeton residents deserve nothing less and they should demand more!

 Been a while, so here goes.

Why file and open meeting law complaint?

When an entity that is supported by public funds and / or represents the public, as in you, there is guidance, there are rules and laws that govern / guide those entities and they matter.

One thing in the open meeting law states that for a public body to meet and conduct business, there needs to be a quorum (majority) present to do so. There is a requirement of the law to do certain things upon election, appointment, employment. One thing required of elected/appointed individuals is to, upon election/appointment is to obtain/be given, a form titled certificate of receipt of open meeting law materials. You sign it & date it, attesting to receiving copies of the open meeting law, attorney general's regulations, 940 cmr 29:00-29.11.

This form further states by the individual signing, the individual attests that "I have read and understand the requirements of the open meeting law and the consequences of violating it. I further understand that the materials I have received may be revised or updated from time to time, and that I have a continuing obligation to implement any changes to the open meeting law during my term of office."

For the first time that I can recall, email sent out from town administrator, who is also the ethics liaison, sent email out to all concerned, with the information required. Some of it was/is forms to be signed, "tests" to be completed, and others, such as conflict of interest law summary, to be read. While it is easy enough to fall into that open meeting law violation box, holding a meeting of a public body without a quorum and taking action, such as accepting minutes, should not be one of them. I mean, we have 7 members and we only have three here at proposed meeting, even if it is a 7 member board, commission or committee and you only have 6 active members, 3 does not equal a quorum. When we have an elected member of a public body also serving on a couple of other public committee / commission, people should not expect this to happen. It should not happen and it is an important detail, being able to count. On another front, this is why the details of our annual town reports and the town's website are so important; how else are towns people, taxpayers, residents suppose to know how their government is suppose to run if they cannot even see the correct information on the website they pay for? If you cannot look at an annual town report and see who serves on what, how much you pay your employees and then look at town website to see who is still serving, who has moved on and where there might be openings for you to volunteer, the most basic principle of our government is broken. That would be access to information that is current and correct, that would be transparency and accountability and that is why I believe it matters.

Lastly, if you want people to participate in local governance and want people to attend town meeting, DO NOT ask them for money for a dump body or infield groomer and get the money and then go spend it on something else. Lies or deceiving people really pisses them off! I post this as a resident/citizen of the town of Templeton.