Selectmen Briefed by Town Attorneys; Transparent Government is Key

Selectmen Briefed by Town Attorneys; Transparent Government is Key

By Anne W. Semmes

Article Last Updated: 12/14/2007 11:03:00 AM EST

Freshman First Selectman Peter Tesei and Selectmen Lin Lavery and Peter Crumbine, in their first official meeting held Dec. 6, were versed in the powers of governance they have been given.

In the Tesei-requested orientation, Town Attorney John Wayne Fox explained the unique dual powers invested in the Board of Selectmen by the Town Charter. First, in how charter changes dating from the 1970s and '80s had moved the authority of the board to the first selectman, giving him or her individual responsibility over certain departments.

The second power Fox described was the board's team effort decision-making process - that any authoritative action taken by the three individuals, such as even adding an item to a meeting agenda - was done by consensus, of two or of three. He directed the selectmen to consult the appropriate sections of their copy of the Charter to best understand how the process of governance works.

The importance and requirements of transparency - as spelled out by the statutes of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act - was their longest briefing given by attorney Aamina Ahmad. She praised an early action by the first selectman ordering all town vehicles to bear the municipal seal for identification by the public as a positive example of transparency.

"If you go to the Freedom of Information Act Web site," she said, "the first thing you see is a rising sun - for the sunshine laws shedding light on the government.

"Open government, open meetings and open records is the consistent theme of good governance if you look at the statutes throughout."

Ahmad named information and records as the two basic tenets of the FOI Act. State law required them to give public notice, said Fox, of any board meeting involving two or more of them Agendas must be posted no later than 24 hours before a meeting, and as of Jan. 31 each year - all meetings must be scheduled and posted with the Town Clerk.

Any closing to the public of their meetings for executive sessions had to comply with the following reasons - for discussions of employee performance or dismissal (unless an employee requests a public session as in the case of suspended Fire Marshal Joseph Benoit); with pending litigation or claims discussion; for matters of security or in purchasing real estate that would impact the price; or for discussing records exempt from disclosure from the FOI Act.

All the ramifications of record keeping were addressed. The selectmen were advised by Ahmad to confine their e-mail communications and record keeping to their Town e-mail account, after noting a recent FOI Commission decision had considered an official's personal e-mail in the public record.

"This area of the law," she said, "is still being developed." And, as of now, "voicemails are not considered in the public record."

Of the "thousands and thousands "of records kept in the Town Hall vault, 24 record types were listed as exempt from public view, including personal medical files, those of law enforcement agencies and communications between attorneys and clients. Any exceptions, said Ahmad, were on a "case by case situation."

"If you are going to deny access, she said, "it has to be in four business days."

The selectmen received some good news over the recent decline of often frequent Commission on Human Rights (CHR) claims made under the FOI Act. And the related Greenwich Point "Beach suit" wherein three women declared discrimination had been dismissed on three of four counts, with the fourth likely soon to be settled.

A legacy of former Selectman Jim Lash, said town attorney Valerie Maze Keeney, was his belief in the importance of being in compliance of the FOI Act. To that end, Lash had brought a representative from the FOI's Hartford office to instruct employees how to comply with requests. The Town's open record policy was available on the Town Web site. Keeney cited these efforts as important principles of transparent government.

Throughout the orientation, the first selectman, with his years of running meetings of the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) voiced familiarity with procedures. But a new challenge arose when Tesei questioned his right to "caucus" with his fellow Republican selectman, Peter Crumbine. Any discussions of agendas with one other selectman, Fox told him, would constitute a quorum or a meeting, and therefore was not allowed.

Such an action would be possible, said Fox, with a five-member board. With Lavery looking on, Tesei said with a mischievous smile, that perhaps the first order of business would be to call for a charter change from a three- to a five-member Board of Selectmen.

Tesei spoke afterward of the differing BET modus operandi. "With the BET of six Democrats and six Republicans, prior to a meeting you were able to review the agenda in a non-public forum. There was a free flow of ideas."

"This is the practical aspect," said the first selectman. "We (three) have to be able to process things."

But, "No matter how you slice it," he said, "we can't get together irrespective of political affiliation because it constitutes a quorum."

His predecessor, Jim Lash, "got around it casually" by meeting with Selectman Penny Monahan over Monday morning coffee. "They might have talked significant issues," he said. And he and Lavery met up recently at a dinner.

"That is the challenge, he said, "working within our system to accomplish what we need to do."

 
 

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