We'll Be Nicer, Chilmark Official Says

An ongoing disagreement between Chilmark selectmen and the town's advisory human resources board over the part-time beach supervisor and her job requirements has given birth to a separate controversy.

Harsh, personal language and profanities during human resources board meetings in February were recorded and released to a member of the town's beach committee, after which transcripts — inaccurate, meeting participants say — were posted at Alley's General Store and the Menemsha Texaco for all to read.

The posted typescripts contained "quotes that are not in the tapes," said town counsel Ron Rappaport at Tuesday night's selectmen's meeting, which drew a capacity crowd of more than two dozen town residents and Island reporters.

"Some of those words were not said," continued Rappaport, who told selectmen he listened to "probably over three hours" of audio minutes from two February meetings during which the board discussed the employment of beach supervisor Martina Mastromonico.

"There was nothing which was said, in my judgement that was libelous, slander or crossed the legal line," Rappaport said

But, he told selectmen, "there were things that were certainly said that were not decorous," and he advised board members to be more civil in their discussions.

Selectman Bill Rossi, who attended the contentious meetings, told Rappaport the board has already realized the need for "changes in decorum, procedures" and that in March the board has met without the kind of conflict seen last month.

February's discussions released "years of frustration, apparently," Rossi said.

"I wasn’t quite ready for it and I let them vent; I probably should have stopped it," he admitted.

"I'm confident nothing like this will happen again," Rossi said. 

Selectmen stopped short of agreeing with a suggestion from former town employee Judy Jardin that board members apologize to Mastromonico and other targets of the harsh language recorded in the audio minutes.

"If they want to apologize privately they can. I don’t think it’s up to us to demand an apology," Rossi said.

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