Despite Good News, Select Board's Verbal Sparring Goes On

READING — In case you were doing something else Tuesday night, you missed the apologies.

The Reading Select Board apologized to residents last night, for arguing in public, for arguing in executive session, for arguing in back-to-back meetings, and for an Open Meeting Law complaint by one of its own members. And after all the apologies, they continued the verbal sparring right down to the finish, which for the record was a 30-minute discussion on approving the minutes of the last two meetings, a process that usually takes seconds.

But there was good news, assuming the vacationing John Halsey agrees. Town counsel Ray Miyares said the Select Board has done nothing legally wrong.

In case you've been enjoying summer and not focused on Reading politics, this all goes back to June 19 when the board went into executive session. After the session formerly ended, board member Vanessa Alvarado had Caitlin Saunders, the keeper of the minutes, leave the room and Alvarado said she had a statement to read. Over the objection of then chair Barry Berman, Alvarado read her statement. Halsey also objected, but his took the form of an Open Meeting Law complaint filed with the attorney general on July 9. Halsey specifically mentioned Alvarado's role in the complaint.

On July 10 the board agreed they needed legal help and that's where Miyares came in. Tuesday night he said that interpersonal dynamics (Alvarado vs. Halsey) are not in the jurisdiction of the board. That means that because Alvarado was speaking for herself about an issue with a fellow board member it had nothing to do with the business of the select board and therefore didn't break any laws.

"In my opinion, there has been no violation here," said Miyares. "That said, this is a very tricky situation. It's a danger zone. In this case ... the board stayed on the right side of the law."

Miyares gave the board two options in responding to Halsey. The first was simply to say there was no violation. The second was to say there was no violation but add that the Select Board reaffirms its commitment to transparency. Choosing the second option, which the board did, means it's less likely that Halsey will pursue the matter further. The ball is in Halsey's court and his fellow board members hope it quietly goes away.

But legal issues aside, board members weren't happy with recent events.

"This was a violation of the public trust," said Berman. "It should never have happened. I apologize for my role in this."

"Our apology is to the public," said Friedmann. "It's a trust issue."

Friedmann, who is in his second month as chair and still learning how to control his sometimes agitated board members, also apologized for letting the discussion get out of hand on July 10. "I will not allow this to happen again."

Berman, clearly frustrated with board's behavior, suggested possibly asking for outside help. Something along the lines of a Select Shrink.

"We need a little help right now," said Berman.

But shortly after seemingly wrapping up discussion of the Open Meeting Law and the resulting arguments, they were back at it. First came approval of the June 19 minutes. Alvarado made a number of edits to the minutes only to be stopped by protests from Dan Ensminger. And Berman added that the edits were all under the category, "what I meant to say." To which Alvarado replied, "that's not appropriate."

The board's next meeting is Aug. 21 and Halsey will be there. It will be a challenging night.

There was more to the 3 1/2 hour meeting that just board disputes. The Beat Heart Foundation updated the board on this Saturday's second annual Jams for Jake concert at Symonds Field. There will be music, food trucks, and an expected crowd of 300 people. For more information click here.

The board also heard from Jane Burns and the Council on Aging on a new program called Dementia Friendly Reading. "It touches all our lives," said Burns. The group has a mission statement, branding, goals and strategy. They also have funding from the Massachusetts Council on Aging along with the D.K. Johnson Foundation ... Town Manager Bob LeLacheur said there will be a Downtown Symposium on Oct. 17 at the library to discuss the future of the downtown area.

Photo by Bob Holmes