Swampscott Selectmen Accused Of Open Meeting Law Violation

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Two residents accused Swampscott selectmen of violating the state's open meeting law by not having public deliberations about a controversial new trash pick-up policies in a complaint filed with the Massachusetts Attorney General's office on Aug. 10.

In a six-page letter to Selectmen Chair Peter Spellios outlining the complaint, Wayne Spritz and Mark Miller said Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald formed a Waste Reduction Task Force without deliberation from the select board. The task force approved the new rules, which cut the amount of trash Swampscott residents can throw out each and increased the price of overflow trash bags.

The two men say the task force was comprised of Fitzgerald, Selectman Polly Titcomb, Assistant Town Administrators Allie Fiske and Ron Mendes, and health board member Stephanie Goodman. Town officials have said the policy change was needed after a 10.9 percent jump in annual, solid waste disposal costs.

"Off-the-record deliberations by these two elected officials [Titcomb and Goodman] has resulted in policy recommendation and their implementation without open public hearings or consent votes by any elected board with purview to make such a policy," Miller and Spritz wrote. "In this case, it appears that both advising and deliberating public policy in private was an attempt to subrogate power from their own boards and enhance the powers of the Town Administrator."

Read the full letter to Spellios.

Dave Copeland covers Swampscott and other North Shore communities for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).