Wellesley Selectman Calls Out Resident For Threats, Bullying

WELLESLEY, MA — The Wellesley Board of Selectmen is fed up with the actions of one resident and made their concerns public on Monday. In a press release, the Board of Selectmen claimed Ron Alexander was threatening board members and town officials with plans to file a criminal lawsuit — town officials are investigating to determine whether his actions constitute a crime.

Alexander is well known to town officials and selectmen for his hundreds of public records requests. On Feb. 12 police told several selectmen that Alexander filed police incident reports against Marjorie Freiman, Chair of the Board of Selectmen, Thomas Ulfelder, Vice Chair, and Jack Morgan, Secretary. Police also said that Alexander planned on filing criminal complaints against the three board members as well as against two town officials: Meghan Jop, Executive Director, and Thomas Harrington, Town Counsel.

The report claims the officials and board members listed intimidated a witness, tampered with evidence, violated Alexander's constitutional rights and threatened to commit a crime. The incidents in question happened in 2017 and Alexander claims they are linked to several of the numerous public record requests he had submitted to the town.

The next day, according to the release, Alexander set up a meeting with two other selectmen, Lise Olney and Beth Sullivan Woods. During the meeting, Alexander gave what he said was proof of the criminal activity and threatened Olney and Woods with similar complaints unless they met his demands. The demands included:

• The resignation of the other three members of the board.
• The withdrawal of Ulfelder from the upcoming election for selectman.
• The termination of Mr. Harrington as Town Counsel

Alexander wanted all three demands met by 4 p.m. that same afternoon. Alexander is also a candidate for both moderator and selectman in the March election. After receiving the information and demands, town officials made the decision to investigate whether Alexander’s actions themselves constitute a crime.

"The Board considers such threats an outrageous attempt by a Wellesley resident to interfere with the elected Board’s composition and actions and to improperly influence a Town election," the Board's statement reads.

Over the past six and a half years, Alexander has submitted several public records requests to different departments in the town — he has filed more than 20 already in the first six weeks of 2020, according to the Board of Selectmen. The Board claims Alexander is draining public resources with his requests and costing the town tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The Board says town officials have followed through and fulfilled Alexander's requests, but, "His recent threats to the Board members and Town officials extend far beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior, civil discourse or any good-faith attempt to utilize the Public Records Laws."

The board denied all claims Alexander made, saying in part:

"Given his threatening conduct that impugns the reputation and integrity of volunteer Board members and experienced and hard-working Town officials, the Board feels that it has no choice but to publicly disclose Mr. Alexander’s actions and take a strong stand against such bullying, offensive, and downright hostile behavior. The Board categorically denies that it, or the Town officials, have engaged in any criminal conduct; denies that the information presented by Mr. Alexander in any way supports his claims; and denounces in the strongest possible terms Mr. Alexander’s actions, charges, statements, and insinuations."