Tiverton Town Council Dismisses Complaint Against Clerk

The Tiverton Town Council upheld the town clerk's actions in recent charter violation complaint during its meeting on Monday.

In a hearing that lasted for nearly four hours, resident Justin Katz presented a case to the Charter Monitoring and Complaint Review Board - which is composed solely of Town Council members. Katz accused Town Clerk Nancy Mello of violating the town's charter in her handling of an October complaint that accused a School Department employee of displaying political paraphernalia on school property.

In his complaint Katz claimed that Mello violated the town's charter because - in his opinion - she didn't have the authority to either dismiss or recommend a hearing to the Town Council for that original complaint. Mello dismissed the complaint because she said the school department secretary did not knowingly or maliciously violate the charter's ban on carrying political messages on school propery.

"My concern is the precedent," said Katz in an interview after Monday's meeting. "The clerk's new authority to dismiss complaints goes even beyond finding no evidence through an investigation, but ruling on the merits, and without any appeals process."

Katz told the council that he voted for Mello, but that he objected to Mello's ability to dismiss the October charter complaint because he said it was too much power left to one person. He called the matter of the button's minor, stating that his real aim was to initiate a process ensured fair evaluation of all charter complaints.

"This is about making sure clerks cannot run interference for their friends - not that Ms. Mello was doing this in that case," said Katz.

Special counsel to the Town Council, Matthew Oliverio, reminded councilors that Mello's guilt rested on whether or not she "knowingly" violated the town charter.

Each of the seven Town Council members individually stated that they did not believe Mello would have knowingly violated the charter and thus, dismissed the charges against her.

If the council had ruled that there was cause for Katz' complaint, the matter would have been put on the municipal court agenda and Mello could have faced penalties of fines from $0 - $300 and/or removal from office. Oliverio's services were obtained at a cost of $225 per hour to oversee the proceedings against Mello - costs are ongoing.

"We believe it is abundantly clear that Ms. Mello had the duty to investigate, investigated, and did so properly," said Andrew Teitz, town solicitor and acting counsel for Mello in her official capacity.

Ultimately, council members decided that Mello did have the authority to cast judgement on the merit of the October 2012 complaint levied by Tiverton resident Donna Cook.

Cook alleged that a Tiverton School Department employee displayed buttons on her desk that contained political messages - a clear violation of town charter. Mello, however, dismissed the complaint because she said her investigation revealed the school department secretary did not know that the buttons displayed the logo of a local political action committee.

Despite alluding to new evidence during Monday's hearing, Cook said she would not file an expanded complaint with the town against the school department secretary's actions.

"I won't file another complaint, not with this mindset," Cook said after the meeting. although she said the process was educational and hoped that the council would address ambiguous langauge in the charter that dictates the violation complaint process.

In the end, it was the same logic that saved Mello - the Town Council determined she acted in what she thought was the best interest of the town within her position as the town clerk.

"I think the charter is a little lacking, it's not specific and the devil is in the details," said Councilor Joan Chabot during Monday's meeting. "Nancy is not a lawyer and she is doing the best job she can do, but also, the charter complaints are serious business."