Last fall, resident Paul E. Cesan, husband of select board member Tracy L. Cesan, filed a complaint with the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley, as well as a Freedom of Information request, concerning minutes from 12 meetings that were held between Oct. 17, 2010 and Jan. 3. 2012.
SOUTHWICK – The state Attorney General's office has ruled that town officials violated open meeting laws by not approving meeting minutes in a timely manner, but did provide them when requested as required by law.
Paul E. Cesan, husband of selectman Tracy L. Cesan, filed a complaint with Attorney General Martha Coakley office, as well as a federal Freedom of Information Act request, concerning minutes from 12 meetings that were held between Oct. 17, 2010 and Jan. 3. 2012.
Cesan made the request for the minutes on Oct. 23 and said the town did not comply with that demand in a timely manner.
In addition to the Board of Selectmen, Cesan also named in the complaint the town clerk’s office and Chief Administrative Officer Karl J. Stinehart.
At the time, Stinehart said “the town has 10 business working days” to provide a response to the request, which was Nov. 6, 2012, and the attorney general’s office stated in a letter dated Sept. 3 “the board responded to Cesan’s request in a timely manner given that the tenth day following the request was a Saturday and they responded the next Monday.
The state found, however, that the board erred by not approving meeting minutes from Nov. 8 and 15, 2010 until March 18, 2013.
The recent opinion from Assistant Attorney General Hanne Rush, sent to D.M. Moschos, the attorney the town hired to represent Stinehart, and forwarded to Southwick officials, stated that the Board of Selectmen waited too long to approve the minutes.
“With regard to the complainant’s allegation that the board failed to approve the requested meeting minutes in a timely manner, we find that the board violated the Open Meeting Law. ... The board provided draft minutes to the complainant for meetings held two years prior, despite the fact that the board generally meets on a bi-weekly basis.”
“The board has expressed a commitment to improving the process of approving its meeting minutes,” Rush wrote.
In a July 15 letter to Town Counsel Benjamin Coyle, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Sclarsie explained the decision rendered by the state regarding Paul Cesan’s Jan. 18, 2013, complaint that was filed with the Board of Selectmen Feb. 8, 2013.
“In reaching a determination, we reviewed the Jan. 18, 2013, complaint filed with the board; the board’s Feb. 8, 2013 response; and the April 18, 2013, complaint filed with our office. Additionally, we reviewed the minutes of the board’s Nov. 5, 2012, and Nov. 19, 2012; and Nov. 26, 2012 meetings; and the notice for the board’s Jan. 14, 2013, meeting.
Following our review, we find the board violated the Open Meeting Law by failing to approve meeting minutes in a timely manner. However, we find that the Board took the appropriate remedial action in response to the complaint and order no further relief.”