Mr. Frawley: It's time for Middleboro Selectmen to behave like adults!

In the past, Middleboro has violated the OPEN MEETING LAW - there is no excuse and we're not going to split the fine hairs to justify Mr. Frawley's interpretation of the statute to call a 'MEETING' and EXCLUDE OTHERS.  

Life is simple! 

When in doubt...POST THE PUBLIC MEETING! 

Those present at the 'MEETING' are each aware of the statute....there is simply no excuse...no sputtering....no consideration or justification. 

It has long been conspicuous that Mr. Frawley is incapable of acting professionally at times.  
It has long been conspicuous that Mr. Frawley is pigheaded and defiant, frequently misunderstanding the law. [For instance, counting vehicles on the property of a used car dealer and much else.]

It is known that others not involved or public have been fanning the flames of petty gossip, venom and dissension, maybe scheming for their own childish ends. 

That needs to cease as well! 

It's time to behave like ADULTS!

The MEETING should have been PUBLIC, POSTED and TELEVISED with all invited to attend, not merely a select few.  

Folks, You are managing a TOWN, not a kindergarten! 
Please behave as such....Mr. Frawley! 

Rule violation accusations fly at Middleboro board meeting

The Oliver House was built in 1769 on the grounds of Oliver Hall by Judge Peter Oliver, for his son, Peter. The judge, one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the Colonies, made a fortune off an iron forge on the Nemasket River.

Thursday Posted May 25, 2017

During tense exchange, one selectmen accused another of holding an informal meeting which she felt could be viewed as a violation of the open meeting law

By Eileen Reece, Enterprise Correspondent

MIDDLEBORO – Tension between members of the Board of Selectmen became apparent this week when one member accused another of holding an informal meeting which she felt could be viewed as a violation of the open meeting law.

In question was a meeting on May 16 requested by Selectmen Chairman Allin Frawley who invited Selectmen Vice Chairman Stephen McKinnon, Town Manager Robert Nunes, Assistant to the Town Manager Evan Melillo, Police Chief Joseph Perkins, Town Moderator Wayne Perkins, and Selectmen Executive Assistant Coleen Lieb to discuss issue relative to the Oliver Estates.

Selectmen Leilani Dalpe, chairman of the town’s Oliver Estate Advisory Committee, said she learned of the meeting ‘after the fact’ and questioned why other selectmen were not aware of the meeting in which she understood that certain issues concerning the Oliver Estate was discussed but no member of the Oliver Estate Advisory committee was invited.

“It seems highly inappropriate to me,” said Dalpe, noting it was based on “sketchy information” regarding the Oliver House and “no one called me or a member of the advisory board”.

“It’s no secret there is tension between us,” said Dalpe referring to Frawley.

“I’m not naive,” said Dalpe, adding that she is aware that private meetings are held.

When Dalpe brought the matter up under the “unanticipated” portion of the selectmen’s meeting, Frawley responded, saying, “I am not going to discuss it tonight. I am not prepared to discuss it at length.”

Frawley had asked the agenda item be postponed due to the absence of selectmen Stephen McKinnon, saying he wanted a full board present when discussing policy.

“It was a 100 percent legal meeting,” said Frawley.

“I had some items I wanted to discuss with some people,” said Frawley, adding that no votes were taken, no policy set. “There was no violation of any sort,” said Frawley who noted that he invited people who had insight to issues regarding security and safety at the Oliver House.

Frawley said the meeting lasted between 20 minutes to a half hour and included a discussion on adding two agenda items, the first on whether a town employee should be present during the ghost tours for liability reasons and whether volunteers fill out a Cori form for background checks because they act as “agents of the town.” Both items appeared on the agenda under item 9 “Oliver Estate Business.”

“This sounds like a deliberation” said Selectman John Knowlton in regards to the two items discussed at the meeting, having a town employee present for the ghost tours and a Cori check on Oliver Estate Volunteers.

Former selectmen chairman Diane Stewart said she found the discussion “very dramatic” and said it is not unusual for the chairman of the selectmen to call informal meetings.

Dalpe said “it was a disrespectful situation. I want to bring it up so it would be out in the open.”

Knowlton took issue with Frawley’s request to postpone the Oliver Estate discussion because of McKinnon’s absence.

Knowlton urged discussion, saying, “Apparently a lot of people have come here tonight and have an opinion,” in reference to those in attendance to the nearly full selectmen’s meeting.

Frawley said he would take statements from those in attendance but the matter would be placed on the agenda of the June 12 selectmen’s meeting.

Former selectmen Neil Rosenthal said that “any deliberation is an illegal meeting.” He added that “sometimes the best way to go with this is a compromise” and added that it was “reasonable to have a custodian there.” Rosenthal suggested the town help raise the money to offset the cost.

Stephen DelSignore, chairman of the non-profit group the Oliver Estate Historical Society, said volunteers at the Oliver Estate should not be singled out by being required to fill out Cori Forms. If it is a policy of the board, DelSignore said, then “it should be for every town volunteer.”

Ghost Tour volunteer Christy Parrish said the volunteers “are willing to step forth and do whatever it is the town feels is necessary,” adding that the “true goal” of the revenue from the ghost tours “is to restore the Oliver Estate.”

“Please don’t take that revenue away,” said Parrish.

“The tours brought in about $12,000 last year and are projected to bring in around $17,000 this year. Every dime of that money goes directly back into the house to maintain, restore and improve the property,” Dalpe told the Enterprise in a May 23 email.

“The issue that concerns me the most is the proposal to pay a town employee to open and close at every tour which I have been told would be $150 per 4 hour tour. Some tour evenings run longer and would be an additional $31 per hour. At this rate we would be paying the maintenance person 42 percent of the proceeds,” Dalpe told the Enterprise.

The Peter Oliver Jr. House, 455 Plymouth Street, was built in 1769 by Judge Peter Oliver for his son. The family were loyalists and escaped to Canada and settled in England during the early days of the American Revolution. Town Meeting voted funds to purchase the historic property in April 2015.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/news/20170525/rule-violation-accusations-fly-at-middleboro-board-meeting

Middleboro: Whose hidden agenda?

Middleboro Tourism Committee to face disbandment?

By Matthew Ferreira/Staff Writer

Posted Jun. 25, 2015

MIDDLEBORO — Tensions that may have begun at the selectmen’s June 1 meeting, apparently the result of the board not heeding the direction of the Tourism Committee in terms of that committee’s appointments, teased the surface during the selectmen’s latest meeting Monday night. Now, one resident’s request for a possible dissolving of the Tourism Committee may be in-queue for discussion next Monday.

“I should be looking at the most cohesive and united board in this community, but I’m not,” said resident Tracy Marzelli at the selectmen’s meeting this past Monday night after commending each selectmen individually for his or her positive character traits. “I have an idea and it’s not going to make me popular, and I had a very sleepless night last night thinking about this suggestion, but I’m asking, Mr. Chairman, that you put on the agenda for next week, discussion to dissolve the Tourism Committee.”

“Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame the Tourism Committee for the division that exists on this board,” Marzelli continued. “However I do believe it was the tipping point, and I believe it will be a good first start to getting everybody on the same page and pulling the rope in the same direction.”

While Marzelli never directly stated what “tensions” or “tipping point” she was referring to, the words of a Tourism Committee member who spoke later in the meeting when the board discussed the adoption of a board/committee appointment policy, would offer a clue.

“I just feel from the mountain of phone calls and interactions I’ve had, it’s obvious in the community how our recommendations were not respected,” Tourism Committee vice-chair Sherri Swindle said. “You have now appointed a member who openly stated to your employee who was volunteering at our event that they were no longer part of Tourism and they didn’t wish to continue, and then we get a letter of interest with behind the scenes controversy being stirred up. That does nothing productive for the town, it does nothing productive for the committee.”

Swindle ended by recommending that the selectmen make “informed decisions” in the future when making committee appointments.

In an outside interview, Marzelli said that while committee appointments themselves were not a concern of hers, the disagreement around the Tourism Committee’s appointments was in fact the “tipping point” she referenced in her statement at the meeting.

“I see a lot of things and hear a lot sitting on the sidelines and this wasn’t an easy request to make, but I’m hoping this would clear the air and make a more unified board,” she said.

When asked for examples of what things have been observed “sitting on the sidelines”, Marzelli declined to say, noting she would try to resolve things privately, however if not, she may address specific issues publically when or if the discussion ever makes it on an agenda.

“I don’t have an axe to grind or an issue with the appointments — I just really want the tension to end, and all the things that have been occurring in and around these meetings — it needs to stop,” she said. “It’s never directly affected the way a meeting went because the behavior went unnoticed and it didn’t get picked up by the taping because I reviewed it later, but unfortunately it’s just a toxic environment.”

In another outside interview, Swindle said she too acknowledges there is an inability for the five selectmen to “get along” but that dissolving the Tourism Committee will do much more harm than good.

“My concern is that all this backbiting and controversy is dragging down a committee that’s done so much good for the town. Every one of our events has been successful — not one has been a flop — and it’s because we have people that get down in the trenches and make it happen,” she said.

Tourism Committee founder and selectman Leilani Dalpe says the current perceived tensions on the Board of Selectmen stem from the selectmen’s June 1 meeting where the Tourism Committee recommended it be kept as an 11 person group, reasoning that having more people would make it more difficult to meet the group’s quorum requirement. Regardless of this, the board brought the number up to 13 based on the 13 letters of interest received, raising the group’s quorum requirement to seven.

“I had brought it up at that meeting that we’re not trying to exclude anyone, but we need to make meetings and we chose our recommendations based on what was going on at our meetings, but they voted 3-2 to raise the number,” Dalpe said, noting that every other board and committee request regarding appointments was followed.

Dalpe said she is familiar with Marzelli and holds her in high regard, however she does not understand the request she made.

“She’s a very smart woman, and I know she volunteers all over the place,” she said. “I just don’t understand. I had no idea that was coming. We brought in 18,000 visitors to town last year, we have four businesses that are opening up because they went to one of our festivals and thought Middleboro would be a great placed to open a business, and we’ve never taken a dime from this town. It’s the town I feel bad for if Tourism goes away.”

According to Dalpe, who was interviewed Tuesday afternoon, Executive Assistant to the Board of Selectmen Jackie Shanley had informed her that discussion on disbandment of the Tourism Committee had been placed on next Monday’s agenda, however the agenda had not yet been finalized or posted officially. The Gazette was unable to confirm placement of the item with Shanley by press time.

The committee appointment policy, which was adopted by the board on a vote of 3-2 Monday night, states that openings must be publically posted a minimum of 30 days prior to the appointment, that letters of interest or non-interest will be requested when a committee member’s term is up, the selectmen will take committee’s recommendations under consideration regarding appointments, and that in cases where more than one letter of interest is received for an opening, the selectmen may ask individuals to appear before the board to “speak to their interest in serving....”

The Tourism Committee met last night (Wednesday), where Dalpe said the possible upcoming agenda item to disband the group will be discussed.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20150625/NEWS/150629699/101136