HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-19-MMC-min RECEIVED
2023 23 ,Jairi, 30 am
Monuments & Memorials Committee
Meeting Minutes TOWN CL,ERK
Thursday, October 19, 2022
Conducted by Remote Participation LEXINGTON
3:00 PM
Members Present
Linda Dixon, Chair; Avram Baskin, Glen Bassett, Chuck French, George Gamota, Charles Price
Members Not Present: Bebe Fallick, Leslie Masson, Danjun Pu
Guests
Suzie Barry, Select Board Liaison
Mina Makarious, Esq., Town Counsel
Business
Chair Dixon convened the meeting at 3:05 p.m. and read the Town notice regarding the conduct
of public virtual meetings. She declared that a quorum was present.
Open Meeting Law Complaint
The purpose of the meeting was to receive and review a complaint from a committee member
regarding a concern that discussions among a working group of MMC members on October 3,
2022 constituted a non-public deliberation of a public body in violation under the Open Meeting
Law. Chair Dixon introduced Attorney Mina Makarious of the firm Anderson Kreiger, who
serves as Town Counsel to the Town of Lexington, who will respond to this complaint. Attorney
Makarious explained that the discussion in question was held by fewer than the quorum of five
voting members of the MMC. As described in further detail below, because the MMC informal
working group did not include a quorum and was neither a subcommittee, nor public body
"empowered to act collectively," there has been no violation of the OML.
Nonetheless, Atty Makarious has spoken with Chair Dixon and recommend that the Monuments
and Memorials Committee takes measures to ensure continued compliance with proper OML
procedures with respect to working group structure and organization.
Atty Makarious and the committee informally discussed various aspects of the Open Meeting
Law to gain a firmer understanding of its nuances when relating to committee business.
Highlights of the discussion were:
• The open meeting law applies to public bodies, e.g., M&M Committee as a whole, Select
Board as a whole. Informal small working group meetings may be acceptable under the
Open Meeting Law.
• Even when fewer members than a quorum attend, the formality of the meeting may
require application of Open Meeting law.
• The concept of"deliberation" is critical but not well understood. If, for example, George
sends an email to 4 other committee members (5 members or a quorum) and takes a
position on the Policies &Procedures Manual, -that is considered "Deliberation".
Sending email comments to"reply all" or sharing other committee member comments on
the P&P manual in an email are also considered "Deliberation". In such cases, the
comments should be posted on the town website.
Attorney Makarious summed up by assuring the committee that the State understands that people
are volunteers and does not automatically assume a violation has occurred. Small group
discussions are considered acceptable if between 1 or 2 members in casual discussion or
email. He invited questions from the committee. A summary of the Q&A follows.
• Emails between members should be less than a Quorum (5). Even if members are just
cc'd, if these members are mentioned up to or exceeding the quorum level, this could
constitute "Serial deliberation".
• When an issue for discussion by more than 4 committee members is anticipated, add this
item to the agenda of the full Committee.
• "Reply All" on emails between committee members is not a good idea. Narrower replies
to specific committee members are more appropriate.
• Meeting with others, such as non-committee members, is OK, appropriate, and not
considered a violation of the Open Meeting law. The Attorney General tries to be
reasonable and understands the important role that civic volunteers play.
• Other organization meetings attended by M&M Committee members are acceptable. The
Open Meeting law does not bar members of the same committee from being together in
any setting. Just be careful not to discuss Committee business or items within the
jurisdiction of the M&M Committee in these other settings.
• Other topics, not under M&M Committee jurisdiction, also require caution to ensure that
members of the other committee are not included in any discussion of the topic that might
touch on M&M Committee jurisdiction.
• When in doubt, reach out to the Town Manager or Asst Town Manager for clarification.
Next Steps
On a roll call vote, on motion made and seconded, the Committee voted 6-0 to approve
Counsel's recommendation and to authorize Counsel to respond to the Office of the Attorney
General. Attorney Makarious will send Chair Dixon a copy of his response to Leslie Masson.
All agreed that general Open Meeting Law training for Lexington Town committees and staff
is beneficial for everyone. Suzie Barry, Committee Liaison, stated that plans for additional
future training are underway.
Chair Dixon and the Committee thanked Attorney Makarious for a helpful, useful, and timely
sharing of information. Linda also thanked the committee for their active participation.
The next meeting of the committee will be on November 3, 2022.
On motion made and seconded, by roll call vote, the committee voted to adjourn at 3:44 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Glen Bassett, Member