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Date: 1/31/2023
MONSON – Next steps for Select Board Vice Chair Mary Hull were to be discussed at the Jan. 24 meeting, but complaints regarding Open Meeting Law violations led to another continuation of the agenda item.
Select Board members had planned to talk about the recommendations for Hull made by Safety and Respect at Work LLC, following an investigation into Town Administrator Jennifer Wolowicz’s allegations against Hull.
Hull made a motion to keep this agenda item in old business until the other matters are settled. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved by the board.
During the Jan. 10 Select Board meeting, Hull said, “I have several outstanding Open Meeting [Law] violations on these recommendations and I don’t think that we should be discussing these until those are addressed.”
Later in the meeting, Select Board Chair Pat Oney acknowledged the receipt of 13 Open Meeting Law complaints from Hull. Oney went on to ask the board if she could be the delegated member responsible to review and respond to the complaints with town counsel. Select Board Clerk John Morrell agreed, and Hull disagreed.
“You’re [Oney] mentioned in many of these complaints and most of them are focused between you and Jennifer [Wolowicz]. John [Morrell] is the least involved in these complaints so I would prefer if he handled it,” Hull said.
Hull made a motion for Morrell to handle the Open Meeting Law violation complaints. The motion was not seconded.
Oney then made a motion to delegate herself to respond to the Open Meeting Law complaints. Morrell seconded the motion for discussion.
Hull reiterated that a Select Board member should not be reviewing the complaints and believes it is “unethical,” as Oney is mentioned in them. She suggested reaching out to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission to see if this is the right decision.
The motion for Oney to work with town counsel was approved by Oney and Morrell. Hull voted against the motion.
Wolowicz informed Reminder Publishing that town counsel is preparing a response. Once the response is ready the complaints will be shared.
Main Street parking
Police Chief Stephen Kozloski shared he has received several complaints regarding parking on Main Street.
After doing some research, Kozloski said the current parking regulations prohibit parking in excess of two hours from High Street to Bliss Street. These regulations go back to 1983.
Currently, Kozloski said this is not a regulation the department aggressively enforces but would like to bring it to the forefront based on the excessive complaints he has been receiving over the past few weeks.
As this matter deserves more attention, Oney asked to continue the discussion to another meeting. Kozloski added that public comment would be beneficial to gain more insight.