Politics, like life, is all about learning. And the lesson learned by the voters Greenfield this week is it’s probably not a good idea to allow a political operative paid by the Massachusetts Teachers Association to run your school committee.
That should be the teachable moment from this week’s state Attorney General’s ruling that the town’s school committee violated the Open Meeting Law when it held an 11th hour December executive session to approve a teacher’s contract.
The complaint was filed in January by Greenfield Mayor William Martin, who rightly argued that the board approved the new contracts behind closed doors without properly notifying the public, as required by law.
The AG’s office ruled Thursday in Martin’s favor, saying the committee, then chaired by teachers’ association operative Maryelen Calderwood, “failed to include sufficient detail” about the added executive session on the agenda and ordered the committee to release the session’s minutes within 30 days.”
Whether that will actually happen remains to be seen, but the decision does not change or invalidate the vote to approve the contract, which, according to a Recorder report, affords a 3 percent pay raise over the next four years.
Residents unaware of the political connectivity of the situation may wonder why the committee needed to rush to get this done. Why not wait until a new committee was seated to handle it, especially since they will be the ones who have to live for the fiscal consequences of said pact?
Anyone asking that question today clearly had not been watching Calderwood closely enough during her tenure. Anyone who had would realize there was no way she would be leaving office without taking a chance to throw a big kiss to the rank and file on the way out the door.
That’s not to say that the teachers didn’t deserve the bump, but I dare say there aren’t a lot of Greenfield taxpayers working in the “dreaded private sector” who will be paying the tab for this. I doubt many of them will pick up that kind of a raise over the next four calendars.
What I objected to — and what I can’t believe more people were not screaming about — was having the deal negotiated with an MTA lobbyist sitting in the chairperson’s seat. I know, technically, Calderwood sat “ex-officio” in those contract meetings, which meant she couldn’t vote, but, given her employment connections, she never should have been in the room in the first place — even if the district’s lawyer did determine there was no conflict of interest by having her there.
As violations go, failing to not announce the reasons for an executive session is a relatively innocuous legal violation. But, politically and perceptually, the whole thing stunk to high heaven because no contract worth that amount of money should be voted outside of the public sessiion, even if it is legally allowable.
In some ways, it’s a fitting epitaph for one of the more onerous tenures in that committee’s history, one its current chairman has no interest in repeating.
“I’m not perfect, but I’ve been in enough executive sessions to know what the law says, and we will abide by the law,” School Committee Chairman Tim Farrell said. “My concern is when people see headlines like this, they automatically begin to question our credibility. They may not understand that it was a different committee that did this.”
The only current holdover from that board is Adrienne Nunez, who Farrell also believes shouldn’t be blamed for that 11th hour deal.
“That’s a mistake,” Farrell said. “Adrienne has done good work for this committee and continues to.”
“Aside from the mayor, we are all volunteers doing our best to create a better school district while doing business in the light of day,” Farrell added. “I don’t foresee this kind of thing happening with our committee in the future. That I can promise.”
I would certainly hope not.
There are lots of ways to build a community, and I believe Greenfield has found an especially good one with the opening of the town’s first-ever dog park.
The new facility opened last week as part of a $400,000-plus upgrade of Green River Park, and has, from my experience, done more than just create a safe place for canines to socialize and run free. It’s also provided a chance for people who otherwise might not ever meet to get to know one another in a relaxed setting.
I’ve been down there a few times with my dog, Jack, and have run into several nice dog owners and have gotten to pet some pretty cool pooches, all in a park which, up until that point, I’d visited maybe three times in my life.
It’s a fantastic addition and one which may never have happened if not for the efforts of people like Pam Kinsmith and the “Paws Park of Greenfield” Committee, who kept the issue alive long enough for the town to finally secure the money to make that dream become a reality both for the dogs, and the humans who love them.
Chris Collins, who worked in local radio in a number of capacities, has observed political life in Franklin County for years. He also is a former staff reporter for The Recorder and a Greenfield native.