GREENFIELD — An Open Meeting Law complaint has been filed against the Board of Health, alleging a failure to specifically include an item and description on the posted agenda, and that the board organized a search committee and conducted a first round of interviews for a new health director “in secret.”
The third component of the complaint, which was filed by resident Glen Ayers on Dec. 4, alleges a violation of the “full disclosure requirements,” in that former Health Director Jennifer Hoffman continued to work in an “unauthorized manner” after her final date of full-time employment.
These complaints were all relevant to the meeting that took place on Nov. 29, which is when the alleged violations took place. The board has 14 business days to respond to Ayers’ complaint, according to the Open Meeting Law. Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said the city’s attorney, Jesse Belcher-Timme, plans to meet in executive session with the board to address the matter.
According to Ayers, the first alleged violation occurred when Chair Samantha McIver asked the mayor for an update, despite “mayor’s update” not being an item on the posted agenda.
The second alleged violation, meanwhile, related to a conversation between board members and the mayor on Nov. 29, during which Wedegartner explained that the city had identified a candidate she would like to bring in for a second interview for the health director position.
“It appears the Board of Health members formed the search committee outside of a public meeting and the only reasonable conclusion is that the board has been meeting in secret and that the board, who is the appointing authority for health directors … has been conducting official business outside of and between open meetings,” Ayers wrote.
Wedegartner, however, said with the exception of the School Department, the hiring process for department heads is done through a process outlined by Human Resources.
“We do, almost always — if we go to a second interview — have members of the staff of whatever department we’re hiring into [included in the interview],” Wedegartner said. “In this case … it was important for the Board of Health to be involved.”
One member of the board was included in the second interview, she said, as was Medical Director Timothy Lepore.
And finally, the third violation occurred when it was disclosed that Hoffman “continued sending out letters on behalf of the Board of Health well past her official last day.” Ayers’s complaint also states the matter wasn’t included as an agenda item.
Wedegartner said Hoffman had been working in a per diem capacity to address a few matters that needed her attention after her final date with the city in October. The letter in question, which was authorized by Wedegartner, pertained to a Board of Health-related issue at the Greenfield Gardens housing complex.
Hoffman’s final date working with the city in any capacity was on Nov. 23.
The search for a new health director is “on pause,” according to Wedegartner.
After two successful interviews with a Maryland-based candidate, Wedegartner said the city received another application that she would like to see considered.
Additionally, in favor of wanting Mayor-elect Virginia “Ginny” Desorgher to be part of the hiring process, Wedegartner said rather than “rush the process,” she’d prefer to put it on hold.
“If [Desorgher] wants to pick up the process right now and have an interview before the end of the year, that’s fine,” she said. “If not, it’ll carry over into the next year.”
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.