Politics & Government

UPDATED: Board of Health Complaint Incurs Legal Fees

The Attorney General's office dismissed a Board of Health complaint alleging Selectmen violated an open meeting law.

Editor's note: In an original version of the story, it was reported that the Attorney General's office charged the Board of Selectmen $1,000. It was later reported the Town of Seekonk's legal counsel charged approximately $800 to draft correspondence to the Attorney General's office.

A communication gaff between the Seekonk Board of Health and Board of Selectmen resulted in an expensive price tag paid to the Town of Seekonk's legal counsel.

According to Board of Selectmen member David Parker, the Board of Health sent a complaint to the Attorney General's Office alleging the Board of Selectmen . Parker said the complaint stemmed from statements made about town boards during the "public speaks" portion of a Selectmen meeting.

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'We never know what [people] are going to say...It's not a violation," Parker said.

Board of Selectmen members filed a counter-response to the complaint with the Attorney General's Office and were subsequently charged approximately $800 by the town's legal counsel to draft the correspondence, according to Parker. But the original Board of Health complaint was not filed before a state deadline passed; therefore it was dismissed by the Attorney General's Office, Parker said.

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"They filed charges at us, and it cost us $1,000...The public has a right to know," Parker said at the meeting.

He also said he was still perplexed by the lack of communication between the two boards, since a sub-committee was formed to establish a functional rapport.

Click on the .pdf to read the Attorney General's response to the Board of Health complaint.


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