THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, June 21, 2019 Page 3 Public business in secrecy School Committee’s vote to replace custodians violated state Open Meeting Law, newspaper alleges T he Saugus School Committee and Saugus Public Schools Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi, Jr. made a decision behind closed doors to replace 21 school custodians, The Saugus Advocate alleged this week in an Open Meeting Law (OML) complaint against the committee and DeRuosi. The Committee intended to meet in an Executive Session on May 8 “for the purpose of Collective Bargaining with the Custodians and The Superintendent’s Contract,” according to the agenda notice posted for the meeting. Instead, a discussion involving the committee and DeRuosi focused on how the School Department could save money by privatizing custodial services and, apparently, some kind of vote was taken which led to the hiring of a company – a vote that was not ratified in public, according to two School Committee members interviewed by The Advocate and emails they made available to the newspaper which they claim support their contention that the decision was flawed. “This complaint is in response to what we believe are multiple violations of the state Open Meeting Law that began during an Executive Session of the Saugus School Committee on May 8, 2019, and didn’t become reasonably discoverable to The Saugus Advocate and the public until June 12, 2019, when we received emails about the meeting in question from School Committee Vice Chair Elizabeth Marchese and School Committee Member Lisa Morgante,” Saugus Advocate Editor Mark E. Vogler wrote in the complaint he filed on Monday. “Based on a review of copies of the emails that were provided to us and interviews with Ms. Marchese and Ms. Morgante, we believe that decisions were done in private to hire a company to replace 21 custoMEETING | from page 2 to the Town of Saugus Bylaws in subcategory 200 of “Government of Town Meeting” that will be titled “Resolutions.” Any Town Meeting member may propose a non-binding resolution, with 48 hours written or electronic notice to the Saugus Town Clerk not counting weekends and holidays. The Saugus Town Clerk will promptly notify the Moderator upon receipt of said resolution and forward said resolution to Town Meeting Members. Resolutions may not seek dians who work in the Saugus Public Schools,” Vogler alleged. “Decisions to hire the company to replace the custodians should have been discussed in public, with the respective votes taken. This was not done.” A list of the alleged violations The complaint alleged these violations: 1) The School Committee convened in Executive Session without a proper statutory purpose stated on the agenda notice for what was discussed and apparently voted on. 2) Public business was conducted behind closed doors. There should have been public discussion and action taken in public if the School Committee and the superintendent wanted to replace the 21 school custodians with a private company. There was no public discussion, no public vote and no public announcement about this. 3) Failure to take minutes about these decisions. Ms. Marchese said the secretary who normally takes the minutes was not available for the May 8 Executive Session. She also said she made a request that the meeting be tape-recorded, but that was denied. And more than a month after the Executive Session, she said minutes do not exist for the meeting and that her requests for the minutes have gone unanswered. “It appears that the School Committee along with the superintendent took action following the May 8 Executive Session which led to the hiring of a private company to replace the custodians,” Vogler said in the complaint filed with DeRuosi and members of the School Committee. “This public business took place behind closed doors. And this School Committee action took place without an agenda to appropriate funds, propose zoning or general bylaw changes or have any binding effect on the operation of town government. Resolutions will not be considered as actions of the Town Meeting as defined by MGL Ch. 39 S10 but rather statements of opinion in accordance with past practice. Resolutions will be acted upon during the next Town Meeting or within a Town Meeting that is temporarily adjourned, whichever comes first. A majority vote of the quorum will be required to adopt a resolution. notice that stated a proper statutory purpose,” he wrote. The School Committee has 14 business days to meet and review the complaint and must respond to the complaint in writing, sending a copy of the complaint along with a description of any action taken to address it to the state Attorney General’s Division of Open Government. The committee must also send the newspaper a copy of its response. If the newspaper is not satisfied with the School Committee’s response, it can file a copy of its complaint with the Division of Open Government. “The action taken should be invalidated” As a remedy to his complaint, Vogler wrote that he believed the School Committee “should acknowledge that the May 8 Executive Session was not conducted properly and that the process to replace the 21 custodians with a private company was flawed.” “The action taken should be invalidated,” he continued. “The School Committee should schedule another meeting to discuss and take a public vote on the issue of privatizing school custodial services and the proposal to replace the school custodians with a private company.” Vogler also suggested that the committee should request OML training. The state Attorney General’s Division of Open Government cited the School ComBUSINESS | SEE PAGE 19 221 Newbury Street, Danvers For Tickets call (978) 774-7270 or www.breakawaydanvers.com with Jimmy Allen Sunday Nights - 6:30 PM COUNTRY MUSIC NIGHT dine drink gather enjoy THE NORTH SHORE'S HOTTEST NIGHTCLUB! Saturday, June 22 at 9 PM Friday, June 21 at 8:30 PM WHAMMER JAMMER OZZMOSIS Friday, June 28 at 9 PM TANGERINE Saturday, June 29 at 9 PM TIGERLILY
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