THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2023 Page 5 ~LETTER TO THE EDITOR~ Why didn’t the public know about the plan to build the new Voke until after the vote on the funding? Dear Editor, Three weeks ago I submitted an Open Meeting Law complaint against the Northeast Metro Tech School Building Committee. The complaint alleges Open Meeting Law violations over almost the entire period of time the committee has been meeting, violations that explain why the public have been unaware of the plan to build the new school on the forested hilltop site until only recently. The complaint says that for the first 22 months of the project, the school Building Committee posted no public meeting notices. It says that for the next 13 months of the project, the Building Committee posted notices only sporadically - not for every meeting and not to every town and city in the district. During that time, when meeting notices were posted, the notices did not include an agenda or announcements of upcoming votes, something required under the Open Meeting Law. The Building Committee took major votes in three meetings during this time - none of those votes were announced to the public. One of those votes was the vote on the location of the new school building. The public were prevented from having input on the decision of where to build, and the decision to build on the hill was kept quiet all the way through the vote to approve the funding. Additional violations are that meeting minutes for the Building Committee’s meetings were not posted on the town’s and city’s municipal websites, and the committee did not follow the steps required by the Open Meeting Law to adopt a separate website as its official posting method. The public were not made aware of meetings, of the stage of the project, of upcoming votes, or of previous discussions by the committee. It was a virtual shut out. When the Open Meeting Law complaint was shared with town representatives on the Building Committee, one representative replied “It will be interesting to learn whether or not Northeast failed to submit meeting notices in a timely manner or, if in fact, the clerks in the cities and towns erred by not posting the notices accordingly.” The implication being that if meeting notices weren’t posted to the towns, it was the fault of all 12 town clerks in the district, not of the Building Committee. The idea strains credulity and Local artist repairs Revere Beach 1954 Diorama tells you something about their sense of accountability. The Building Committee has said the public should have known about the school’s location from the Facebook page, which launched months after the committee’s vote on the site. Unfortunately for the Building Committee, the Open Meeting Law does not say that public information can be shared on “Facebook or wherever,” it says that it has to be shared via the official posting method for each town, in other words, the posting method on file with the Attorney General’s office. For most towns in the district the official posting method is the town’s municipal website. This serves to ensure that a town resident can reasonably find the informaVOKE | SEE Page 11 9 Gerry D’Ambrosio Attorney-at-Law Is Your Estate in Order? Do you have an update Will, Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney? If Not, Please Call for a Free Consultation. 14 Proctor Avenue, Revere (781) 284-5657 Our 50th Anniversary Dan - 1972 We Sell Cigars & Accessories! C ris 2023 * Travel Humidors * Desk Top Humidors * Many Types of Lighters * Ash Trays * Juuls * Vapes * Glass Pipes * Rewards Program * CBD Infused Products * GIFTS UNDER $30 - GIFT CERTIFICATES R.Y.O. TOBACCO & TUBES ON SALE! SPECIAL SALE! TRAVEL HUMIDORS & ALL BONGS! SPRING AHEAD - SAVE BIG BUCKS! ll a or rands ncludin shton uente adron erdo o in les ins un les o es NEW STORE HOURS: Mon. - Sat.: 9AM - 7PM Sunday & Holidays: 9AM - 6PM T here’s another important renovation in progress at the Revere History Museum – local artist Todd Gieg is doing some repairs on our “Revere Beach 1954” diorama, a prominent feature of the museum’s second floor. We’re grateful that Todd is taking some time away from his current project, a massive diorama of the Narrow Gauge Railroad, to help us out. We were able to visit Todd’s studio last December to see his work and it was very impressive. 170 R C C R 781 289-4959 R R R N N
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