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Committee refers open-meeting complaint about candidate selection to city solicitor
Summary
At its July 16 meeting, the Salem City Committee on Government Services voted to refer a residentfiled complaint alleging the July 9 preselection of a Community Preservation Committee candidate to the city solicitor for a written response; the referral passed unanimously among members present.
The Salem City Committee on Government Services voted July 16 to refer a residentfiled complaint alleging a violation of open meeting laws to the city solicitor for a written response.
The complaint alleges that during the committees July 9 meeting members "intentionally preselected the chosen candidate" for the Community Preservation Committee and held discussions about candidates outside public observation. The complainant said a motion to elect the candidate occurred immediately after public interviews and that no discussion of qualifications or the candidates answers followed the interviews. The complaint also states the complainant emailed councilors on July 11 raising transparency concerns and says the committee chair replied in a message the complainant described as a "diatribe" containing threats and attempts at intimidation.
Councilor Sidorjak moved to "refer this complaint to the city solicitor, for their written response," and Councilor Flynn seconded. The committee chair called for a show of hands; the chair recorded "three votes plus my own," and the motion carried. No further discussion or remedial action occurred at the meeting; the committee did not take final action on the underlying selection of the Community Preservation Committee member.
The complaint also cites an email from another councilor, Andrew Smith, who said he was "shocked" at how quickly the vote followed the interviews and that it appeared members had spoken about the candidate before the public meeting. The committee treated those statements as part of the complaint record and referred the entire matter to the city solicitor for review.
Committee membership present at the July 16 meeting was Councilor Sidorjak, Councilor Flynn and Councilor King, along with the committee chair; Councilor Varela was absent. After the referral vote, Councilor Sidorjak moved to adjourn; the motion was seconded by Councilor Flynn and the meeting ended at 6:06 p.m.
The city solicitor is expected to prepare a written response to the complaint; the committee did not set a date for further action and provided no additional timeline at the meeting.
