Somerset selectmen to meet in closed door session on eve of open meetings trial
SOMERSET — The open meetings lawsuit alleging violations against the Somerset Board of Selectmen in connection with the firing of Shauna Geary, who was head of the Council on Aging, was supposed to go to trial on Thursday, but the current board members agreed to first go into closed door session to discuss decisions made by former selectmen.
The Board of Selectmen are expected to meet with their lawyer representing the body in the lawsuit during a meeting on Wednesday night and discuss the matter in executive session.
“What we’ve done with Shauna and with my voters’ consent, is we are suggesting that the present board meet and consider whether it would be appropriate to, in effect, cancel the termination hearing that they had and have a new hearing,” said attorney Philip Beauregard, who is representing five registered voters who brought the lawsuit forward on March 1.
Beauregard said that under the circumstances, the board should be hearing the allegations again with appropriate public notification as well as notifying Geary and her attorney of the action they intended to take in February.
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At issue is the board’s posting of the meeting indicated they would “consider complaints” against the COA director rather than advertising the executive session as a hearing to terminate.
“They gave her five days' notice about the hearing, including a weekend and they held it anyway even though she had medical proof that she was not able to go forward,” said Beauregard. “So, these are some of the considerations we are putting forth to the new board.
The open meeting lawsuit names as defendants former Somerset selectman Lorne Lawless and former chairman and current Selectman Allen Smith, who both voted to terminate Geary.
Somerset fired the COA director: A lawsuit claims this broke Open Meeting Law
The lawsuit also names Selectman Jacob Vaught as a member of the board; however, he was the lone no vote to fire Geary.
Lawless is no longer on the board after he was voted out of office on April 10 with former School Committee and Planning Board member Jamison Souza, winning the seat. After a swearing in, Souza was voted new chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
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After 2 ½ month investigation, Geary fired
Geary, who also serves as a member of the Somerset School Committee and was the top vote getter in that race in 2020, was terminated in a 2-1 vote on Feb. 13 after a two-hour closed-door hearing after the town hired attorneys from the employment law firm of Clifford and Kenny.
Originally Geary, who resigned from the position she’s held since 2017, then attempted to rescind the offer days later.
After a back and forth between Geary and Town Administrator Mark Ullucci, the board decided outside any public forum, they would accept her rescinded resignation on Dec. 7, but placed her on administrative leave and notified her about the investigation, until the February executive session when she was terminated.
The lawsuit alleges Smith, Lawless, Ullucci, and the lawyers from Clifford and Kenny “schemed” to carry out a plan for Geary’s firing outside the public eye, thus violating open meetings laws.
The town has hired another law firm, KP Law, to defend the Board of Selectmen’s case.
The defendants and their attorney in the case deny the allegations against the Board of Selectmen, mainly relying on attorney-client privilege in their response.
Registered voters brought lawsuit
Massachusetts open meetings laws allow for three or more registered voters in a community seeking enforcement are allowed to bring civil action against public bodies. It is the speediest of remedies, according to Beauregard.
According to the law, it's up to the selectmen to prove their actions were within the accordance of the open meetings statute.
The town registered voters bringing the lawsuit are former Somerset Police Chief George McNeil, who has a personal relationship with Geary, Daniel Smith, Angelina Jepson, Ian Jepson and Jared Walsh.
McNeil has had his own employment issues in the past with Lawless and Smith.
In April 2021, when the board consisted of only Lawless and Smith after former selectman Holly McNamara resigned two days after an election, they notified the chief, who had served since 2014, they were not going to renew his soon-to-expire contract.
McNeil resigned two weeks later after the 2-0 vote.
New Board of Selectmen could go in Geary’s favor
In the past few election cycles, the residents of Somerset have seen some very contentious Board of Selectmen races that have exposed the divide in the community.
That includes the most recent between race between Lawless and Souza, with the later beating out the incumbent by 251 votes.
Souza, the CEO of a real estate company, clearly had his supporters, including Geary who also works as a realtor in the chairman’s business.
With Vaught already voting to keep Geary as the town’s director on the Council on Aging, her affiliation with Souza could get her an outcome from the board to return to her position.
Souza did not respond to a request for comment.
In a joint motion to continue Thursday’s trial, if the board cannot reach an agreement in the closed-door meeting, the two sides will ask for a new trial date.
Beauregard said neither he nor Geary will be attending the executive session on Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Somerset Selectmen to discuss lawsuit and department head firing
