“Troubling and Disconcerting” - Common Cause’s Marion on Narragansett Town Council Violations
Sunday, December 08, 2019
After the Narragansett Town Council was found to have violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) multiple times in the process of selecting its latest Town Manager, Common Cause Executive Director John Marion is calling the revelation "troubling."
On Thursday, GoLocalProv was first to report the ruling by Attorney General Peter Neronha, after complaints were brought by Melissa Jenkins, Amanda Moss, and Denis Monahan.
Jenkins, who had applied for the job, responded to Town Council President Mattew Mannix calling her a “professional troublemaker” in the Narragansett Times.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“I’m an activist. I don’t think that’s the same thing as being a troublemaker. I don’t think asking people to follow the law is causing trouble," said Jenkins. “Asking them to follow open meetings and equal opportunity laws is not causing trouble.”
Marion weighed in.
"It's disconcerting for a town official to label a person who is trying to make sure the open meetings act is being followed a 'troublemaker.' Citizens have a right to know what their government is doing in their name and with their tax dollars," said Marion.
Common Cause of Rhode Island is a nonpartisan organization whose mission is to promote representative democracy by ensuring open, ethical, accountable, effective government processes at local, state and national levels by educating and mobilizing the citizens of Rhode Island.
Latest in Narragansett
Documents released after the Narragansett Town Council was found to be in violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA) show the Council interviewed Congressman Jim Langevin’s Chief of Staff Seth Klaiman for the position of Town Manager — before the job was posted.
The executive meeting minutes released after Attorney General Peter Neronha found the Council violated the OMA on multiple occasions show a Council divided on how to proceed in the search — and hiring process — of a new Town Manager.
GoLocalProv.com was first to report the Open Meetings Act violations on Thursday.
SLIDES: See Executive Session Minutes BELOW
On May 31, executive session minutes show that Council President Matthew Mannix “noted the need for an executive session with limited participants because confidentiality had been a problem during prior manager recruitment processes."
According to the minutes, Mannix said "several individuals had contacted Council members expressing interest in the position: J. David Smith (resident and former Narragansett Police Department Chief of Police), Seth Klaiman (resident and Chief of Staff for US Congressman James Langevin, and Kevin Lynch (non-resident and former Cranston Police Officer)."
"I'm not familiar with the law around hiring so I can't say whether it was legal for them to interview people before it was posted. It certainly is troubling that the Attorney General has found these violations," said Marion. "Hiring managers is a routine exercise that many cities and towns regularly undertake. The town solicitor should have been able provide them legal advice that would have prevented this from happening and kept the town out of trouble."
Related Slideshow: Narragansett Town Council Executive Session Minutes: May-July 2019
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