Vendetta (Part 2)

Here's what has happened since my previous posting on the vendetta against the finance committee being waged by Charlie Flynn and Bruce Turner.

Recall that Flynn claims he filed a complaint with the state ethics commission against members of the finance committee. (I say "claims" because he has chosen, in classic star chamber fashion, to trumpet the complaint without ever giving anyone - not even the members of the finance committee - a copy or disclosing what the complaint says.) He also filed a complaint charging the finance committee with violating the open meeting law.

So Laura sought town counsel's advice on how to handle these two complaints against a town committee filed by a citizen. (Charlie filed the first one before being elected selectman, and filed the second one expressly as a citizen, not a selectman.) Town counsel naturally expressed discomfort with giving advice since Charlie was now a selectman, and,in representing a town, counsel owes at least initial allegiance to the selectboard. So the finance committee chose to contact outside counsel, who gave them advice which they presumably followed.

But when Laura summarized the situation at a selectboard meeting and mentioned that the finance committee would be submitting a bill from counsel for payment, Flynn and Turner rebelled, indicating that they thought it shouldn't be payed by the town. Burdsall disagreed. Since no bill had been presented, the issue was at that point an academic one. And it should have stayed that way until a bill was presented.

But Flynn took it upon himself to raise the matter at the next selectboard meeting and definitively stated that he would not approve it if submitted. Turner agreed, noting as well that the town's insurance might cover the bill if the insurer had been notified beforehand; a fair point if the town had adopted a policy to that effect, but it hasn't. Again, Burdsall said he thought the bill should be paid.

Flynn seems not to have any grasp of what a conflict of interest is. He filed the complaints and shouldn't come within a mile of any discussion about covering the cost of defending against them. But inexplicably he was the one who put the matter on the agenda for the selectman's meeting and then raised it at the meeting.

The town has adopted a state law saying that elected and appointed officials will be indemnified against claims and lawsuits brought against them when acting as officials. That is eminently sensible. Volunteers, especially unpaid ones, shouldn't have to bear the risk and expense of defending against such claims. For example, last year, members of the hydrant committee sought and obtained assurances from the selectboard that they were indemnified should they be sued for taking care of the hydrants.

So Flynn and Turner can't refuse to pay the counsel bill or otherwise refuse to indemnify the finance committee members because the town has agreed to do so and wisely so. What the selectboard could do, if they chose to, is to adopt a policy that reasonable prior approval is necessary before incurring outside counsel costs; any such policy would be prospective only. But they can't just refuse to follow the law.

Flynn can't even discuss the matter, let alone vote on it, because he's the one who filed the complaints. He's already acted in a way that would permit an ethics complaint about him, and if he's wise he'll now say nothing further on the matter. (And he'll finally release a copy of what he filed.)

If you don't see this for what it is - a vendetta against the finance committee - consider this: If complaints had been filed against, for example, the board of health, and town counsel were conflicted from dealing with them, and the board of health hired outside counsel, would Flynn and Turner take the position the bill shouldn't be paid? And would they do that even before it was submitted?

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this is the potential impact on volunteering for town boards and committees. It appears that a volunteer against whom a claim is brought will or will not be protected by the town depending on whether two selectmen do or don't like the volunteer. If the volunteer puts up a fight, he or she should ultimately prevail because those two selectmen can't override the law. But who wants to have to go through that fight?