Hadley Housing Authority members face Open Meeting Law complaint
Published: 01-12-2023 2:08 PM |
HADLEY — Email correspondence to all commissioners on the Hadley Housing Authority is prompting a board member to bring an Open Meeting Law complaint against her colleagues.
Risë Smythe-Freed filed the complaint against commissioners John Allen and Harry Chadwick, contending their communication in December may have constituted deliberation outside a posted meeting.
“Allen and Chadwick have a pattern of sending emails to discuss agenda items and topics falling under Board of Commissioners responsibility to the entire Board of Commissioners since I became a commissioner the end of August 2022,” Smythe-Freed writes in the complaint she made with the town clerk’s office.
The emails referenced include one on Dec. 17 from Allen to the four members of the board, including Richard Witkos, its chairman, and Evelyn Musaya at the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, expressing his concern about whether there is a valid contract between the Amherst Housing Authority and Hadley Housing Authority.
Allen said he would defer comment until the board’s next meeting in January, when the alleged violation is expected to be discussed.