(NOTE: This is the second installment in a five-part story. Look for additional articles over the next three days. Get caught up by reading the first installment HERE.)
WILMINGTON, MA — Longtime Finance Committee member Dick Hayden made his intentions known towards the end of his term that he was not going to seek re-appointment. Hayden’s term was set to expire at the conclusion of Annual Town Meeting on May 2. (Remember that fact, it’s important.)
The Appointing Committee — Finance Committee Chair John Doherty, Selectman Chair Judy O’Connell and Town Moderator Rob Peterson — now needed to find a replacement to Hayden, in addition to filling two unexpired 1-year terms and considering the re-appointments of two incumbents for 3-year terms.
This article covers the concerns raised by Selectwoman Judy O’Connell and Selectman Mike Newhouse over the appointment of Shawn Kelley, who was chosen to replace Hayden. This discussion took place at the Board of Selectmen Meeting on Monday, June 22, with Doherty and Peterson present.
Appointment #2: Shawn Kelley
Appointing Committee Met To Discuss Kelley, But Never Reached A Consensus According to O’Connell
On April 28th, immediately after a Town Meeting Prep Meeting the three attended, the Appointing Committee met to discuss several Finance Committee appointments and reappointments. Town Manager Jeff Hull helped arrange the meeting.
Finance Committee Chair John Doherty brought forth the name of Shawn Kelley for consideration. Town Moderator Rob Peterson realized he was familiar with Kelley, an Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager for Northern Bank in Woburn. Doherty, Peterson and Kelley all happened to be members of the Wilmington Rotary Club. Due to this familiarity and Kelley’s professional background, Peterson was comfortable with supporting Doherty’s recommendation.
Selectwoman Judy O’Connell, however, wanted additional information on another potential candidate, Richard Pererria, who, months earlier, sent an email to Town Hall expressing an interest in serving on the Finance Committee, but hadn’t been heard from since. Hull tracked down that email after the meeting, and forwarded it to the Appointing Committee.
The Appointing Committee members differ on how the discussion on Shawn Kelley concluded.
“When I left the meeting on the 28th, I was under the impression we appointed two people – Mr. Kelley and Ms. Gallezzo,” Doherty told the Selectmen.
“While there was discussion, we did not take a formal vote and we did not – from what I believe – render a final decision,” said O’Connell. “If we had voted [Shawn Kelley] in, what would the need be [for Town Manager Hull] to send the additional candidate’s information?”
“It was my understanding that I set forth my approval for Kelley [at that meeting],” said Peterson, who said any confusion he expressed was over Pererria’s candidacy, not Kelley’s.
“We had a meeting with multiple people in the room and we have three different sets of interpretations of what occurred at that one meeting,” emphasized O’Connell. “I’m not saying I’m 100% right and the other gentlemen involved are 100% wrong. I’m just saying it speaks to the confusion.”
Doherty Notifies Town Clerk That The Appointing Committee Selected Kelley The Following Morning, O’Connell Is In The Dark
On the morning of April 29th, Finance Committee Chair John Doherty sent an email to Town Clerk Sharon George notifying her that, based upon yesterday’s meeting, the Appointing Committee voted in Shawn Kelley (along with Mary Gallezzo and incumbent Bernard Nally.)
While Doherty copied Town Manager Jeff Hull on the email, he failed to copy fellow appointing members Judy O’Connell and Rob Peterson.
“The appropriate thing to have done would have been for John to send out a confirmatory email to [Rob and Judy] to say ‘just to confirm, these are the folks we’ve agreed upon to appoint’… to tie up any loose ends,” noted Hull.
Doherty acknowledged he may have made a mistake by not sending a follow-up email to O’Connell and Peterson.
O’Connell was under the impression there was a pool of candidates – Kelley AND Pererria – and she had no knowledge that Doherty had contacted the Town Clerk with Kelley’s name.
O’Connell Finds Out About Kelley’s Status, Requests All Swearing-Ins Stop & Calls For Another Meeting
At 11:33am on Wednesday, May 6, Selectwoman Judy O’Connell emailed a request to Town Clerk Sharon George, asking her to “pull back a little” and not swear anyone else in until the Appointing Committee could have another “meeting of the minds” since there seemed to be confusion.
“I then called all parties, including the Town Manager, the Town Clerk and both appointing members to try to stop anything from going forward until we could reconvene and discuss,” said O’Connell. “I called again down to the Town Clerk’s Office, and, ironically, between all the phone conversations and emails – I just kept dialing people – Kelley had been sworn in.”
“I should have played the lottery that day,” said a skeptical O’Connell.
(The Town Manager and Town Clerk, it should be pointed out, were in meetings that morning and did not receive O’Connell’s emails and calls until after the swearing-in, which was conducted by the Assistant Town Clerk. The skepticism was not directed towards them.)
O’Connell Explains Why She Went Public With Her Concerns On The Appointment
“I had a difficult time being part of an appointment for someone I wouldn’t even know if they walked into the room. I never met [Shawn Kelley]. I never saw a resume,” said O’Connell. “It’s troublesome to me that I have a letter that says I appointed him as the Chair of the Board of Selectmen.”
“I sent an email to Mr. Doherty asking for him to send resumes. His response was that we appointed Marianne and Shawn. There was no follow-up to see that I had the information I needed to feel good about what occurred,” said O’Connell. “I’m not seeing anything tangible that’s responding back to my inquiries in private settings. A lot of this could have been handled by people just paying attention and answering questions. I’ve been trying for weeks to no avail and now I’ve had to escalate it.”
Peterson Defends Votes, Agrees Appointment Process Needs To Be Formalized
Town Moderator Rob Peterson defended his actions, emphasizing that all the candidates he voted for were qualified and, having been elected just days earlier, was following the process as it was explained to him, noting the town bylaws offer little specifics. He also emphasized that the Appointing Committee unanimously agreed on several candidates (e.g., Gallezzo, Martinson and Nally) and suggested some of the criticism being leveled was unfair and unfounded.
Peterson did recognize that a communication breakdown involving Selectwoman O’Connell occurred on the Shawn Kelley vote and would “welcome and accept a more formal process moving forward.”
“I think you and me are on the same page with what needs to happen,” Peterson told O’Connell. “It doesn’t matter how long this process went on without incident, this process was flawed by the very fact that this incident was allowed to happen.”
Newhouse Doesn’t Believe The Timing of Kelley’s Swearing-In Was A Coincidence
Selectman Mike Newhouse had a lot to say about the Kelley appointment.
“That appointment is off. You’ve got Ms. O’Connell saying there was no meeting of the minds and that they never appointed this guy… [She] calls and emails everybody [on Wednesday morning] and gets a return email from Mr. Peterson saying ‘Yeah, I’m confused too, but I’m heading to Rotary and I’ll talk to John about it and we’ll clear it up.’ Low and behold, these guys go to Rotary; Judy O’Connell never hears back from anybody until the afternoon; and a fellow Rotary member goes down to Town Hall sometime before 12:43pm and gets sworn in. That’s unbelievable to me.”
The Wilmington Rotary meets every Wednesday at 12:15pm at Rocco’s, according the club’s website.
“I want to vet out any concern that I ran to a Rotary Meeting and told [Kelley] to run down to Town Hall,” responded Town Moderator Rob Peterson. “I find that [accusation] amazing and I hope it wasn’t directed towards me… I hope it wasn’t a character attack.”
Peterson also noted that it turned out Doherty wasn’t even at the Rotary Club Meeting on May 6.
O’Connell acknowledged that any vote/re-vote would have resulted in Kelley’s appointment anyway.
“The end result would have been the same, as both of you were favorable for him,” recognized O’Connell, who was more concerned about getting a handle on the process and improving communication among the group.
While not referring to the Kelley appointment, Newhouse criticized Peterson and Doherty in general for purportedly discussing town business at Rotary Meetings.
“If this stack of [email] correspondence is any indication, we better start posting those meetings at the Rotary Club, because there seems to be a lot of town business being conducted there.” Newhouse said the correspondence was “replete with suggestions of ‘I’ll talk to you at Rotary.’”
Newhouse Says Kelley Appointment May Be Invalid
Selectman Mike Newhouse believed Kelley was not a duly appointed member of the Finance Committee, having been appointed BEFORE the seat was actually vacant.
“The problem is, the bylaw says that when there’s a vacancy, you fill the term,” explained Newhouse. “Hayden’s appointment was good through the adjournment of the Town Meeting of 2015 (May 2). His seat wasn’t vacant on April 29. How can you unilaterally send an email to the Town Clerk saying Mr. Hayden’s seat has been filled for a 3-year seat that wasn’t even vacant yet?”
Newhouse argued the only seats that should be voted upon before Town Meeting were the two unexpired 1-year terms. Newhouse found it interesting that Kelley was given a 3-year seat even though there was still a 1-year seat vacant since November.
Later in the meeting, Newhouse asked current Selectmen Chair Mike Champoux, now a member of the Appointment Committee, to find out if the Kelley appointment was a valid one.
“If not, I would expect that the appointment would be taken up again in a manner that would be very easy to understand and that there would be clarity among the three appointing members,” said Newhouse.
(NOTE: Look for the third article on this story, covering the Michelle Kincaid appointment, tomorrow.)
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