Open Meeting Seminar

Two conclusions we can make from last week’s Town Council-led seminar on the Open Meeting Law are that attorney Elizabeth “Betsy” Lane of Kopelman and Paige has certainly become an expert on the state’s Open Meeting Law and that the decision to hold such a seminar in town for the town councilors and committee members was an excellent one.

Adherence to the regulations of the Open Meeting Law is essential and the councilors realize that their constituents want to be able to follow their key decisions and votes in an open forum whenever possible. In fact, we feel one of the strengths of Council President Peter Gill’s tenure has been his professional and thoughtful administration of council meetings and public forums such as the one held on the Open Meeting Law. We’re sure that President Gill, Town Manager James McKenna, our town councilors, School Committee members, and the members of the various boards and committees, do not want to take away from the many great things that have happened in our town over the past few years with a violation of the Open Meeting Law and the negative publicity that can result from such a misinterpretation of the law.

That’s why it was so important for Attorney Lane to come here to inform our officials about  the Open Meeting Law and to answer any questions directly that officials have about this important law.

We commend the Council and the town administration for being so “open” in their approach to getting everybody on the same page in relation to the Open Meeting Law.