Andy Levin has the scoop on the Newton TAB Blog and shares this link to the ruling. which says the Committee violated the law in” all the ways alleged. ”
UPDATE: Here’s the TAB’s story.
AG: Newton School Committee broke Open Meeting Law in Fleishman incident
by Greg Reibman | Dec 23, 2014 | School Committee | 13 comments
As a person subject to the Open Meeting law through the NHNAC, I find the ruling interesting and its makes the law less scary. Whether the school committee acted out of ignorance or something else I think the stated remedies from the ruling are appropriate to keep all of us aware of the importance of sharing the deliberations at public meetings.
Well, that’ll teach ’em to break the law:
“As a remedy, we order the committee to obey the law from now on. Case closed and a merry Christmas to all!”
Note to self: the next time I want to do something nefarious, I need only do it while in the employ of a larger organization.
I’m glad the Tab pursued this case. Newton deserves more integrity from our public officials. Matt Hills should resign. He didn’t just break the law, he violated the public’s trust.
Props to the Newton TAB. “Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant.” –Louis D. Brandeis
To be fair, all of the credit for this one goes to Jenna Fisher & Emily Costello.
I will not be voting for any incumbent School Committee members again. They need to learn from their mistakes and accept responsibility.
Doug Jacobs, that is the best comment here. Anyone who disagrees with the SC’s actions or their disposition of their duties while they are in office, vote against them next time. If not, vote for them. Constant bashing and demanding of heads to roll accomplishes nothing. When people are elected to office, whether or not you voted for them, there they are. Keep up the oversight and demand transparency, but keep it civil and remember what’s important to you next time you vote. And do vote.
Of course you all realize that this is only possible if our incumbents have opponents, right? That’s not exactly been the case for most wards in the past.
“Demand transparency”? How about demanding accountability? Those two things go hand-in-hand. When elected officials violate the law for the purpose of deceiving the public, they should be removed from office. The problem here is twofold. Newton has no recall provision in its Charter, and most incumbent SC members run unopposed. You can’t get them out, and you can’t vote them out.
@Marti – Totally agree. I will not engage in bashing other to say that not one member of the School Committee showed the political courage to do the right thing. Therefore, the voters need new leadership.
Yes, we need more candidates for SC. But let’s remember the issue at hand. It’s not about the Superintendent’s plagiarism. It’s not about the wholly inadequate penalty the SC handed him. This is about Matt Hills and the SC attempting a coverup, and getting busted by a student newspaper. What’s clear to me, is that the SC never had any intention of revealing the Fleishman incident. If the Lion’s Roar didn’t break the story, the public would never know.
@Mike Striar – I agree that the cover-up was worst than the crime. It’s sad that the School Committee has lost credibility and I agree we need good candidates to mount challenges. It’s going to happen!
Are you running Doug?