Law Dept: ‘Open Meeting Law was not violated’ by female city councilors

by | Jun 14, 2018 | City Council | 13 comments

City Council President Marc Laredo released this memo today regarding an anonymous complaint filed following a May 20 gathering of 11 female Newton City Councilors who say they met to discuss the speak about “the appropriateness of the way women were being treated” by their colleagues.

At my request, the Law Department looked into the anonymous complaint the City Clerk received on Thursday, June 7, 2018 alleging that

Laredo: ‘…this behavior is not acceptable to me’

Laredo: ‘…this behavior is not acceptable to me’

by | Jun 14, 2018 | City Council | 9 comments

Thanks goodness for Jenna Fisher at Patch who continues to explore the meeting of eleven female Newton City Councilors that attendees say was “a back yard wine and cheese conversation” about the “appropriateness of the way women were being treated” but is the subject of an anonymous Open Meeting Law complaint, now being investigated by the city solicitor.

In the complaint to the Attorney General’s office, someone alleged all of the women on the Newton City Council who went to a May 20 event violated Open Meeting Law by holding a meeting to talk about council business. But a number of people at the event, described as a back yard wine and cheese conversation, said they did not talk about any

Greenberg:  “…get together was …about the appropriateness of the way women were being treated’

Greenberg:  “…get together was …about the appropriateness of the way women were being treated’

by | Jun 11, 2018 | City Council, Newton | 25 comments

Jenna Fisher at Newton Patch has just posted a story about the anonymous open meeting law complaint against 11 female Newton City Councilors, including this explanation from Councilor Maria Greenberg

“The purpose of the get together was just to speak about the appropriateness of the way women were being treated [in the Chamber],” said Councilor Maria Scibelli Greenberg. “We didn’t know what the protocol was there. We wanted to get together with the experienced councilors and ask them how we could handle it in the future.”

She described the event as social gathering to vent and commiserate. “I guess