Minutes of meetings are subject to final approval at the next scheduled meeting

Attending: Brett St. Clair, Nick Holmes, Brigitte Cook, Scott Ives, Jackie Kennedy

Nick Holmes called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm.

Motion by Nick to accept the minutes of the last meet was made and seconded by Brigitte. Motion passed.

Noted that the meeting was duly posted.

Nick welcomed all parties present, noted that all parties were notified of the Preliminary meeting. The purpose of the preliminary meeting is to give the complaint a formal review before a hearing on the merits is scheduled. Noted: the committee would not be taking evidence on merits of the complaint nor will the committee be hearing arguments on the merits of the complaint. An ethics complaint is merely an accusation and the respondent must be presumed innocent until and unless an adverse finding is made after a full hearing.

The Chicoine matter.

The committee members discussed their relationships with the parties, and concluded recusal was not required. Both Mr. Chicoine and Mr. Herlihy stated they did not believe there was any reason why any member of the committee should be recused.

The complaint filed by Gary Chicoine was discussed to clarify the allegations brought forth by Mr. Chicoine and which section(s) of the Ethics Code were involved. The committee cited Section I. (B) A Duty to Recuse in Quasi-Judicial Actions and Section I. (H) Fair and Equal Treatment.

The committee concluded that the Complainant had met all avenues of relief within our town government, because he had addressed his concerns with both the ZBA and the Board of Selectmen.

Motion to move forward with a hearing on the Merits including Sections B and H was made by Nick and seconded by Brett. Motion passed.

(At the conclusion the meeting, the committee met with both Parties and it was agreed that the Pre-Hearing Conference would be held at the Town Offices on Thursday, February 24, 2005 at 7:30 PM. This is only a preliminary hearing – the Parties do not need to bring witnesses.)

The Davis/ Rockenbach matter.

The committee members discussed their relationships with the parties, and concluded recusal was not required. Mr. Rockenbach, Ms. Davis, and Mr. Swindlehurst each stated they did not believe there was any reason why any member of the committee should be recused.

The complaint filed by Lori Davis and Alan Rockenbach was discussed to clarify the allegations brought forth by both parties and which section(s) of the Ethics Code were involved.

Motion by Nick to consider only those violations which are alleged to have occurred on specific dates (i.e. January 6, 2004 and June 3, 2004) because allegations that simply refer to conduct over a broad time frame without specifying specific actions would unfairly prejudice the Respondent’s ability to prepare a defense. Second Scott. Motion carried unanimously

The committee discussed with Ms. Davis and Mr. Rockenbach what steps they had taken to raise their concerns with either Mr. Swindlehurst and/or the Board of Selectmen before bringing their Complaint before the Ethics Committee. Ms. Davis and Mr. Rockenbach stated that they had had a number of conversations with selectmen over the past few years, but they could not remember the specifics of any such conversation with the exception of what took place at the December 23, 2004 Selectmen’s meeting, when Ms. Davis raised a concern. (Ms. Davis confirmed that the minutes quoted in her Complaint accurately reflect what took place at that meeting). Committee members expressed concern that neither Ms. Davis nor Mr. Rockenbach had brought specific instances of alleged misconduct to the Board of Selectmen before filing their ethics complaint.

A motion was made by Nick to dismiss the Complainant without prejudice, as the Complaintants had not exhausted all available avenues of relief within our town government. The motion was seconded by Scott, and passed unanimously. The committee explained to Ms. Davis and Mr. Rockenbach that they could refile their Complaint if they were unable to resolve the issue with the Board of Selectmen, and if they provided specific allegations of misconduct by the Respondent.

Motion by Nick to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 pm, second Brigitte. Motion passed.

Respectfully submitted for the Committee

Jacqueline A. Kennedy