Citing the need to avoid liability issues for the town, Select Board members voted earlier this evening to ratify all the appointments made at the July 2, 2009 emergency meeting. The D.A.'s office had found the meeting in violation of the Open Meeting Law and specified ratification of the appointments as the remedy for the violation.
The decision followed a public hearing that centered on discussion of the police department, since all of the department members were appointed at last summer's illegal meeting. A. Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and present as an invited guest of the Select Board, said that what he heard at the hearing disturbed him, since it showed that the town does not trust the police department. He recommended appointing an interim chief from outside the town to restore trust in the department. He also recommended against using the State Police, since they are undermanned and would answer to the State Police, not Ashfield.
Though the ratified appointments last through June of this year, Select Board member Dave DeHerdt said that the law provides for town employees to be dismissed for just cause.
Ruth Julian and David King
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