Montgomery Selectboard finds no Open Meetings or ethics violations after reviewing two written complaints

The Town of Montgomery Selectboard on Aug. 31 reviewed written complaints alleging Open Meetings Law and ethics violations and voted that no violations occurred.

Chris Dixson-Boles reviewed the complaint reports and the legal analysis, citing Vermont statutes including 1 V.S.A. § 312 and 24 V.S.A. § 1993. After review, Mark moved that the Selectboard find no violation in the complaint from Josh Howard; the motion was seconded by Dennis Himes and passed 4-0-1 with Charlie Hancock abstaining. A separate motion that the board find no violation in the complaint from Karie Quintin was also approved 4-0-1 (Charlie abstaining).

The reports concluded that statutory minutes requirements do not mandate inclusion of all documents submitted by the public and that local bodies are not required to hold hybrid meetings unless a written request for electronic access is received. On the Karie Quintin complaints the report analyzed public-records and ethics statutes and found no misuse of town resources or disqualifying conflict tied to a specific decision. The minutes record the recommendation in the reports: "No violation occurred."