EAST LONGMEADOW – The Police Chief Search Committee determined it did not violate Open Meeting Law after a complaint was presented to the committee regarding the decision to move into executive session at its March 9 meeting.

Town Counsel James Donahue met with committee members on April 27 to discuss the complaint. Following a lengthy executive session with Donahue, the committee voted unanimously to address the complaint.

The complaint was filed by Austin Joyce, former Police Chief Douglas Mellis’ lawyer, and reads, “On March 9, 2016 the Police Chief Search Committee convened its meeting and then went into executive session to review minutes without an appropriate motion and roll call vote as required by the Open Meeting Law. Later, the chairman described a voting procedure that the committee utilized at its prior meetings in executive session that violates the Open Meeting Law prohibition against secret ballots and that does not conform to the requirement of roll call votes for all votes in executive session.”

Donahue told Reminder Publications after the April 27 meeting he believes a video of the March 9 meeting from East Longmeadow Community Access Television “clearly shows” that there was a roll call vote in open session.

He confirmed the committee went into executive session in order to approve meeting minutes.

The Open Meeting Law complaint also lists potential actions to respond to the complaint, including “nullification of all votes of the committee that were in violation of the Open Meeting Law, public release of all minutes, ballots and records of the Police Chief Search Committee, and training of the committee members in the Open Meeting Law requirements.”

Police Chief Search Committee member Connie Wiezbicki said after the meeting he believes the committee has addressed the Open Meeting Law complaint.

“Whether the [search] process was flawed or not, in the end result we were capable of landing a top-notch police officer to lead our community,” he added.

Police Chief Jeffery Dalessio was sworn in on April 11.

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