The Select Board narrowly approved the payment of an $8,460 legal bill from Braintree-based law office Murphy, Hesse, Toomey and Lehane on Tuesday, reigniting tensions over transparency, authority and communication among the board members. The vote was 3-2, with Select Board Members David Grishman and Doug Thompson in the negative.

“Counsel has said we can pay this using allocated funds from the appropriate line item,” said Select Board Chair Katie Phelan, with interim Town Administrator Gino Cresta in agreement.

Select Board Member Mary Ellen Fletcher had requested for Murphy, Hesse, Toomey and Lehane to write a second opinion around the Pine St. VFW Post property prior to a special Town Meeting in March. The bill landed on former Finance Director Amy Sarro’s desk, prompting Select Board Member David Grishman to accuse Fletcher during the July 8 Select Board meeting – and again in the July 22 meeting – of attempting to “cover up” the expense and request for town staff to pay the fees.

How the Legal Bill Emerged

Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane billed 28.2 hours to prepare the second opinion for the Select Board, according to documents obtained by the Swampscott Tides. Work included research, preparing a memorandum and phone calls with Fletcher and Community and Economic Development Director Marzie Galazka.

The second opinion suggested that the Town Meeting did not have the authority to revoke the original vote around the Select Board’s authority to sell or lease the property at 10 New Ocean St. and 12-24 Pine St.

“If there was no appropriation made by Town Meeting or signed agreement by the Town Administrator, this would not be a lawful expense for my office to pay. Unless there was an agreement that has not been filed with the accountant’s office,” Sarro had emailed Select Board Chair Katie Phelan and Vice Chair Doug Thompson on June 24. “We can discuss options but more likely this invoice would need to go before Town Meeting for authorization to pay.” 

Select Board Vice Chair Doug Thompson replied to Sarro’s email, expressing concern about a “considerable legal expense that was not authorized by the Select Board but was unilaterally made by one member.””

Interim Town Administrator Gino Cresta had told the Swampscott Tides he “was aware that the law firm was contacted for the second opinion.” Cresta did say at the Tuesday meeting that he did not authorize the second opinion, and Select Board Member Danielle Leonard acknowledged that “to put it on (Cresta) is not a fair assessment.”

At Tuesday’s Select Board meeting, Phelan said Sarro had already set aside funds to cover the payment. Cresta said the money was put aside in an asset shuffle, when money was moved around to improve the financial situation at the end of the fiscal year. The shuffle was approved previously by the Select Board, but Thompson said he did not know that.

Grishman said he wants to make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future.

“It was an $8,400 problem this time. I want to make sure it’s not a $20,000 next time or a $40,000 problem, or whatever,” Grishman said. “I want to make sure that this board all has the same information, that we’re all on an even playing field.”

Accusations and Resignations

The issue of whether Fletcher asked a town employee to pay off the bill was also raised in the meeting. During discussion about the Select Board handbook, Grishman brought up the language within the manual, specifically Chapter 10 Section B. 

“Town staff report only to the town administrator of whether directly or indirectly, not to the Select Board. Maintaining this proper chain of command between Select Board, town administrator and town staff is critical to the proper functioning of town government,” Grishman read. “Select Board and its individual members should communicate with town staff as it’s appropriate and include the town administrator…No member shall request any town staff to undertake or complete any task or attend any meeting unless such request is explicitly approved in advanced by the town administrator.”

Grishman said the provision is “incredibly important.” 

“There’s been a number of recent directives issued by Select Board members to town staff,” Grishman said. 

Fletcher asked if he “knows this for sure or are you making something up again?”

“I know this with certainty, Mary Ellen,” Grishman said, to which Fletcher said she did not think so.

Grishman, however, continued to share that Assistant Town Accountant Trang Vu resigned earlier on Tuesday and that she was the town staff member “that was addressed by Mary Ellen to pay an unauthorized legal fee.”

“This is absolutely false,” Fletcher said. “You have got to stop making up these lies. You have to stop. I have to insist that you stop lying in public, or even in private. This is not factual information.”

Fletcher said she had “absolutely not” asked Vu to pay the fee. She also offered to Cresta to meet with Vu Wednesday.

“Town staff reports to the town administrator, not to you, not to the Select Board,” Grishman said. 

Fletcher said she is in “complete agreement” with the provision within the handbook. Phelan stopped the argument, saying the board should move forward and “hold each other accountable to the policy.”

It came out in the meeting that Fletcher had not signed the handbook policy in the past, saying she had “just forgotten about it.” She said, however, that she has voted for and followed the policy and code of conduct in the past.

Leonard tried to stop the debate as well, asking for an “honest conversation.” She asked that everybody own that at some point “we’ve probably all violated some form of this” handbook. Thompson reiterated that everyone has violated the paragraph, but Phelan said she never has.

“That’s fair to say, but at least we own it…I want us all to be on the same team,” Leonard said. “I’m not trying to point fingers at anybody. I think we should all stop doing that.”

Fletcher responded, calling the exchange “dysfunction at its finest.”

“When Mr. Grishman is pointing out specific things that are not true, I am not going to sit here and agree with something that is not only not true but in turn attacks my character,” Fletcher said.

Policy Concerns and Moving Forward

Thompson asked Cresta to hold the Select Board accountable for making requests to town staff through Cresta. Going forward, he will report to the chair of the Select Board if there are any issues.

Thompson also focused the Select Board on “the root of how we can solve this going forward.”

“Generally speaking, I think when we engage counsel, we are either in exec session or public session, there’s a consensus or we take a vote to do that. That’s my understanding,” Thompson said. “I think the issue was that we had strife about the post and what we were going to do, so people went in different directions and tried to solve the problem in different ways, on their own without processing it with this team.”

The Select Board was previously split in a 3-2 vote in support of the Pine Street project. The voting lines were the same as Tuesday’s bill vote.

Phelan argued Thompson’s point, saying that Finance Committee Member Naomi Dreeben said that “in years past when we’ve had issues we just get a second opinion.”

“I was like ‘we should get a second opinion,’” Phelan said. “I did not stop to think, Doug to your point, how exactly do you go about doing that in order to not have issues with this. I did not do that. I should’ve asked Mary Ellen. I should’ve asked the town administrator, acting town administrator. I should’ve asked more questions. Fine. I take that in stride. I will never make that mistake again.”

Leonard agreed that a vote should’ve happened, but she acknowledged that as the chair no one is expected to know “every nuanced thing.”

“I have to think that in the history of Swampscott, past chairs have done things incorrectly,” Leonard said. 

Phelan, Fletcher and Leonard said that the services received by the law firm, however, need to be paid.

“The law firm deserves to be paid. The work was done,” Fletcher said. “I just think the drama needs to end.”

There will be a discussion on the Select Board agenda next meeting “about implementing safeguards so this does not happen again,” Phelan said.