CYPHER, J.
The plaintiffs, three registered voters (voters)
This case appears to be the first under G. L. c. 30A, §§ 18-25, to reach an appellate court. This new statute, inserted by St. 2009, c. 28, § 18,
The open meeting law continues to "manifest[ ] . . . a general policy that all meetings of a governmental body should be open to the public unless exempted by . . . statute." Attorney Gen. v. School Comm. of Taunton, 7 Mass.App.Ct. 226, 229 (1979). Section 20(a) of the open meeting law declares that "all meetings of a public body shall be open to the public," and § 20(b) states that a public body "shall post notice of every meeting at least 48 hours prior to such meeting." G. L. c. 30A, § 20, as appearing in St. 2014, c. 485.
Section 19(a) of the new law established a division of open government in the office of the Attorney General and provided her authority pursuant to § 25(a) to "promulgate rules and regulations to carry out enforcement of the open meeting law,"
Of particular significance in the present case, § 23(b) of the new law provides a procedure for the prompt review of allegations that a public body has violated the open meeting law and for bringing the complaint to the attention of the Attorney General.
Procedural background. Plaintiff Michael Walsh, a resident of the town, submitted a complaint dated December 2, 2014, to the board, alleging a pattern of violations of the open meeting law in the appointment process for several municipal positions, centering his complaint on the board meeting on November 3, 2014, where it voted to appoint a new town administrator to replace the administrator who was retiring. Walsh, following the procedure stated in G. L. c. 30A, § 23(b),
There was no response from Walsh until, acting with the two other plaintiffs and following the alternate procedure in G. L. c. 30A, § 23(f),
We pause here to note that we are unable to determine from the record why there was no response to town counsel's analysis and findings from Walsh, whose abrupt change of course, not explained by the parties, appears to have been an abandonment of the procedure set in motion by his complaint to the board. While there is nothing in § 23(b) that states what action either the Attorney General or a complainant may take after a public body has submitted its determination to the Attorney General, 940 Code Mass. Regs. § 29.05(6) (2010) provides that if "at least 30 days have passed after the complaint was filed with the public body, and if the complainant is unsatisfied with the public body's resolution of the complaint, the complainant may file a complaint with the Attorney General."
The voters' complaint proceeded to a hearing on January 15, 2015. At the hearing, town counsel argued a motion to dismiss that had been filed by the board the previous day, which contended that the action should be decided without an evidentiary hearing and the subpoenas should be quashed; that the statute of limitations did not permit consideration of the appointments prior to the vote on November 3, 2014; and that no violations of the open meeting law occurred. Specifically, town counsel argued that because the voters' complaint had been submitted under § 23(f)
Discussion. 1. Standard of review. We follow the well-known standard for review of a motion to dismiss pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), 365 Mass. 754 (1974), considering the pleadings de novo, drawing reasonable inferences in favor of the voters, and considering whether the allegations plausibly suggest an entitlement to relief.
3. Alleged mishandling of the voters' complaint. The voters complain that the board should have held a public discussion on their complaint. There is no requirement in the statute for public discussion of an open meeting law complaint prior to the public body sending its response to the complaint to the Attorney General. Title 940 Code Mass. Regs. § 29.05(4) (2010) specifies only that complaints shall timely be reviewed to "ascertain the time, date, place and circumstances which constitute the alleged violation." The board's response was timely, and it may be inferred that town counsel ascertained the circumstances of the complaint. The board adhered to the requirements of § 23(b).
4. Interviews and deliberation on candidates. The voters only generally assert that the process for appointment of the town
The town obtained the assistance of the MMA Consulting Group (MMA) in an open meeting where it was agreed that MMA would select seven candidates from among the applicants who responded to the notice of the vacancy in the position of town administrator. After information and the names of seven candidates had been submitted to the board, it began an interviewing process on October 29 and 30 where individual board members interviewed each individual candidate in separate rooms at the town hall. The then-town administrator asked each board member to rank the candidates he had interviewed; one board member declined. The town administrator did not discuss the rankings with other members of the board, and the board members avoided discussing the candidates with each other or with anyone who might communicate their view to another board member.
On November 3, 2014, at a regularly scheduled public meeting for which proper notice had been given, when the agenda item "[u]pdate on town administrator search" was reached, the individual board members began to discuss their views and the rankings of the candidates they had interviewed. During that discussion it soon became apparent that two board members thought that one of the candidates was outstanding and should be hired. A vote was taken. Although the third board member agreed the candidate was a strong candidate, he thought further interviews should be conducted.
Nothing in the open meeting law proscribes the individual interviews that took place. As the judge properly concluded, these interviews did not constitute deliberations "between or among a quorum of a public body" which, as required by G. L. c. 30A,
5. Other appointments. The voters also challenge under the open meeting law the previous appointments of the fire chief, the town clerk, and the director of public works, whose appointments were made respectively on December 16, 2013; February 24, 2014; and July 15, 2014. It appears from the record that the voters do not have standing to challenge these appointments because one plaintiff had been a registered voter in the town only since September 29, 2014. The statute may be enforced only by "3 or more registered voters." G. L. c. 30A, § 23(f). Compare Vining Disposal Serv., Inc. v. Selectmen of Westford, 416 Mass. 35, 39-40 (1993).
Judgment affirmed.
The minutes readily appear to conform to G. L. c. 30A, § 22, which states that the minutes shall "set[ ] forth the date, time and place, the members present or absent, a summary of the discussions on each subject, . . . the decisions made and the actions taken at each meeting, including the record of all votes."