Narragansett Violated Open Meetings Act in Town Manager Selection Process, According to AG

Narragansett Violated Open Meetings Act in Town Manager Selection Process, According to AG

The Narragansett Town Council violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) multiple times in the process of selecting its latest Town Manager, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.

Complaints brought by Melissa Jenkins, Amanda Moss, and Denis Monahan alleged the Council violated the OMA when it discussed, conducted interviews, negotiated the contract, and selected the new Town Manager in a series of executive session meetings between May and July 2019. 

Neronha found that during several of the executive sessions “the Council discussed…matters related to the Town Manager position, such as how to proceed with advertising the position, collecting resumes, and scheduling interviews for the position, as well as how the Council would determine which applicants to interview” — and during one executive session, "discussed possible contact terms for the posting."

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“Discussion of these topics — which did not pertain to any individual applicant’s job performance or qualifications — in executive session…violated the OMA,” wrote Neronha. 

The town council, in an open meeting on August 26, voted to appoint James Tierney as the Town Manager and to approve his contract; Tierney was sworn in on September 16, 2019. 

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“We do not believe that injunctive relief is appropriate except regarding the partial unsealing of executive session minutes, including disclosure of votes taken during executive session,” said Neronha in a letter dated November 29 — giving the Town Council 5 days to unseal portions of the executive session minutes. 

He said that the Office of the AG found that the violations were not “willful and knowing.”

Complainant Responds

“I made this complaint because the whole selection process was made in a back room,” said Jenkins. “And the Town Manager is essentially the chief executive in control of the town.”

“It’s a flawed process,” said Jenkins. “This is nothing against [Tierney]. But public business should be conducted in the public."

“There may be other remedies forthcoming, but we want to see the minutes first,” said Jenkins, who noted as of noon on Thursday she was still not in receipt of them.

"I want to see the process — and I want all the public to see this process that should have been public from the get-go," she added. 

Council President Matthew Mannix did not respond for comment at time of publication.