Upcoming Meeting

Gardner MA City Council Facing Costs at Tuesday 4-19-22 Meeting

Due to unanticipated increases in costs, the City of Gardner repaving project needs an additional $1.8 million dollars and the Gardner City Council will tackle this at the upcoming session.  Complete Agenda, CLICK HERE.

Monty Tech sent letter to Gardner’s Mayor, but can’t seem to spell his name correctly, referring to Mayor Nicholson as “Mickelson”

Joint Convention of February 18, 2020 clearly shows Boone got 4 year appointment to 2024.

Boone sent email questioning whether he wanted to continue as Rep to Monty Tech.

Boone advised City Council he already had the post through 2024.

Monty Tech claims they didn’t have a record of the February 2020 reappointment. However, records show he was admitted to the March 4, 2020 meeting and would certainly have been remembered as he was the only member to vote Nay on the budget. SEE BELOW.

Joint Convention to Address Allegations of Wrongdoing

Also on 4-19-22 will be a Joint Convention of the Gardner City Council and the Gardner School Committee.   One item to be addressed are allegations by Scott Graves of Open Meeting Law violations which the City of Gardner states are untrue.   Graves allegations and the City’s proposed response(s) are contained in the Complete Agenda.  CLICK HERE. 

Another item is the confusion over James Boone’s position on the Monty Tech School Committee which has been confirmed to expire in 2024.    Graves alleges wrongdoing occurred with respect to an attempt to fill Boone’s vacant seat which apparently was not vacant after all.  It appears communication from Mayor Nicholson indicating the term had expired in January 2022 was in error. Graves alleges the Mayor was illegally trying to replace Boone with the Mayor’s cousin and makes other allegations which are in the meeting agenda documents.

Monty Tech states they did not have an official record of the 2020 appointment. But, the official minutes of a March 4, 2020 Monty Tech meeting clearly show James Boone in attendance after the reappointment took effect. See below. People would clearly remember him as he was the only member voting NO on the budget at that time. Later communications show Monty Tech informed Gardner that information on Gardner’s own website showed Boone’s appointment was through 2024. It’s possible the Mayor may have relied on incorrect information he thought was accurate, but Boone actually voted at a Monty Tech meeting on February 2, 2022. But, Boone himself may have added to the confusion by sending an an email to the City Clerk on February 7, 2022 casting doubt on whether he wanted the position or was up for it again, only to send a contradictory note to the City Council two weeks later confirming his appointment was through 2024.

Following a letter from Monty Tech, James Boone was sworn in again on March 1, 2022.  Certificate of appointment Presumably someone at the upcoming meeting will explain all this further.  Complete Agenda, CLICK HERE

NO WONDER EVERYONE WAS CONFUSED!

The Complete Agenda linked to above shows the complete communications involved in these matters and details from the State of MA on the actual OPEN MEETING LAW.