Dedham Parks & Recreation Commission Censure Jim Maher

DEDHAM, MA — The Parks and Recreation Commission decided, in executive session on Monday, to censure commissioner Jim Maher. The decision was based on a complaint pending against Maher of sexual harassment.

At Monday night's regular meeting, the commission went into executive session to discuss and decide on the censure. Maher was not present at Monday night's meeting. Jonathan Briggs, Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, issued a statement to Patch, explaining the decision to formally censure Maher.

"As you know, Parks and Recreation Commissioners are elected to office by the voters of the Town. We do not have the authority as Commissioners to remove or to bar another Commissioner from participating in the office to which they were elected. This past Monday evening, we spoke as a Commission and censured another Commissioner for inappropriate comments we collectively viewed to be inconsistent with our values as a Commission and inconsistent with the Town’s Anti-discrimination and Sexual Harassment policy. Unfortunately, this is our only recourse. Any remedy beyond this lies with the voters of Dedham at the ballot box."

"The Parks & Recreation Commission has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to discrimination and sexual harassment. Therefore, we acted swiftly and judiciously to rectify the matter to the fullest extent possible."

The censure comes a week after Alix O'Connell, a candidate in the parks and recreation race, called out Maher's behavior on the board at a candidates' forum for Dedham's upcoming election. O'Connell said she had witnessed and experienced bullying and harassment from Maher and felt it was important information for voters to know.

Several Dedham residents contacted Patch after Monday's debate to share their experiences with the Parks and Recreation Commission. At least three of the five people Patch spoke to said they had experienced some form of bullying from Maher.

Maher's lawyer, John Healy, issued a statement to Patch on Maher's behalf. The statement reads in part:

"At this time, no one may legally comment or divulge to the public anything that transpired during the executive session. Per Massachusetts Law, a Commission may not release the minutes of its executive session without following the process set forth in Massachusetts General Law 30A, § 22,"

"The law requires a two-stage review of executive session minutes — As neither of those steps has been taken in this matter, it is improper to comment on anything that may or may not have occurred during the executive session."

"It was our understanding that the Commission planned to take action for which it had no authority under the town of Dedham’s charter, and that Chairman Briggs provided a packet of information to other Commission members pertaining to the executive session and its vote, which he repeatedly refused to provide to Mr. Maher. In addition, we believe that the Commission violated the open meeting law after the Candidate’s Night as information only available to Commission members was used in the the debate by Ms. O’Connell and repeated in various social media outlets by her supporters. Given the Commission’s non-compliance with the Open Meeting Law and questionable decision making, Mr. Maher felt strongly that he not participate in a meeting which was clearly in violation of Massachusetts Law. "

Healy added that "there is nothing in the town of Dedham’s charter regarding a sexual harassment policy," and that the commission does not have power through the town charter to sanction or punish each other.

On Thursday morning, Maher emailed a statement of his own to Patch. The statement read in part:

"About a year and a half ago, there was a conversation between two employees;. one female and one male. The male attributed a false narrative to the female alleging that I said something so inappropriate I will not it repeat here. To be honest, the woman and I have had not the easiest relationship. But I would NEVER EVER say what is attributed to me to any woman. And I am sad that this male would say this to her independent of pining this on me,"

"I am innocent of the allegations and rumors attacking my good character. I am sad for my family who are bearing the burden of these immature and outright lies about me. Again, if any of this were true, I would never have run for office and put my family through this."

Briggs said during the Monday night meeting, that the commission voted to "strongly urge the director to remove Mr. Maher from serving as a volunteer wrestling or other coach." The commission is asking that the town offer annual sexual harassment and anti-discrimination training to all elected and appointed officials.