Malden City Council Intentionally Violated Open Meeting Law: AG

MALDEN, MA — The Malden City Council was responsible for one of just five cases of intentional violations of the Open Meetings Law found by Attorney General Maura Healey last year, Healey said in her annual report on the law.

Healey's report found 112 determinations of Open Meeting Law violations in 2021, five of which were intentional, as first reported by Commonwealth Magazine.

Healey said three Malden city councilors exchanged emails outside posted meetings, which constituted impermissible deliberation. In one email, a councilor said she would not support a business's license renewal; another email conveyed a councilor's opinions on increasing green space and buying land to expand green space; and a series of emails between two councilors pertained to their views on moving forward on a zoning matter, Healey said.

Patch reached out to City Council President Craig Spadafora for comment, but did not receive a response Tuesday morning.

Healey's finding did come with the caveat that the councilors may have misunderstood the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, in particular what constitutes a matter within the body's jurisdiction. However, Healey's office had "recently found the council in violation of the law and explained these particular issues, and therefore find the violation was intentional," she said.

Other intentional violations were found on the part of the Woburn Public Library Board of Trustees, Great Barrington Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, the Ashland Select Board and the Swansea Board of Selectmen.