I Guess That’s Why They Call Them Minutes.
By Jim Conley • Jan 29th, 2008 • Email This Post to a Friend •
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For a group who spends so much time in executive session, the Brookline Selectmen don’t seem to say much while in their Star Chamber. Recently, I received copies of the minutes of their 2007 super secret sessions and I know less now than I did before.
Take the minutes from the May 22, 2007 session [read minutes here], when Assistant Town Counsel George Driscoll appeared to “outline the case of Hicks vs. Town of Brookline.“ Talk about the broad contours, the only further information given is that the Selectmen agreed to settle the case for $150 thousand.
There’s no indication as to who is paying whom and why. Nor is there any sense that the Selectmen put Driscoll through the paces that a client puts their attorney in a matter involving a six figure settlement.
Hicks, indeed.
Update: The Hicks in this case is none other than former BHS music teacher Geoffrey Dana Hicks, who was fired by Brookline High School for inappropriate contact with a student.
Update (2): Hicks pleaded guilty in January of 2004 to two counts of statutory rape in exchange for no jail time, thus sparing the student (who had long since graduated) from testifying. I’m trying to imagine the circumstances where a $150 thousand legal settlement results from all of this.
Just weird.
Update (3): According to Town Administrator Richard Kelliher the $150 thousand was paid “to the plaintiffs” and not Hicks. Good luck figuring that out.
Jim Conley is publisher of On Brookline.
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Perhaps Town Counsel’s office needs more help. Check out tonight’s Selectmen’s meeting calendar:
Here’s Item 7:
“Town Counsel Personnel
Question of authorizing the filling of a vacancy in the position of Associate Town Counsel II.”
How can one tell if there is indeed a vacancy? Maybe there is need for a civil rights attorney?
Re: Update (2)
This reminds me of a lawyer’s joke I heard early in my career. A lawyer was defending a client charged with reckless driving for crashing his car into a tree. The defendant took the stand and his lawyer asked him: “How fast was that tree going when it hit your car?”
Re: Update (3)
Has Kelliher on behalf of the Town waived attorney-client privilege so that the files of Town Counsel’s office can now be exposed to public scrutiny?