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Westwood’s New Town Administrator Begins Duties as Select Board Chair Robert Gotti Resigns
On Tuesday, February 3rd, one day after a Special Town Meeting where a majority of Westwood voters recommended that Westwood Select Board end its lawsuit against Westwood Land Trust, and just minutes into the board's remotely held Zoom meeting, Robert Gotti announced his resignation from the board and as its chair.
His resignation took effect at 6:15 p.m., about 15 minutes after the meeting began, and he appears to have left the meeting immediately after the announcement (at least visually). Mr. Gotti’s resignation was acknowledged as "sudden" by Interim Town Administrator Molly Fitzpatrick, who was in remote attendance.
While Mr. Gotti's departure may have seemed abrupt to some, it followed the previous night's Special Town Meeting, at which Mr. Gotti's request for extended time to "answer questions" was rejected by Town Moderator James O'Sullivan, who described Mr. Gotti's statements as arguing the question rather than answering questions. After time ran out and Mr. Gotti attempted to continue speaking over Mr. O'Sullivan's gavel, voters expressed disagreement, amidst some clapping while Mr. Gotti spoke. Mr. Gotti left the podium, without finishing his prepared remarks.
The Special Town Meeting concluded with a majority of over 700 voters recommending that the town end its litigation against Westwood Land Trust. The Special Town Meeting had been called by over 300 petitioning citizens who submitted four Articles questioning Select Board's decisions in the land trust litigation, against the backdrop of residents complaining about a lack of transparency by the board.
The citizen petition, voluminous resident commentary on the land trust litigation, and outcome of the Special Town Meeting have reflected strong public sentiment about the direction and decisions taken by Westwood's Select Board.
In announcing his resignation the following night, Mr. Gotti stated, “I feel my values may no longer reflect those of the greater Westwood community at large.” He also said, “I believe this is the right move at the right time for both the healing of and health of the community, as well as my own health and well-being . . . . I have given tirelessly of my time and earnestly of my talents over these past six years, helping provide leadership during times of uncertainty and transition.”
“I promised from my very first campaign that I would approach the role by always trying to be positive, productive, and pragmatic, and that is how I approached every day of my time in office,” said Mr. Gotti.
Of his Select Board colleagues Member Marianne LeBlanc Cummings and Clerk Joe Previtera, Mr. Gotti noted, “We may not have always agreed on every issue, but we always made each other better through our thoughtful and sometimes vigorous discussions. Only those of you [who] have served and likely their spouses know the full measure of the sacrifices you made in service to our community during your tenure. Heartfelt thanks to you all,” he said, beginning a short round of thanks that also included town staff and the Town Counsel Pat Ahearn.
“I’m confident Westwood is in great hands with the arrival of Connor Read as our new town administrator," said Mr. Gotti. "His experience and his approach will be a breath of fresh air for Westwood. Thank you, and I wish the town much success moving forward."
Following Mr. Gotti’s announcement and immediate departure from the board’s Zoom meeting (at least visually), Ms. Cummings led the remainder of the hour-long remotely held meeting.
Holding its meetings via Zoom has been Select Board’s practice since the Covid pandemic when social distancing was common and in-person attendance could lead to serious health and safety risks. With the uncertainties and fear of the pandemic now in the past, however, residents have been voicing their frustrations at recent Select Board meetings over the continued unavailability of an in-person attendance option.
In the Select Board’s Zoom meetings, residents are unable to view who is attending and how many people are attending. Only the few panelists are visually featured - the three Select Board members themselves, the town administrator, assistant town administrators, town counsel, and a limited number of select staff and presenters. Residents are also unable to converse with each other because disabling Zoom’s chat feature has also become routine at Select Board meetings.
Then, in July last year, Select Board implemented another perceived restriction on public interaction. Select Board implemented a 15-minute window for “public and press” during which attendees can speak by voice or in writing, and during which Select Board said it would no longer be responding.
In Tuesday evening’s meeting, resident Dr. Lynne Viti again raised the issue, in writing -- Can the Select Board consider hybrid meetings and allow for in-person attendance? Resident David Atkins later added the written comment that such participation would allow residents to see and talk to one another, which is otherwise “lost in anonymous Zoom.”
Ms. Viti’s question was followed by another question in writing from resident William Selles, asking how many people were on the meeting call.
Departing from the board’s recent past practice, Ms. Cummings proceeded to respond to each of the public’s questions. She informed Mr. Selles that 32 participants were on the call - 8 panelists and 24 other attendees. She added a response to Ms. Viti’s question, noting that Select Board would consider and discuss the option of hybrid meetings at a later date.
In answer to resident Claire Galkowski’s question of whether Select Board would address the topic of the previous night’s Special Town Meeting, Ms. Cummings informed Ms. Galkowski that substantive comment would be provided in the future, when there are updates to provide. Additionally, she noted that the strong turnout had been acknowledged by Mr. Read.
In Mr. Read’s first official update as town administrator, he stated, “I would like to acknowledge and say thanks to the hundreds of residents who came out last night for Special Town Meeting. I appreciate how thoughtful and civil the discussion was, as well as the work, the logistics behind a successful town meeting are quite substantial,” he said. He acknowledged the work and preparation of town staff, school staff, the elections team, moderator, and legal counsel.
“So, I want to give a thank you to all those folks for making that happen. I can appreciate all of the work that goes into a town meeting. I’ve been to quite a few. I don’t know how many of my peers can say that they had one on their first day, but you all did an excellent job,” said Mr. Read.
In the time for public and press, Town Counsel Ahearn also responded to resident Erin Sibley’s question regarding how the vacated Select Board seat will be filled. There will be a Special Election to fill the vacancy for one year - the remainder of Mr. Gotti’s term. Mr. Ahearn noted that the information about the election will be forthcoming.
