By Carol Britton Meyer

During Monday night’s meeting of the Hull Redevelopment Authority, newly elected chair Bartley Kelly agreed to place a reorganization revote on the next agenda at the request of HRA member Adrienne Paquin and resident C. Anne Murray.

C. Anne Murray AS SEEN ON ZOOM DURING A RECENT HRA MEETING.

More than three hours into the May 12 Hull Redevelopment Authority meeting, then-Chair Dennis Zaia abruptly announced he was stepping down from that role, catching some fellow board members by surprise and causing a number of residents participating in the Zoom meeting to express disappointment at this last-minute move without discussion among board members.

At that time, Zaia immediately nominated Kelly, the former chair – who seconded the motion – with no discussion about other nominations. He then nominated Dan Kernan and Paquin as vice chair and clerk, respectively, in their then-current roles, and Joan Senatore as treasurer, Kelly’s role at the time of the meeting.

The motions were accepted on a 3-2 vote, with Paquin and Dan Kiernan voting against.

Paquin questioned the vote, noting that it was not posted on the agenda for that night, and Kiernan remarked, “You really should not have done that. If someone else was interested, there should have been a discussion rather than a decision. If they were interested, I would have loved to have had a choice.”

During another three-hour Zoom meeting this week – with 49 people attending at one point – Murray asked that a reconsideration vote be placed on the next agenda, with Paquin noting at that time that she intended to bring up the issue later in the meeting under “new business” — which she did.

“You talk about transparency, [but] action speaks louder than words,” Murray said. “I urge you to put this issue on the next agenda for reconsideration, and I will be happy, whatever the outcome.”

Paquin echoed that request, noting that HRA members received an email from the town clerk following a discussion with town counsel about the structure of agendas and votes being taken without being on the agenda.

“I recommend that to get things above board, the reorganization vote be put back on the [next] agenda so we can revote it,” she said.

Paquin also recommended that moving forward, HRA agendas reflect all the items to be discussed, including new and routine ones such as minutes, warrants, and other regular business.

“That way we will have accurate agendas moving forward, and townspeople can see ahead of time what we will be discussed, versus the template that’s been used” for some time, Paquin said.

While Kelly said he doesn’t believe the votes at the May 12 meeting were “illegal,” he agreed to put the issue on the June 9 agenda. He also noted that the May 12 meeting was not the first time that members had voted on an item not on the agenda.

“I might say we could have done a better job, but we did not break the law,” Kelly said.

Paquin agreed that was not the first time, noting that the HRA “has been in violation of the Open Meeting Law for the past two years, and I would love for us to start fresh.”

The outcome of the revote could be the same, she noted, but “I just want us to get this right moving forward, and the [revote] seems like a good place to start. We could be called into account for violations at any time.”

Kiernan also said he would like for the revote to be put on the next agenda.

“I think Bart will do a great job as chair of the HRA,” he said. “He demonstrated that tonight, but I believe this should be revoted. This might not change the outcome, but a lot of citizens have pushed back on this, and it will take just a minute.”

In response, Kelly said he “certainly will put this on the agenda for our next meeting.”

The HRA’s next meeting dates are June 9 and 30 and July 14 and 28.

A replay of the meeting will be available on Hull Community Television’s website, www.hulltv.net.

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