SWAMPSCOTT — Tensions ran high Wednesday night between Select Board member David Grishman and Board of Assessors Chair Tasia Vasiliou, as both Boards met with each other to discuss multiple ongoing controversies.
During the Select Board’s meeting on Aug. 20, Grishman accused Vasiliou and her Board of conducting actions that he classified as “corrupt and politically motivated.” His allegations concern 14 property-tax abatements approved by the Board of Assessors for residences in the vicinity of the new elementary school, which the town has completed a two-year construction project.
The Board of Assessors has recently made public efforts to update the field card of Grishman’s Sampson Avenue home. According to Vasiliou, Grishman’s field card currently has no value assigned to the property’s basement, which is an error due to the fact that the basement is finished and therefore should factor into the property’s total worth. Grishman has also alluded to the idea that the focus on his field card specifically is retaliatory for his criticism of the abatements.
“You further alleged that our board completes business that does not align with mass general law, that I solicited abatements, granted abatements to my neighbors, and that we treat taxpayers unfairly,” Vasiliou said to Grishman. “ On August 27, you made statements on social media repeating the same outrageous claims.”
Vasiliou added that Grishman’s field card has not been properly valued for more than a year, and that he has received “preferential treatment” from members of town staff regarding the issue.
Grishman responded by reviewing letters previously sent to the Board of Assessors by Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald and former Director of Assessment Cheryl Moschella, in which they expressed concern with some action taken by Vasiliou nad her fellow members. In addition, he insisted that Vasiliou partaking in the authorization of any abatements was wrong due to her proximity to the school.
“You live on Lewis Road, 600 feet away from the school,” Grishman said. “You’re a neighbor. Saying anything to the contrary is simply untrue and misleading.”
Vasiliou refuted Grishman’s claim by stating there is seven acres of woodland area between her home and the school building. Grishman also raised questions about whether or not Vasiliou solicited potential abatements to the residents in the area. While she admitted that abatement letters were considered earlier this year by the Board of Assessors, none were sent out.
“We didn’t have the votes and we didn’t agree on it so we couldn’t do it that way,” Vasiliou said. “To send a letter would have been wrong and we were grateful that we were protected that way.”
Former Board of Assessors member Lara Goodman asked Grishman to confirm that his basement was indeed finished, however he did not directly answer, suggesting that it was a tactic to divert attention from the school-area abatements.
Select Board Vice Chair Katie Phelan and Doug Thompson both argued that the debate between Grishman and Vasiliou was not productive, and should be handled in a different manner.
“Even if two mutually desiring adults wish to sit down in mature fashion and figure out the facts, that’s challenging enough,” Thompson said. “But to try to do this in a fish bowl seems challenging.”
Thompson also took issue with the way the topic was presented on the Select Board’s meeting agenda as a “presentation of the assessing function.”
Vasiliou also expressed her frustration with the perceived lack of communication between the Board of Assessors and Fitzgerald, noting that she was not contacted by him prior to receiving his letter of concern last November. Fitzgerald admitted he should have reached out, but insisted he was trying to “protect” the Board of Assessors from doing anything unethical.
