SWAMPSCOTT — Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher issued a public apology on Wednesday evening after an independent investigation found she violated the town’s code of conduct in connection with a formal complaint brought to the town by fellow board member David Grishman.
The apology stems from an incident the evening before Thanksgiving, when Fletcher said she and Select Board Chair Katie Phelan received an email accusing Grishman of striking a parked car in Vinnin Square.
“I took it upon myself to walk into the police station to ensure that they received the email,” Fletcher said. “Even though I did forward the email to the police chief and the town administrator, I still violated the code of conduct by getting further involved.”
Fletcher acknowledged that her actions crossed a line outlined in the board’s handbook, which defines how individual members interact with town staff and other officials.
“For this, I apologize to Mr. Grishman, the Select Board, and the town, and in the future I will do better,” Fletcher said.
The matter before the Board, Phelan said, was not related to the original allegation involving the parked car, but rather focused on Fletcher’s conduct and the complaint brought forward. An independent investigation was commissioned by the town, with findings that will later be released publicly with some redactions.
That investigation examined what occurred during Fletcher’s visit to the police station and whether her actions aligned with the Board’s code of conduct. The findings were discussed by the Select Board last week in executive session, and ultimately led to Fletcher’s apology.
“The result of the investigation is obviously the apology that MaryEllen just read,” Phelan said, “Appreciate that, MaryEllen, for taking ownership for and responsibility to some of the facts and the allegations.”
In the conversation that followed, members of the Select Board stressed that the way that Board members interact with staff and each other is at the heart of the issue, and something that they feel needs to be addressed moving forward.
Board member Doug Thompson pointed specifically to language in the code of conduct that requires officials to route requests through the town administrator rather than directly engaging staff.
“The police department official felt as though they were being given direction,” Thompson said. “And clearly … the only person we give direction to in all of town is the town administrator.”
Fletcher agreed, saying, “No employee should feel that a Select Board member is telling them to do a job or telling them to do something.”
Another section of the Select Board code of conduct addresses how members raise concerns about one another, directing them to do so privately through leadership channels rather than in ways that could escalate publicly.
Fletcher said she believed her apology covered both aspects of the policy that she was found to have violated in her conversations with police department officials and with other Select Board members.
Board members largely welcomed the apology, while also expressing frustration that the situation had reached that point.
“I want to thank MaryEllen for actually owning this and admitting fault,” Board member Danielle Leonard said. “None of us are perfect humans … I give you a lot of credit for doing that.”
At the same time, Leonard said she felt frustrated that the Board needed to continue having these conversations.
“It’s part of what I’ve been saying for a long time, that we can all disagree — we all have very vehemently,” she said. “But we absolutely have to chart a different course going forward … if we cannot hold ourselves accountable, then we have nothing here.”
Grishman, who brought forward the complaint that led to the investigation, said his goal was to ensure similar situations do not happen again, especially as he prepares to end his time on the Select Board at the end of April.
“I wanted to make sure that this does not happen to other Select Board members, the volunteers, other members of town staff, other residents,” he said, describing the situation as a “complete subversion of the chain of command and abuse of power.”
The discussion grew tense, with Grishman criticizing what he described as a pattern of behavior that is “completely and utterly unacceptable.”
Fletcher argued that some of the accusations Grishman made during the meeting were untruthful, saying to Grishman: “That’s what you do all the time. You constantly make comments … you made slanderous comments toward Gino Cresta and Katie Phelan. This is what you do.”
The conversation did not go in depth to the substance of the investigation or what was said between Fletcher and the police official, though Grishman said the report contained quotes from Fletcher that were “chilling” to him and his family.
Phelan brought the conversation back to an agreement that Select Board members must be able to hold themselves to the agreed-upon standard.
“As a board … we signed a code of conduct and we agreed to hold ourselves to that standard. And that is what we did here,” she said. “We’re going to hold each other accountable to it, and we’re going to be transparent about it … that is the commitment I make to the community at large because that’s what you hired us to do.”
