August
9, 2004
6:00 PM
Members Present: Matthew Clark, Gail Enos, Ruth Gilbert (Chair), Mark
Leach, Ann Maguire, Tom Thurston, Robert Vetrick
Members Absent: Sue Buerkel (Vice Chair –
Excused) and Virginia Ross
Others Present: Selectpersons
(Andrews, Couture, Olson, and Peake); Town Manager Keith A. Bergman; Acting
Assistant Town Manager Michelle Jarusiewicz; and Attorney Gretchen Van Ness
The
meeting was called to order by Ruth Gilbert at 6:00 p.m.
Ruth
Gilbert indicated that the Finance Committee had requested this joint meeting
with the Selectmen to discuss the costs to the Town of the litigation related
to same-sex marriage. In particular,
she indicated that the Finance Committee wanted to know why Provincetown was
the only town involved in the litigation that was paying for its own legal
counsel—the others being represented pro
bono by the ACLU and Palmer and Dodge.
Board of
Selectmen (BOS) Chair Andrews indicated that our questions touched on sensitive
issues of litigation strategy and suggested that we would be able to have a
more substantive discussion were the BOS and the Finance Committee to meet
jointly in executive session.
After
some further discussion—which stressed the Finance Committee’s belief that the
BOS needed to explain this matter publicly to the citizens soon—a motion was
made by Robert Vetrick & seconded by Matthew Clark to go into executive session by unanimous
voice vote of the Committee.
Discussion
ensued.
At 7:30 a
motion to leave executive session was
made by Robert Vetrick & seconded by Matthew Clark. It
passed by unanimous voice vote of the Committee.
No
further business to address, the committee adjourned.
Respectfully
submitted,
Matthew
Clark