10/15 Selectmen's Meeting & Confidential Information

Recently, when requesting public documents, I received confidential information.

Not realizing the content, I then distributed same electronically.

When the issue was called to my attention, action was immediately taken by me to correct and address the issue.

I hand-delivered letters to both the Middleboro Town Clerk and the Board of Selectmen.

I mailed a letter to the individual to notify him so that he might take necessary action to protect himself and reduce the town's liability.

During the 10/15 Selectmen's Meeting, the determination appears to be that the interim Town Manager will review requested information prior to public distribution.

The entire discussion overlooked that the Selectmen included a CORI Agreement within a town employee's contract. The sequentially numbered pages clearly indicate it was included as Page 7 of 7. Why didn’t the board address the poor construction of the contract? They could have stated that this was an unfortunate accident. To correct it in the future CORIs will be required, but the personal information will not be included in the contract.

They missed a chance to correct a flawed policy.

Private industry, non-profits, churches, day care, public corporations, as a matter of routine, request CORI checks on individuals for a wide range of reasons.

Meticulous care is taken to retain that information separate from other documents.

The lack of a formal written policy might as well be to blame.

That the Board instead faults the Town Clerk or myself defines their willingness to blame others instead of correcting flawed policy.


'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committeed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.' Margaret Mead