VPR
By Nina Keck • Jan 14, 2016
A local attorney is suing the town of Killington alleging
town officials and a former town manager, mishandled municipal affairs,
withheld information and hurt Killington taxpayers.
In his seven-page lawsuit, Melvin B. (M.B.) Neisner, a
long-time attorney and Killington’s town moderator, highlights what he calls
breaches of fiduciary duty to the residents and property owners of Killington.
He argues that the town damaged his own property by
improperly replacing culverts and by raising the shoulder of the road in front
of his home.
A long-time critic of former town manger, Seth Webb, Neisner
focuses much of his lawsuit on Webb’s alleged shortcomings and inexperience.
“My ultimate goal,” says Neisner, “is to show that town
officials have to be responsible and they have to take responsibility for their
actions. And when they protect someone who is not qualified for the job, and
continues to make mistakes, and all they do is defend it, that’s wrong.”
Neisner says that’s cost him and other taxpayers money.
"My ultimate goal, is to show
that town officials have to be responsible and they have to take responsibility
for their actions. And when they protect someone who is not qualified for the
job, and continues to make mistakes, and all they do is defend it; that's
wrong." — M.B. Neisner, long-time attorney and Killington Town Moderator
But Killington Select Board Chairperson Patty McGrath says
Seth Webb was a very competent manager who approached the job differently than
his predecessors -- something she says she and other select board members
appreciated.
She says Webb notified the board in October that he was
leaving after four years on the job for a new position in Woodstock. She says
his departure had nothing to do with Neisner’s lawsuit.
Webb could not be reached for comment.
McGrath says Neisner had threatened to sue Webb a number of
times, but she says she and others are perplexed by Neisner’s suit against the
town.
“The entire lawsuit is wholly unmerited and illogical,” says
McGrath. “His main complaint is about a town manager, whom he knew was leaving.
And as you read in the complaint he also mentions other citizens and yet only
he himself has really taken ownership of this.”
The lawsuit was originally filed in state civil court, but
was moved to federal court because Neisner claims his due process rights under
the federal and state constitutions were violated when the town did not turn
over all the municipal documents he’d requested under the Freedom of
Information Act. Neisner says he was angered when the town notified him that he
would have to pay for many of the documents he was seeking.
"The entire lawsuit is wholly
unmerited and illogical. His main complaint is about a town manager, whom he
knew was leaving." — Killington Select Board Chairperson Patty McGrath
Patty McGrath, says the town did turn over large amounts of
information to Neisner, to the best of its ability. But she says Neisner’s
request was difficult to accommodate because it was so broad. “There was a
volume of information he requested and when the town asked him in turn to narrow
his scope he did not respond.”
McGrath adds that it’s troubling that someone who supposedly
is so concerned about local taxpayers would force them to pay for a costly
lawsuit.
Neisner has been living in Killington since 1978. A former
traffic court judge, his law license was suspended from 2009 to 2011 after he
was convicted on criminal charges for fleeing the scene of an accident and
implying falsely that his wife had been behind the wheel.
3 comments
VPR
RightOnandon •
In response to Ms. McGrath's statement "The entire
lawsuit is wholly unmerited and illogical.His main complaint is about a town
manager, whom he knew was leaving." Many of Neisner's stated complaints
have been brewing in Killington since before she became a Selectman. The most
controversial, which is not mentioned in the above article, is complaints of
Webb's treatment and relationships with town employees. What Ms. McGrath needs
to understand is in Killington's chosen form of government, while the Town
Manager discharges the day to day operational and administrative duties, the
Select board is ultimately responsible for whatever actions the Town Manager
takes as they are his overseers. The Town Manager is their proxy.
Part of Neisner's motivation in this lawsuit is the fact that the Select board penned a letter to the Vermont Judiciary labeling Neisner's requests for public information from the town as harassment. That agency apparently found no merit in the Town's complaint and threw it out.
Before Webb was hired by the Select board they were advised not to hire Webb as he had no experience as a town
manager, had poor people management skills and created a hostile work
environment because of that.
Whatever skills and experience Webb lacked were apparently overridden
by the then Select board's penchant for "Economic Development" as
Webb was then EDT director and at a salary exceeding the Town Manager's. Once
he was hired the town had to hire a "Road and Facilities Manager"
because of Webb's lack of experience in those areas. Road and facilities
management are the most basic of Town managerial duties. In fact in Vermont,
the town manager is the de facto Road Commissioner.
So Neisner's complaint of incompetence as far these aspects
are concerned are certainly not ill founded and the fact that the town had to
pick up additional salary, on top of the highest Town Manager salary in
Vermont, to buttress Webb's weaknesses speaks to fiscal mismanagement.
So while the nominal target of the suit is Webb, the Select
Board is also complicit - in fact Chris Bianchi, senior serving Selectman is
also named in the suit.
While I am of two minds regarding this suit, as it creates
an unnecessary expense in legal fees and possible damages, Neisner's
allegations need to be aired, the questions raised, answered, not summarily
dismissed or swept under the rug.
StanRiskis •
Egos are difficult to contain in small towns. There's a
difference between due process and witch hunt. Governments have every right to
ask that data requests be manageable or to charge for the cost of providing
them. And remember, Killington, you reap what you sow. You've continued to
elect Neisner despite his actions and record.
Mary Gerdt •
Perhaps we need a due process hotline. It's too hard to sue
a town. Why must individuals have to stand up against the local powers?
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