Just a month after the Select Board passed its new conduct policy mandating civility on the dais, another episode of incivility erupted at this week’s meeting at West Elementary School.
This time it was board member and lawyer Kevin Canty, who has a reputation as being more measured in his tone, who used a frustrated and disparaging tone against his fellow board member Bill Keohan.
“It’s becoming increasingly frustrating to have to deal with people in a reality-based framework,” Canty said, addressing his colleague. “And somebody that just constantly says things that are not based in a reality-based framework.
“So, I would encourage you to listen as much as you talk.”
The outburst followed a suggestion from Keohan that Town officials could provide public information on how much property tax revenue comes in from taxpayers in West Plymouth.
Keohan said such information might be helpful to protect residential property values from potential growth at the nearby airport, and suggested the Airport Commission ask for the information from the Town Assessor’s Office.
David Golden and Canty apparently misunderstood Keohan to say he thought the Assessor had information on the revenues generated by the businesses in West Plymouth, including at the airport, beyond property tax records.
“That information is not available,” Canty said.
Canty, telling Keohan he was not sure if the speakers near Keohan were working, accused Keohan of ignoring the information that the town and other board members are providing on topics that come up before the board. He accused Keohan of proceeding forward with preconceived notions.
At this point, Board Chair Deb Iaquinto intervened.
“Let’s not question our colleagues’ motives,” Iaquinto said. “Keep the conversation to what the residents are here to talk about.”
Golden, who has previously come under fire for similar outbursts, laughed as Canty made his remarks. He declined to comment when reached by phone on Thursday.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, Keohan said he met with Director of Assessing Michael Houlihan to discuss figuring out how much West Plymouth generates in property taxes.
Contacted by the Independent, a spokesperson for the town said Thursday it is possible to document tax revenues from a specific neighborhood.
“We can have disagreements, but we don’t have to be disagreeable,” Keohan said in a telephone interview Thursday. “We have to roll up our sleeves and work on the issues that are confronting the town, and this behavior stands in the way of that.”
Canty, also contacted by telephone, said his frustration with Keohan extends beyond remarks made Tuesday night. He said Keohan often ignores legal advice to the board, asks for and then ignores the opinions of fellow board members, causing disruption on the board and to the work of the town.
Among examples Canty cites is how at Tuesday’s meeting Keohan ignored a court-ordered preliminary injunction barring the board from “the care, custody of the Plymouth Municipal Airport or its management.” The Airport Commission is suing the board alleging interference.
Keohan said he was simply advocating to hear out an airport commissioner who was looking for a way her husband could hold a lease at the airport. On advice of town counsel and at the urging of Canty, the board did not consider the commissioner’s request.
Keohan pointed out that the judge’s injunction did not prevent the Select Board from replacing two longtime Airport Commissioners.
Canty also said Keohan’s suggestion the town work with the Airport Commission to figure out how much West Plymouth generates in taxes is also a violation of the preliminary injunction.
“That’s subjecting the town to liability,” Canty said. “It’s a problem, and Mr. Keohan seems incapable of grasping the effect that his words, said on Tuesday nights, have on the expectations of residents and the morale and working conditions of staff.”
Both Canty and Golden have found themselves on opposite sides from Keohan several times since Keohan argued both Canty and Golden should have recused themselves from a June 9 vote clearing the way for their friend and campaign manager, developer Matt Sheridan, to buy formerly protected land in Cedarville.
In a June 16 meeting, Golden ran to replace Keohan on the Community Preservation Committee, though Canty did support Keohan then.
And in a July 28 meeting, Golden accused Keohan of cowardice for refusing to vote to euthanize an aggressive dog. Canty, a public defender, recused himself from that vote because he had previously represented the dog’s owner.
The bickering among board members was among the reasons the board adopted a new code of conduct last month.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.