The Belmont Contributory Retirement Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 1 p.m. to elect a fifth member to the board.
This will be the fourth attempt to fill the position. The first two ended 2-2, and the third ended 2-1 in favor of current Chair Thomas Gibson. The state agency overseeing the retirement board, however, invalidated that vote the next day, throwing the matter into controversy.
If the vote on Wednesday does not fill the vacant position, the Select Board will meet Friday at 8:30 a.m. to fill the fifth retirement board position.
The vote on Monday, Feb. 26 came under immediate scrutiny. Of the four voting members, one was absent. Vice Chair Walter Wellman announced during the meeting that he was moving to reconsider the deadlocked vote. By a 2-1 majority, the board re-elected Gibson, who has served on the board for 28 years.
Two issues emerged following that vote. On Tuesday, the Public Employee Retirement Commission (PERAC) sent a letter, invalidating the vote because three of four members voted, which violated a commission rule, established in 2009.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said PERAC General Counsel Judith Corrigan, who has been with the organization for 25 years.
Gibson appealed that decision.
The next day, Belmont filed an Open Meeting Law Complaint because the Monday vote was not on the retirement board’s agenda, posted publicly prior to the meeting.
Select Board Vice Chair Elizabeth Dionne called that an “egregious violation of the Open Meeting Law.”
At a Select Board Meeting on Monday, March 4, one week after the disputed retirement board vote, Chair Roy Epstein said he expects the Wednesday vote to pass muster because it has been publicly posted.
He also said Tuesday afternoon the Select Board has one candidate who has expressed an interest in the position.
