Report by Paula Antolini, April 2, 2020, 9:29PM EDT
(File photos./composite ©2018 Bethel Advocate)
First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker has responded to accusations made recently in an article by Bethel resident Brad Koltz, that were published on a local website criticizing the Town of Bethel for running numerous meetings that Koltz claimed did not adhere to Governor Ned Lamont’s Executive Order from March 14, 2020.
Knickerbocker said, “All claims are grossly incorrect,” regarding these accusations.
Referring to Bradley (Brad) Koltz, Knickerbocker stated, “He does not know how to read the executive orders, nor did he place any calls to my office nor the town attorneys office to clarify.”
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Knickerbocker clarified the governor’s order in the following statement: “The governor’s order (EO7B) does not REQUIRE use of video conferencing; it merely overrules certain state statutes pertaining to open meeting law to make it ALLOWABLE to hold video meetings. The order goes on to say that IF a town CHOOSES to hold a video meeting, then it is REQUIRED to adhere to new open meeting rules. Mr. Koltz apparently became confused over which parts of this complex order are mandatory vs. optional. My interpretation comes directly from the governor’s office and is correct.”
View Gov. Lamont’s Executive Order 7B here.
Regarding prior meetings, Knickerbocker said, “As I noted above, the meetings that Koltz references, one on 3/16 and one on 3/17, were not required to be via video; video was an option. The meetings were conducted in the usual fashion, they were open to the public, as always, and were compliant with the governor’s limitation on the size of gatherings in effect at that time, which was no more than 50 (it was lowered to “5” about a week later).”
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Regarding upcoming meetings Knickerbocker said, “Upcoming meetings (EDC, SHFD, etc) will be held ‘virtually’ via video conference. I do not know where any of the participants will be. Each member could be in his or her own home. The meeting software we are using, Zoom, allows any member of the public to log in to view the meeting, and it also has a ‘record’ feature so the meeting can be placed later on the town meeting archive.”
In other matters, we asked Knickerbocker if the “Property Sale / Tax Sale Public Auction” scheduled for April 29, 2020 would still take place. Knickerbocker said, “Tax Sale is postponed until after the governor official declares the emergency is over, so no reschedule date can be made at this time.” The town website had the 4/29 date scheduled, but after we spoke to Knickerbocker, it now reads, “The Tax Sale scheduled for April 29, 2020 has been suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It will be rescheduled at a later date.“
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