Chelmsford Town Manager Paul Cohen said he was told Andover Town Manager Andrew Flanagan “was busy and did not have time” when he asked why an attorney for the town wrote a dissenting opinion that Flanagan submitted as his own when he volunteered on a state-appointed panel hearing a 2019 Chelmsford arbitration case.
“My immediate reaction was to ask why wasn’t Andrew Flanagan writing the dissent,” Cohen said in a 10-page letter, which he also read at a special Chelmsford Select Board meeting Thursday. Former Chelmsford Town Counsel Marc “Terry informed me that Andrew Flanagan was busy and did not have time to draft the dissent prior to the scheduled issuance of the arbitration decision. It was my understanding that Attorney Terry would be writing a dissent that reflected the discussions that he has been having with Andrew Flanagan.”
Thursday’s meeting was to address a complaint against Cohen over a Massachusetts Department of Labor decision that found Flanagan and Chelmsford officials violated state law when they participated in ex parte communications during the arbitration. The ruling said Flanagan played a central role in a labor dispute where the town of Chelmsford “acted in bad faith” during contract arbitration with the union representing its police sergeants and “mislead” Chelmsford town meeting before it voted to reject the 2019 arbitration decision.
Cohen requested that Thursday’s meeting, which was originally scheduled as a closed-door executive session, be open to the public, according to the Lowell Sun. The meeting stemmed from complaints filed against Cohen by two Chelmsford Select Board members.
“My integrity and actions are being questioned by some members of the Select Board and by some members of the community,” Cohen read from the letter. “I feel that the residents of Chelmsford are entitled to transparency.”
Chelmsford will hold a special town meeting on Monday, where representatives will be asked to approve $420,486.99 to pay for the contract. That amount does not include $250,000 in legal fees and the cost of hosting the special town meeting. Had it been approved when it was arbitrated in 2019, it would have cost the town $108,000.
Cohen: Flanagan Initiated Ex Parte Communications
The ruling said Flanagan, in his role as a volunteer member of a three-member Joint Labor Management Committee appointed by DLR, participated in ex-parte communications by giving town officials updates on the panel’s deliberations, sharing drafts marked confidential and signing a dissenting opinion that had been written by Chelmsford town counsel and proofread by Cohen. That dissenting opinion was distributed at the Chelmsford special town meeting, where the arbitrated contract was rejected.
Cohen denied those allegations at Thursday’s meeting while noting Flanagan had initiated the ex parte communications. He also said he did not know those communications were improper or unlawful.
“The ex-parte communication was initiated by Andrew Flanagan. Andrew Flanagan explained that when he received the neutral arbitrator’s draft decision, he initiated an outreach to Attorney Terry,” Cohen said. “His discussions were exclusively with Attorney Terry. He did not speak to me, did not send me the draft award, did not otherwise contact me, and he did not ask Attorney Terry for my thoughts.”
Flanagan has said he had no role in the Chelmsford special town meeting vote in 2019 and that the DLR decision did not find “cause for disciplinary action.” The Andover Select Board has not addressed the issue, but Chair Alex Vispoli and Clerk Annie Gilbert have both publicly voiced support for Flanagan.
In his letter, Cohen noted he did not know Flanagan before he volunteered for the arbitration panel and that Terry had been the one who came up with the idea to have Flanagan submit a dissenting opinion. He also noted that Flanagan had not had any training and that he and Chelmsford officials did not believe Flanagan’s conduct was “not inconsistent with (Terry’s) understanding of the role of arbitration panel committee members.”
“I do not think that Labor Counsel Marc Terry or Andover Town Manager/Management Representative Andrew Flanagan would also knowingly risk their reputations and livelihoods for this arbitration proceeding,” Cohen said. “Andrew Flanagan’s conduct in this matter was investigated by the Department of Labor Relations. He was never brought up on any misconduct charges and the DLR did not issue any formal findings that he engaged in any wrongdoing.”