Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Jack Lawrence of Hamilton, a former co-chairman of the Government Study Committee, writes to suggest that the Hamilton town counsel should resign.
To the Editor: Having been away from July 19 until Aug. 5, I returned to read The Chronicle’s Aug. 2 headline ”Brewer prevails, reappointed town counsel.” In the discussion that followed, it would seem that what was voted affirmatively was the principle that the Town Manager should be able to pick his team. That was a good thing. It is the actions of that team - the department heads and professional staff of the town government - which will determine how his job performance is rated. If he is subjected to the sort of micromanagement that brought about the demise of Raleigh Buchanan, how can he be held accountable? In setting this up, the Government Study Committee (GSC) consciously gave the position that authority with the countervailing …
42.632361
-70.885162
Canter Brook Equestrian Center
354 Highland St, South Hamilton, MA
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-hamilton-town-counsel-should-resign
803815
/locations/7584185
42.6197
-70.855278
Hamilton Town Hall
577 Bay Rd, South Hamilton, MA
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-hamilton-town-counsel-should-resign
803736
/locations/7584186
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Hamilton Town Counsel Donna Brewer's reappointment was been supported by the Board of Selectmen in a 3-2 vote on Monday night.
Town Manager Michael Lombardo narrowly received support from the Board of Selectmen on Monday for his decision to reappoint Town Counsel Donna Brewer. Brewer, who has served as the town's attorney since 1998, is reappointed each year. And two years ago, she actually told the town she did not want to be reappointed. But at that time, as Lombardo was coming on board as the town’s first town manager, she was asked to stay on board to help with the transition. Brewer’s reappointment became a hotly contested topic in recent weeks after the release of the so-called Urbelis report earlier this year. The report, by Boston attorney Thomas Urbelis, faulted Brewer’s handling of advice to the Board of Selectmen in 2007 as it went into several closed-…
42.6197
-70.855278
Hamilton Town Hall
577 Bay Rd, South Hamilton, MA
/articles/brewer-reappointment-as-town-counsel-gets-backing-from-selectmen
803736
/locations/7506302
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
A Planning Board member has objected to some legal advice provided to the board.
One member of the Hamilton Planning Board does not think the board should be accepting documents from the town attorney labeled “privileged and confidential.” “I don’t believe this board should be accepting any privileged and confidential memorandums from Donna Brewer or anyone else,” said Planning Board member Ed Howard. Howard made a motion for the board to not accept the memo at a meeting last week at Hamilton Town Hall. Another board member did not second it. Howard is one of 20 Hamilton residents who signed a letter earlier this month, asking that Town Counsel Donna Brewer not be reappointed as town counsel. Brewer's reappointment as town counsel is in the hands of Town Manager Michael Lombardo and is not in the hands of the Planning …
42.6197
-70.855278
Hamilton Town Hall
577 Bay Rd, South Hamilton, MA
/articles/town-counsel-s-privileged-and-confidential-memos-draws-ire-of-planning-board-member
803736
/locations/7478465
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
As town residents push the Board of Selectmen to address the issue of whether to reappoint town counsel Donna Brewer, the town manager and chairman of the Board of Selectmen says state law gives the town manager total control to name the town attorney.
The power to appoint the town counsel sits solely with Town Manager Michael Lombardo. And that’s why the Board of Selectmen, after hearing from residents two weeks in a row pushing for the board to address the issue, is not taking up the topic of whether Donna Brewer should continue as town counsel, according to Board Chairman David Neill. She is eligible for reappointment yearly on July 1 and Lombardo decided to keep her on board. Neill said typically he prefers to addresses issues head-on at Board of Selectmen meetings. “With this, we don’t have the authority to make the decision,” Neill said in comments following Monday night’s meeting. Neill, who was most recently elected in May and immediately named chairman, was also a selectman in …
42.6197
-70.855278
Hamilton Town Hall
577 Bay Rd, South Hamilton, MA
/articles/selectmen-chairman-says-town-counsel-decision-does-not-rest-with-board
803736
/locations/7397138
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
A letter signed by 20 Hamilton residents was brought to the Board of Selectmen on Monday night, asking that Town Counsel not be reappointed and that legal services be put out to bid.
A group of Hamilton residents asked the Board of Selectmen on Monday night to not reappoint the town’s attorney, Donna Brewer. North Street resident Jay Burnham read a two-page letter to the board – signed by a total of 20 residents – “and supported by many others,” Burnham said. “As a result of her actions, Attorney Brewer has forfeited the trust, respect and confidence of the community and appropriately, she should be terminated as Town Counsel,” the letter stated. A complete copy of the letter is attached to this story as a PDF. Burnham said that the so-called Urbelis report, prepared nearly three years ago to determine Brewer’s role in police department problems at the time – but publicly released last month – “determined that Ms. …
Friday, June 1, 2012
A report compiled for the Hamilton Board of Selectmen three years ago, as it was dealing with issues within the police department, was made public for the first time on Thursday.
The so-called Urbelis report, kept secret under the protection of attorney-client privilege for nearly three years, saw the light of day for the first time on Thursday. The report was commissioned in 2009 by the then-Hamilton Board of Selectmen to examine the actions of Town Counsel Donna Brewer as it related to the problems the town was having with the police department at the time. And on Thursday, Brewer herself said she had seen the report for the first time that day. Late Thursday afternoon she said she had not had a chance to read the full 40-page report and did not have any comment in response to the report. “I was only given it today,” she said. A complete copy of the report is attached to this story as a PDF. Thomas Urbelis, a …
42.6197
-70.855278
Hamilton Town Hall
577 Bay Rd, South Hamilton, MA
/articles/after-three-years-hamilton-selectmen-released-urbelis-report
803736
/locations/7364190
42.613518
-70.871771
Hamilton Police Department
265 Bay Rd, South Hamilton, MA
/articles/after-three-years-hamilton-selectmen-released-urbelis-report
803738
/locations/7364191
kerstin locherie
1:47 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
I second that, Ron Powell for Selectman !! more ›