Longtime Barrington resident and hall of fame journalist Jim Hummel issued a scathing review of the Barrington Town Council and other town leaders during the council meeting on Monday, Sept. 14. 

Hummel slammed council members and Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey for their actions in the rollout of the new automated trash and recycling collection system, the approval of speed cameras in school zones, and their actions during and after the recent Financial Town Referendum.

“…the town manager acted like a petulant child throughout that entire process,” Hummel said during the meeting. “God forbid anybody would want to make a change to the budget.”

Hummel said Hervey has been in town long enough to know that Barrington’s budget in 13 years has gone from $59 million to $106 million. 

“That’s a 75 percent increase. So you have some residents who said that maybe we want to chip into that a little bit. And make no mistake, they weren’t proposing to reduce the budget, they were proposing to reduce a potential increase in the budget,” Hummel said. “So what happened? They go through the process, the process that you set up. I was one of the 1,700 people who came to this council chamber and voted, surgically, intentionally, and thoughtfully. And what happened? You enabled the town manager to counterman what the voters said. 

“It’s mind-boggling to me. This was the system that you set up. So I’ll ask you President Cloutier, why did you choose the manager’s plan over what the taxpayers said they wanted you to do?”

Barrington Town Council President Braxton Cloutier and the rest of the council offered no response to Hummel, which led him to his next point. 

“I have been a reporter in this market for 44 years. I’ve sat through a lot of council meetings, and there used to be a dialogue. I could ask you a question and you could go back,” Hummel said. “At some point, some solicitor said, ‘You know what? That’s either not a good idea or against the law for anything not on the agenda for you to discuss.’ So is that what your solicitor is telling you, that you shouldn’t answer a question from me not on the agenda? Is that the advice that the solicitor gives?”

Hummel asked the council if he could direct a question to assistant solicitor Amy Goins.

“No. This is public comment,” Cloutier said. “You’re supposed to come here, address the council with your three minutes, state your positions, and then …”

Hummel said something has been lost in public discussion when the council won’t answer a question asked by a resident. He then read an advisory opinion from Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha regarding the Open Meetings Act.

“‘…this subsection makes a few things clear: First, public bodies are not prohibited from responding to comments initiated by members of the public during a properly noticed public comment period, even if the subject of the comment was not previously posted on the public body’s agenda for that meeting,’” Hummel read. 

He then added: “So I want everybody here watching, anybody who sees this, to know that the next time that you decline to interact with somebody who comes and asks you a question, it’s not because you can’t. It’s because you won’t.”

‘a bad look to not respond’

Hummel, who had waited four hours and 10 minutes to speak to the council, stands by the message he shared with the councilors that night. In a followup interview, Hummel said residents and their town councilors used to share open dialogues during public comment portions of meetings. He said that is not the case anymore in Barrington. 

“Residents deserve a response to their questions,” he said. 

Hummel said he noticed that one of the Barrington Town Council members would not look him in the eye when he was speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting. 

“What is it saying about their attitude toward the public?” Hummel said. 

Hummel challenged whether the Barrington Town Council is receiving sound legal advice from its solicitor regarding the public comment portion of the meeting. 

“This is the same town solicitor’s office that has advised the town manager that it’s legal for him to counterman what the voters clearly told him at the financial town referendum,” Hummel said.

Mike Marcello serves as city solicitor for East Providence, town solicitor for Tiverton, and legal counsel for Cranston City Council. He is also a former council member from Scituate and a former state representative. He said the law allows a councilperson to engage with the public if they so choose, however, it does not allow for members of the council to make a decision, or take any action on comments or inquiry members of the public may make.

“As a former councilperson, I always felt it was a bad look to not respond to the public when they take the time to come to a public meeting,” Marcello said, adding that if a council is going to allow for public comment, then there should be some back-and-forth. 

When asked why council members might not share a dialogue with the public, Marcello said “Some people are overly cautious when dealing with the public, but that law was specifically clarified to allow that type of action, because there are things that come up after an agenda is posted,” he said.