By Beth David, Editor
Wayne Oliveira, a long time member of the Fairhaven Historical Commission, sent his resignation letter to the Select Board, which was received at the 2/24/25 meeting. In his letter, Mr. Oliveira noted he had been on the HC for more than 20 years, and has been serving in some capacity with town government for 40 years.
“I have taken great pride in contributing to our shared goals of preserving and protecting the history of our community,” wrote Mr. Oliveira, adding he has worked alongside passionate and dedicated individuals.
“However, I have come to the conclusion that it is no longer feasible for me to continue in this role due to recent developments within the commission,” reads the letter. “A select few members have engaged in efforts that have, unfortunately, created an environment where my position is not longer tenable.”
He adds that the efforts are aimed at pushing him out, that he had a “lack of support in addressing” his attendance issues, and the HC changed the schedule of the meeting, which had been in place for more than 20 years, to a time when he cannot attend..
“While I remain committed to the preservation of our community’s history, I can no longer participate in an environment that does not foster mutual respect or constructive problem solving.”
On 2/12/25 the HC held a special meeting to discuss an Open Meeting Law Complaint (OML) that Mr. Oliveira had filed. In the complaint, Mr. Oliveira said he HC held a meeting on 2/4/25 when they discussed him and his absences from recent meetings without it being on the agenda or notifying him.
The OML requires subjects discussed by board members to be on the agenda unless a matter is not reasonably anticipated.
In his complaint, Mr. Oliveira said the chairperson, Michael Kelly, made “open and disparaging comments” about Mr. Oliveira.
HC chairperson, Michael Kelly, said the matter was not reasonably anticipated because he did not know that Mr Oliveira would be absent until the day before the meeting.
He also said there was no OML violation because he did not slander Mr. Oliveira. Mr. Kelly said he simply spoke about Mr. Oliveira’s missing of four consecutive meetings and five of the seven meetings before that.
The contentious meeting had lots of back and forth between Mr. Oliveira and Mr. Kelly, with both accusing each other of disrespectful behavior.
In remarks at the meeting, Mr. Oliveira said he felt he was being pushed out, “And I don’t deserve to be treated like this.”
He said he was a “doer, not a talker,” and the commission used to do things.
“We weeded, we painted, we did masonry, we did carpentry,” said Mr. Oliveira. “We did everything to save the town some money when we had no budget.”
He said that he started missing meetings when they changed the day, that he told them he would not be able to make it and they changed it anyway.
The two went back and forth a bit, with Mr. Oliveira saying he was being singled out, and Mr. Kelly saying he was being treated like everyone else.
“You know, here’s the thing Wayne. Everybody is tired of you playing the victim. We know that you like it. We know that it makes you feel good about yourself,” said Mr. Kelly.
“You always resort to name calling,” said Mr. Oliveira.
“There’s no name calling,” said Mr. Kellly, and explained that slander is a false statement, and he made no false statements.
Mr. Oliveira said he considered the name calling to be slanderous.
Mr. Kelly read a transcript of the 2/4 meeting to prove that he did not call him names, he simply talked about his absences.
“Now tell me, because you are so fragile, obviously,” said Mr. Kelly.
“Will you stop with the disparaging insults,” said Mr. Oliveira.
Mr. Kelly said that Mr. Oliveira was the one who brought it up.
“Okay, so I will remove the word ‘slander’ if it offends you so much,” said Mr. Oliveira.
Mr. Kelly raised his voice, and pointed and wagged his finger at Mr. Oliveira, saying, “You are potentially slandering me by using it so I would be very careful.”
“You have bullied your way through this town for years, and you are not going to get away with it anymore,” said Mr. Kelly.
“Nobody just bullied more than you,” said Mr. Oliveira.
Mr. Kelly put his head down and then threw his head back laughing loudly, and said: “That is absurd.”
“I think I”m done here,” said Mr. Oliveira.
“Yeah, I think you are,” said Mr. Kelly.
“This seems to be a little clique of people who just want to do what they want to do,” said Mr. Oliveira. “And I, I just don’t think I have any place in this commission any longer.”
“Your opinion is duly noted,” said Mr. Kelly, adding, “I’m glad. I’m so happy that you feel that way.”
“I think you are a very disrespectful individual,” said Mr. Oliveira as he left.
“The pot calling the kettle,” said Mr. Kelly.
After Mr. Oliveira left, members weighed in, with all of them agreeing there was no OML violation.
Beth Luey said there was no violation. She also said it was not unusual for a board to remove a member who has missed a lot of meetings.
Nate Bekemeier said if he missed four meetings he would hope he is not allowed to be on the commission.
Rick Martin said he was disappointed that Mr. Oliveira used the words “disparaging” and “slanderous.” He said he reviewed the video from the 2/4 meeting and found “nothing slanderous about anything” that Mr. Kelly said.
Natalie Mello also said she watched the meeting and agreed there was no slander.
Mr. Kelly added that Mr. Oliveira was not singled out for “nefarious treatment.”
“It’s patently absurd,” said Mr. Kelly. “And it is based simply on his own insecurities. I’m sorry, but it’s true.”
He also said Mr. Oliveira’s behavior was “self destructive.”
Mr. Kelly urged the public to watch the meetings to decide for themselves, pointing out the 9/4/24 meeting.
The Commission voted to have Mr. Kelly draft a response to send to the Attorney General’s office saying they did not violate the OML.
The meeting is available on demand on FairhavenTV.com
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