Controversy grows over private meeting with Karp Mayor calls councilor 'bully'

NEWBURYPORT — A second city councilor, Ed Cameron, said he will not attend a closed-door meeting with Stephen Karp and the City Council tomorrow since he considers it inappropriate. But the mayor stood by his decision to arrange the private meeting, saying it would be impolite not to do so.

Mayor John Moak also said Ward 1 Councilor Larry McCavitt's objection to the private meeting is just another example of McCavitt's bullying tactics. McCavitt said the meeting borders on illegal under the state Open Meeting Law and is not appropriate.

"He is always trying to intimidate and always trying to bully people," Moak said. "It is starting to wear thin, and it is getting old."

McCavitt said he is unsure why the mayor would describe his actions in such a manner.

"I don't know what he is talking about, bullying," McCavitt said. "I'm far from being in a position to be bullying anyone. And calling people names doesn't shed any light on the situation."

Moak said the bullying characterization is not just about the councilor's objection to the meeting, but rather an example of McCavitt's track record of fighting against developments, especially those proposed by Karp and his team.

Karp, the city's largest landowner, is scheduled to meet with the public at 6:45 p.m. tomorrow at Nock Middle School in his first public meeting in the city. Beforehand, in the superintendent's office in the same building, Karp will meet in private with the council.

McCavitt is not alone in objecting to the private meeting.

Ward 4 Councilor Ed Cameron said he also will not attend the session, arguing a private meeting does not send the right message to the public.

He also said he doesn't see the point in meeting with Karp and New England Development if the councilors cannot ask the development team questions about its intentions.

"I just don't think it is a good use of time for council," he said. "I don't see the need for a social gathering. I'm not looking to make friends. I'm looking to do the city's business. This sort of private reception is not going to give people confidence about the process."

Karp, who has purchased more than $36 million worth of downtown real estate in the past five years, is meeting with the public for the first time to introduce himself and his development team. He is not expected to reveal any plans for possible development along the Merrimack River but will give some sort of presentation followed by a question-and-answer period.

The meeting with councilors is supposed to be a social event prior to the public meeting. Cameron and McCavitt both said they would attend the public meeting.

In an e-mail to the councilors, Moak said he contacted the district attorney's office about the meeting with Karp to make sure it was legal under the Open Meeting Law. The only way it can be legal is if the council does not discuss any ideas or business with Karp or others, Moak said.

It is legal "if all councilors adhere strictly to the rules that this is a social gathering to personally meet members of New England Development without deliberation and specific questions regarding business," he wrote in the e-mail. "This gathering is an opportunity to introduce yourselves to the development team and vice versa so that names and faces may be connected."

Moak could not be reached for comment for the first article, but was available yesterday by phone from Washington, D.C., where he is talking with Bay State members of Congress, most specifically about sand replenishment for Plum Island.

The mayor said it would be inappropriate not to introduce Karp to the council.

"It would be extremely impolite to invite someone to the city and not introduce them to the City Council," Moak said. "It is extremely appropriate for someone to go up and shake his hand and say I'm so-and-so, and I am Councilor So-and-So. That is what this is all about."

Moak said the two parties will meet and talk about innocuous things like grandchildren, baseball and other nonbusiness-related items, as a way to match names with faces.

"That is all they are doing," Moak said.

According to state statute, "The Open Meeting Law applies to every meeting of a quorum of a governmental body if any public business over which the governmental body has jurisdiction is discussed or considered." Any such meeting is required to be posted and open to the public.

The Open Meeting Law does not apply to "any chance meeting, or a social gathering at which matters relating to official business are discussed as long as no final agreement is reached." However the law also states that social gatherings cannot be used to circumvent the spirit of the law.

Cameron said he does not worry about the meeting breaking the law but said giving up the right to ask questions about New England Development's intentions is not worth a private meeting.

"I don't see the point of it, if in order to be in compliance of the law we can't ask questions," the councilor said. "I think it undermines the public's confidence in how the city is managing its relationship with New England Development."

'He is a bully'

McCavitt, the president of the Newburyport Citizens for Chapter 91 Committee and an open waterfront advocate, is fighting against the proposed expansion of Hilton Marina, a company owned by Karp. It is not his first run-in with Karp's development team on the waterfront.

The Ward 1 councilor says the marina expansion would blocks the public from the waterfront and is also the beginning of the "incremental" development of Waterfront West.

Waterfront West is the 8-acre plot of land between the Black Cow Restaurant and Michael's Harborside that Karp is looking to develop. Plans for that development have yet to be finalized. Karp, CEO and chairman of New England Development, made his fortune through developing malls.

Moak said McCavitt's opposition is little more than a bullying tactic to get his way.

"He is a bully," Moak said. "He tries to use his interpretation of the law to bully people into things he wants them to do."

The mayor said McCavitt uses his tactics "constantly" in situations ranging from economic development to planning issues. But Moak said "when it comes to (Karp and waterfront-related) issues, it is so obvious."

Moak said McCavitt uses government and laws to press people into compliance.

"I don't care what it is: Larry McCavitt likes to try to bully people into being fearful," he said. "The world isn't all about government. The world is about making a living and having government as part of it. Government is not the only thing that drives our existence."

McCavitt said he doesn't know why the council can't have a talk with Karp and New England Development similar to a conversation at Monday night's City Council meeting with Brendan O'Regan, the public services director, about the wastewater treatment facility.

The councilor said O'Regan and his team came to the council and discussed in great detail the needs and plans for a facility.

"That seems like an appropriate place to have a discussion," McCavitt said. "I don't see the benefits in having a social hour with a development team. That is not the way I like to do business."

Furthermore, McCavitt said the mayor and Planning Department "have been meeting regularly" with Karp and his team, "so they are aware of some of their plans."

"There is something going on, and it befuddles me why no one is going to talk about it," the councilor said. "I'm not particularly interested in small talk."

As far as the marina expansion goes, McCavitt said he is raising concerns, which "seem to have created quite a stir." McCavitt sent a request for determination to the state Department of Environmental Protection to see if a new Chapter 91 license is needed to expand the marina.

Chapter 91 is a state law that dictates what can and cannot be done on land bordering waterways or in historic tidelands.

"The implication here is that I'm interfering with some great plan that is yet to be revealed," McCavitt said. "So what is the big to do? If the state requires a Chapter 91 license, so be it. And if it doesn't, then that is fine, too."

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Site Map

Contact Us