By Mike Donoghue, Senior Correspondent
The Village of Woodstock apparently plans to severely limit public attendance at the demotion hearing for Village Police Chief Joe Swanson on Wednesday by moving it to a small conference room.
Also, the village has rejected most of the pre-trial hearing requests made on Swanson’s behalf.
The hearing was initially set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Woodstock Town Hall, which includes a theater with about 386 seats.
After the Vermont Standard went to print, reports began to surface that the hearing was being moved to a conference room at the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department down the street.
The move to the Sheriff’s Office was confirmed over the weekend when the required agenda was posted for the public meeting.
The sheriff’s conference room can hold about 30 spectators after it is set up like a courtroom, according to Sheriff Ryan Palmer.
An old judge’s bench will be used for the 5 trustees and their legal counsel when they preside at the hearing. Tables for Village Manager Eric Duffy and his lawyer, and a second table for Swanson and his defense lawyer will be part of the set up. Also, a witness stand will be included in the front half.
A spokesperson for the theater told the Vermont Standard that nothing is scheduled for it on Wednesday.
The annual Village meeting is scheduled for the night before in the theater.
One report indicated that the Village was concerned that the public hearing would be a distraction to the municipal employees at the Town Hall.
Both the Vermont Constitution and Open Meeting Law mandate an open process and that the Trustees are accountable to the public.
According to the Vermont Secretary of State, “Transparency is an essential element of open and democratic government. In Vermont, the primary means of providing transparency are the State’s open meeting law… and the public records law.”
The office notes that under the Vermont Constitution, the officers of government are “trustees and servants” of the people and are “at all times, in a legal way, accountable to them.”
The Open Meeting Law clearly emphasizes the openness of and accessibility to government. It declares that “All meetings of a public body are declared to be open to the public at all times, except as provided in section 313 of this title [on executive sessions].”
It is unclear how the Village plans to meet those requirements by shifting to a small conference room.
The Village of Woodstock also has hired the sheriff’s department to provide security both inside and outside the hearing site, according to Palmer and Chief Deputy Sheriff Paul Samataro.
It was unclear why the Village believes uniformed deputy sheriffs would be needed.
The Village also plans to pay the Sheriff’s Department to patrol Woodstock because the village’s law enforcement officers will be tied up at the hearing, Samataro said.
That could mean two shifts depending on how long into the night the hearing extends.
In a series of new rulings, Burlington lawyer Brian Monaghan, who will serve as hearing officer and legal counsel for the trustees, rejected most of the requests by Swanson.
Monaghan, on behalf of the Village Trustees:
— Rejected turning over all names and all the statements provided by Village Police Officers and Town Emergency Dispatchers during the investigation by Private Detective William Burgess.
Woodstock was directed to provide any information that will be used directly by Duffy at the hearing to support the demotion efforts. The order also requires Duffy, not an independent third party, to be the sole person to decide what will be released to Swanson and his lawyer and what will be redacted from public view.
— Rejected the request that two Village Trustees to recuse themselves from the hearing.
— Rejected a request by Swanson to have the Village pay for a stenographer to provide a verbatim transcript of the hearing.
–Agreed to allow Swanson’s lawyer to communicate before the hearing with Woodstock employees as long as none of them are working with Duffy on the demotion proceeding.
Swanson’s lawyer filed a subsequent objection, noting there was no timetable for getting the relevant documents turned over. Monaghan later set a Friday evening deadline, but John Klesch, Duffy’s new lawyer, objected on the tight turnaround period.
More rulings could come down before the hearing starts.