Nantucket Board of Health Approves Response to Two Open Meeting Law Complaints

NANTUCKET -- April 7, 2026, Nantucket Board of Health unanimously approved responses to two open meeting law complaints at a special April 7 meeting. Town Counsel Janelle Austin briefed all five board members, Chair Ann Smith, Tom Dixon, Carrie McKenna, Meredith Lepery, and Jim Cooper, on complaints filed by Kimberly LaTippe and Kate Garrett alleging that the board's March 19, 2026 meeting notice was insufficiently specific and that one-way emails sent to members that day constituted improper out-of-meeting deliberation. The board voted 5-0 to authorize Austin to finalize and transmit draft responses to both complainants and to the state Division of Open Government, and adopted a three-part remedial plan: public release of the disputed emails attached to the April 7 meeting minutes, a further noticed public discussion of the underlying subject matter at the April 16 regular meeting, and a commitment to ongoing review of the board's meeting-notice practices. Member Dixon secured agreement that the response letters would be posted in the board's public packet and that residents would be notified of the April 16 session.