Williams gets $37,000 settlement agreement
BY PETER A. SUTTERS JR. INDEPENDENT WRITER

FILE PHOTO/NANTUCKET INDEPENDENT Linda Williams awarded $10,000 plus $27,000 retirement benefits in March.

The Town of Nantucket paid former Zoning Board of Appeals administrator Linda Williams $10,000 as part of a severance package and allowed her to resign from her position, rather than being fired, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

The town also paid $27,154.21 into the Barnstable County Retirement Board, "an amount necessary to credit Employee with an additional six years and six months of retirement worthy service," according to Town Manager Libby Gibson.

Williams also agreed to drop an age discrimination suit she has filed against the town with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

The Town of Nantucket was ordered by the Secretary of the Commonwealth to release the settlement agreement between the town and Williams after a lengthy process undertaken by The Nantucket Independent.

The Nantucket Independent had requested a copy of the agreement from the town through the Freedom of Information Act in April and was denied. The town through town counsel, cited Mass General Law chapter 4, section 7, clause 26, which town officials felt exempted the agreement from being classified as a public record "because they are part of Ms. Williams' personnel file."

An appeal was made to the Public Records Division of the Secretary of the Commonwealth by The Independent later in April citing a passage from "A Guide to Massachusetts Public Records" which stated "The public interest in the financial information of a public employee outweighs the privacy interest where the financial compensation in question is drawn from an account held by a government entity comprised of taxpayer funds."

Last week the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Public Records division ruled in favor of The Independent stating "It is the finding of this office that the settlement agreement between the town and Ms. Williams is a public record and cannot be withheld in its entirety under the exemption (c) of the public records law and must be disclosed."

"I agree the tax payers have a right to know where their tax money is going," said Board of Selectmen chairman Michael Kopko. "I don't think it harms anyone to have the financial details released."

Kopko said he was in favor of releasing the information earlier, but that the confidentially clause that was part of the agreement prevented that from happening.

"I'm happy with the settlement," said Williams. "The town didn't lose too much and when I retire, I will get to keep my health insurance. I think after 25 years of service to the town, that is not too much to ask."

Williams was fired by Town Manager Libby Gibson in 2007, but the reasons for her termination, which were also sought in the information request, were not made public.

Williams said she filed the discrimination suit with the state because she felt it was necessary to protect her rights as a longtime employee of the town.

She said she was also happy to be able to keep her health insurance, and the money paid by the town to the retirement board was due in part to a lengthy, but confusing, tenure of employment with the town.

"Some of the time I was an independent contractor, other times I was a part time employee but worked full time," said Williams. "I went into a regular union job in the 90s and then was still not full time. The rate of pay and the hours were [mixed] up, so basically this allowed me to retire with 10 years of full time service to the town."

The agreement was negotiated by Town Manager Libby Gibson and the labor counsel and Williams and her attorney. Once the parties had agreed on the terms of the deal, it had to be signed by the Board of Selectmen in executive session. I