By: Ed Anderson at [email protected]
Palmer Town Council President Barbara Barry is reportedly the subject of a complaint filed recently with the State Ethics Commission. The complaint, which was sent to us anonymously, alleges that President Barry and others who included “Palmer Town Manager Ryan McNutt, State Representative Todd Smola” met in secret “on or about Friday, January 22, 2023, at a time when the Palmer Town Hall was closed to the public.” The alleged purpose of this meeting was to discuss and encourage a proposed Kalahari Resort complex in Palmer.
LACK OF TRANSPARENCY
While this alleged secret meeting is likely not particularly relevant from the perspective of the State Ethics Commission, it is concerning from a transparency perspective with Palmer Town Manager Ryan McNutt previously stating in published reports that he had no knowledge of this meeting.
McNUTT ACKNOWLEDGES KALAHARI IS CONSIDERING PALMERSubsequently, McNutt has acknowledged the project is at least under consideration, having stated in this week’s Business West “Palmer is working with the company [Kalahari] to address bringing public utilities and access roads to the hill parcel. “It’s a challenging site,” he noted. “While nothing is a sure thing, I’m glad to see this company feels optimistic enough to keep exploring the opportunity.””
DIVERTING THE WATER PARK TO STURBRIDGE
However, the more concerning allegation, far more concerning for supporters of the Palmer project, is an allegation that Barry, is working with the Town of Sturbridge to relocate the waterpark from Palmer to a Sturbridge site, ideally Sturbridge Village. From the ethics complaint:
“Shortly after her participation in this meeting Ms. Barry also began to work to encourage Kalahri to consider a site in Sturbridge instead of the Palmer site. The Sturbridge site would be either the site of a proposed race track (rejected by Sturbridge voters in 2021) or most recently proposed on a portion of Sturbridge Village property. Ms. Barry met with Jay Ash, Todd Smola and other representatives from Sturbridge and Kalahari Resorts at Sturbridge Village to discuss ways to move the location from Palmer to Sturbridge. The meetings at Sturbridge Village have occurred several times most recently on or about March 10, 2023 and February 24th 2023.”
The complaint concludes by stating, “I believe that Ms. Barry, working to support the interests of her long-term employer (in this instance Mary and Charles Blanchard acting for the Town of Sturbridge), is in violation of her ethical responsibilities as an elected representative of the residents of the Town of Palmer.”
DIVIDED LOYALTIES?
Barry, of course, has long standing ties to the Town of Sturbridge, having worked in Sturbridge as Finance Director for many years. Additionally, this is not the first time Barry has been accused of conflicts of interest relating to her connections to the Town of Sturbridge. In June 2011, Barry addressed allegations conflict at the conclusion of a Town Council meeting where Mr. Blanchard was hired as the interim Town Manager for the Town of Palmer. At the time she claimed that those claims were “upsetting” and “not true”. She also stated that she disclosed at the time that she knew Blanchard and that he was a selectman in Sturbridge when she was first hired as Finance Director in Sturbridge. Just a few months later then Town Councilor Blake LaMothe, accused Barry of a conflict of interest over her husbands involvement with a proposed Brimfield casino site and called on Barry to resign.
Additionally, while no one would go on the record, several current and former Palmer Town Councilors have expressed concerns regarding Barry’s loyalty to the Town of Palmer when issues that affect Sturbridge are involved.
Barry did not respond to a request for comment on this story.