WEST BOYLSTON, Mass. — The West Boylston Select Board voted on Monday to terminate the contract of their town administrator following his handling of a Trump flag dispute at the police station.
The closed-door meeting resulted in a 4-1 vote for the firing of now former-Town Administrator James Ryan.
Ryan recently took issue with a Trump flag hanging in a third-floor gymnasium at the police station during a January tour, claiming it was a civil rights violation.
Chief Dennis Minnich reluctantly removed the flag, but said Ryan soon asked another town employee to sneak back into the police station after hours to see if the flag was removed. At the time, a new Trump flag was hanging, which was then again taken down.
The select board says the firing had nothing to do with the police dispute but instead that he sent someone into the police station to check on the flag. The select board claimed that person could’ve gained access to private information.
In a statement, Ryan’s attorney said his client was “disappointed” with the select board’s decision.
“James acknowledges that he could have handled the situation differently, but his insistence that there be no political signs in a public building was completely justified,” the statement read. “In tonight’s meeting, James expressed his sincere regret that he had any role in what became an embarrassment and distraction for the entire town. While he knows he may have made some mistakes as a very new town administrator, he is not responsible for the controversy that has ensued.”
Ryan’s statement also credits the creation of the controversy to Chief Minnich, who Ryan claims “demonstrated contempt for the town administrator, the Select Board and the citizens of West Boylston” as well as the law.
Ryan’s attorney says his client will be reviewing his options with respect to litigating his termination.
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