Selectmen concluded a two-and-a-half hour public inquiry on July 13 into the alleged unethical conduct of Selectman Patrick Hargreaves without taking action against him.

Hargreaves had come under fire from Salem Police Chief Paul Donovan for allegedly violating RSA 49-D:4 – non-interference by the elected body – during a verbal exchange with officer Michael White at a volunteer project at a School Street residence on June 13. According to Donovan’s June 15 memo to Town Manager Jonathan Sistare, Hargreaves confronted White after the officer found a Stacey Tree Co. truck obstructing traffic and instructed volunteers to shut down the operation.

Hargreaves allegedly introduced himself as a selectman and told the officer that he would call the town manager and bring the matter up at the next board meeting.

Though Hargreaves admitted to referring to himself as a member of the board during his conversation with White and to telling the officer that he planned to contact the town manager over the incident, he remained adamant that he did not try use his influence as an elected official.

“I’m guilty, case closed. I said I was a selectman. I said I will call the town manager. I said I will talk about this Monday night. So why are we here?” he said. “Where did I influence him? He did his job. We left the premises within eight minutes of Mr. Stacey having to shut down the machine ... We never prevented this officer from doing his job.”

Donovan told the board he wanted to make sure the incident was not repeated in the future.

“I’m looking out for my organization. I’m looking out for my guys. How this is handled is up to you folks. I just reported an incident that happened to one of my guys. I don’t want to see it happen again,” he said. “We’re not interested in anything else. We’re not interested in the political part of this.”

Though the state statute calls for the elected official to forfeit their seat if found in violation of interfering with an officer performing their duty through the procedures outlined in the town charter, Salem’s town charter has no such procedure. Chairman Arthur Barnes ruled out any chance of Hargreaves losing his position on the board after the inquiry was challenged by Peter Solomon, Hargreaves’ legal representative for the proceedings.

“(State statutes) require you to follow the rules and regulations set forth in the charter. You have not set appropriate rules and regulation, you have not provided due process ... and that makes this resemble nothing else than a kangaroo court,” Solomon said.

His remarks drew cheers and applause from a packed audience – made up largely of Hargreaves’ supporters – inside town hall.

Speaking after the public inquiry had been concluded, Hargreaves said the matter was done and over. He described it as a lose-lose situation for the town.

“Nobody wanted this. Everybody loses, the board loses, the police department loses and the public loses,” he said. “I will never use the ‘S’ word again, but I’m not going to stop volunteering.”