STURBRIDGE – Following a meeting of the Finance Committee of the Westfield State University Board of Trustees Thursday evening, Board Chairman John Flynn III answered questions regarding a variety of topics related to policy changes at the institution.
However, Flynn, who serves as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Massachusetts State Police, was also pressed about a recent development in an ongoing lawsuit that has been filed by recently retired University President Dr. Evan Dobelle against several members of the board and Flynn himself.
Attorney Ross Garber, Dobelle’s legal counsel, submitted invoices to the university for services related to Dobelle’s defense totalling $99,032.10 earlier this week.
Services rendered in the statement date back to July 15, and include numerous telephone conferences, regular conferences, travel, evaluations, the drafting and editing of documents, and research.
The services, which totalled 202.2 hours worth of work, also included a disbursement of $352.10 for the use of the copier at Garber’s Hartford, Conn., based firm, Shipman & Goodwin.
Flynn said that it was set to be discussed at the Thursday meeting, but that he took it off the agenda.
“We have been engaged through the office of the Attorney General in terms of the pending lawsuit, (that this) is clearly connected to,” he said. “Whether the university is responsible for the payment of that invoice, I don’t know. I’ll have to defer to the office of the Attorney General.”
Flynn added that the Attorney General’s office has been “very responsive and very helpful”, and he is sure that the board will get “something from them” in “short order.”
When asked how the taxpayers of the Bay State will react to this latest development in the on-going saga, Flynn was quick to respond.
“I’m a taxpayer and a tuition-payer. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, let’s face it.” he said. “I have a lot of faith in the legal system, and a lot of faith in the folks who represent this Commonwealth, and I think we’ll get the type of outcome we expect to get out of this.”
