Norwich - A hearing set for Tuesday that could end with the firing of the embattled city clerk on allegations of office misconduct will take place publicly if the clerk attends and requests an open meeting.

The council plans to hold the hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers under the "appointments and removals" section of the city charter to consider removing City Clerk Sandra Greenhalgh from office for allegedly filing personal documents on the land records for herself or her daughter without paying proper fees.

The hearing is scheduled to be closed to the public, said Mayor Peter Nystrom, unless Greenhalgh is present and requests that it remain open.

"It is in her best interest to be there, but she's not compelled to (be there) in any way," Nystrom said.

Reached Friday night, Greenhalgh said her attorney has advised her not to comment, including to say nothing about whether she'll attend the hearing.

"I'm not at liberty to say," she said.

According to the call for the special meeting, which cites nine relevant documents, Greenhalgh filed land records for personal business and failed to pay the filing fee six times over the past two years. Twice during that time, Greenhalgh also failed to collect or pay the required land records filing fee for herself or her daughter, the call states.

Once during that same period, Greenhalgh filed land records for her daughter without collecting the filing fee, the call states.

The total value of the nine documents filed on city land records without filing fees was $492, according to calculations provided by the clerk's office last month.

Greenhalgh has been on paid administrative leave since about July 1.

The City Council later that month invoked a rarely used charter provision to establish an investigative committee to call witnesses and conduct an internal investigation into her conduct as city clerk. Nystrom and Council President Pro Tempore Francois "Pete" Desaulniers served on the committee.

p.daddona@theday.com