WARWICK — The attorney general’s office is looking into an allegation that some City Council members violated the Open Meetings Law by holding an informal caucus days before the council voted on the fiscal 2010 budget.

School Committee member Paul Cannistra, who filed a written complaint with the office, contends that a work session held Sunday, May 31, at the home of Councilman Raymond Gallucci was illegal because it was not open to the public or posted in advance, even though it included all members of the council’s finance subcommittee.

Cannistra said last week that he recently received a letter from the attorney general’s office saying that his complaint is being investigated.

The council’s lawyer, John Harrington, said he was preparing a response to the complaint. For now, he said, he is advising council members who took part in the budget brainstorming session not to comment publicly on the matter.

Cannistra made his concerns known at the outset of the council’s June 1 public hearing on the budget.

In response to questions from Cannistra and others that night, Gallucci said that he had held a weekend caucus with three other members of the nine-member council — Bruce Place, the council president, plus Steven Colantuono and Donna M. Travis.

In his letter to the attorney general, Cannistra noted that Gallucci, Colantuono and Travis make up the council’s finance subcommittee, which Gallucci chairs.

“Although Mr. Gallucci referred to this meeting as a caucus, it should be noted that at least one Republican member, Mr. Colantuono, was present …,” Cannistra wrote.

Cannistra, who ended up being ejected from the June 1 hearing meeting for shouting, accused the council that night of secretly planning a more than $2-million cut to the schools. He vowed to file a complaint with the attorney general.

In an interview last week, Cannistra said he would have filed a complaint even if the council hadn’t been considering a cut to the school budget. (A proposal to drop the city’s appropriation for the schools below the current-year level failed.)

“Mr. Gallucci freely admitted that he and fellow [council] members met privately at his home,” Cannistra said. “But it still left the impression that the city budget was completely crafted and vetted under a cloak of darkness –– in complete contrast to the School Committee, where amendments are brought to the floor and discussed openly.”

Cannistra’s criticisms at the June 1 hearing ignited arguments among council members. Some complained that they had not been invited to the Sunday meeting, while others said they considered the session improper.

Warwick City Councils have held caucuses involving a minority number of members for years –– a point that Travis made at the June 1 hearing as she rebutted criticism from Councilman Joseph Solomon, who is past president of the council.

She said that Solomon held caucuses in the past but never included her.

On Friday, Solomon said there is a big difference between a few Democratic council members chatting informally and a meeting of a full subcommittee. “Three or four council members that are not part of the same committee talking is absolutely something different,” said Solomon, who is a lawyer. “Even if I had been asked to attend that meeting, I would not have because to me it’s a clear violation of the Opening Meetings Law.”

bpoliche@projo.com