Sudbury, MA
- At its June 2 meeting, the board voted to attach its own statement opposing the recall to the letter carrying the town’s recall vote to the State House (the board had opposed the recall 4–1).
- It also declined to change the Sewataro committee’s direction despite Town Meeting’s ~70% rejection of the $20,000 study – the chair said that vote was “only about the $20,000.”
- The town manager acknowledged “a potential conflict of interest” over town funds and staff being used to buy political signs, placed on town property, for three warrant articles – handled with no vote.
The Sudbury Select Board met for about three hours on June 2, with much of its agenda devoted to following up on the May 20 Special Town Meeting (including how the town’s votes would be carried to the State House) alongside the future of the Sewataro property and a matter involving town-funded political signs. Chair Janie Dretler presided; one resident spoke during public comment, to praise a school principal.
Forwarding the Special Town Meeting votes. The Special Town Meeting passed four citizen petitions. Three require action by the state legislature and will go to Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representative Carmine Gentile; the fourth, a no-confidence vote in the School Committee, goes to the School Committee. The board voted to forward the certified results with cover letters drafted by the town manager. On the recall measure (Article 3), the board had taken a position of 4–1 in opposition, and – on a motion by member Radha Gargeya – voted to attach the board’s own statement opposing the recall, which the chair had delivered at Town Meeting, to the letter being sent to the legislature, “to give the context.” The board also voted to release a May 30 memo from its law firm, KP Law, on the recall’s next steps; the memo advised that Town Meeting cannot compel the board to act, that the board may forward the vote, and that the petitioner or any resident may forward it as well. The recall article passed at the Special Town Meeting on May 20 by a vote of 473-394.
The Sewataro committee’s direction. Member Charlie Russo asked whether the board should revise the direction it gives the Liberty Ledge/Sewataro Advisory Committee to reflect Annual Town Meeting’s roughly 70% rejection of a $20,000 visioning consultant – drawing a parallel to the board’s decision, minutes earlier, to “honor the votes of town meeting” on the recall. The board declined. Chair Dretler said the town-meeting vote concerned only the $20,000, which the board honored by not hiring the consultant, and that she “wouldn’t say the vote was prescriptive other than what it was as presented.” Gargeya said the committee is advisory and gathers public input; member Lisa Kouchakdjian said she did not support changing the committee’s mission, describing the property as “an $11 million asset” on which the board owed taxpayers “due diligence.” The mission statement was left unchanged.
Town-funded political signs. At member Dan Carty’s request, the board returned to a matter first raised May 5: town funds and town staff had been used to purchase signs advocating positions on three Town Meeting warrant articles, and the signs were placed on town property. Carty called it “three strikes” and asked for assurance it would not recur. Town Manager Andy Sheehan said the articles were not an override, so there was no campaign-finance reporting implication, but acknowledged “there probably is a potential conflict of interest issue,” which he said he had flagged to the board by email when it came to light. The chair moved the board on without a vote.
Town Meeting logistics. Members reviewed problems from the Special Town Meeting: clicker-voting failures with roughly 900+ attendees, attributed to signal interference (the town will acquire signal boosters); the warrant-calendar timing that forced the meeting into the LS gym rather than the auditorium; and posting practices. Dretler also addressed the meeting’s “tenor,” saying she had “never seen a town meeting behave this way” and hoped the community could “come back together.”
Other business. The board approved a letter supporting a Massachusetts Office on Disability grant for an accessible path at Haskell Field; discussed an email-communications question raised by Carty, in which the town manager confirmed he had shared information about the signs with Sudbury Weekly the same day he informed the board; reviewed committee liaison assignments (Gargeya moved onto the Sewataro committee); recognized local Eagle Scouts and Gold Award Girl Scouts; and granted one-day and entertainment licenses to Sudbury Point Grill and the Wayside Inn. Review of the March 31 minutes was deferred after Carty noted that votes on numerous Town Meeting articles were missing. The next meeting is scheduled for June 16.
Editor’s note: The Select Board meeting materials, including the agenda, public packet, and recall memo from the Town’s law firm, are available at the Select Board Meeting page at the link below.