Subcommittee Appointments
November 20, 2024
The Reading Post
Kevin Vendt
The board appointed six individuals to the Ad-Hoc Commemoration Establishment committee, which was charged with developing a proper town-wide recognition for the contributions of Celtics Legend Bill Russell. David Monahan was chosen as the board’s designee by a 5-0 vote, while Edward Dee and Monique Gnanaratnam were appointed full members by the same vote. Tara Gregory, Ryan Johnstone, and Greg Selvitelli were appointed Associate members of the committee by a 3-2 vote. Chair Carlo Bacci and member Christopher Haley were the dissenting votes. This was after a discussion during which Bacci opposed the appointment of Gregory due to what he referred to as untruths spoken by Gregory about him. Member Mark Dockser offered that few had been as passionate about the committee as Gregory and that the Select Board should not be about squelching opinions. Bacci replied that there is a difference between differing opinions and outright lies.
A similar discussion occurred over the appointment of Ashley Gross to the Cultural Council, with Haley questioning her objectivity. The board voted 3-2 to appoint Gross to the Council, again with Haley and Bacci as the dissenting votes. The board made five other committee appointments by a vote of 5-0.
After a discussion on Select Board policies to clarify how members are appointed and the meeting schedule for the Volunteer Appointments Committee, the board voted 5-0 to designate $21,359.91 of American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Health Department for rodent mitigation efforts using a “non-poison” method.
