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Appointment Committee -Finance Committee
Date: 2024-06-25 Time: 5:00 PM
Building: Virtual Location: Zoom
Address: Session: Open Session
Purpose: Appoint Members to Finance Version: Final
Committee
Attendees: Members - Present:
Town Moderator Alan Foulds, Finance Committee Chair Ed Ross, Select
Board Chair Carlo Bacci
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Joe Carnahan, Helena Johnson, Julie Ross, Karen Gately Herrick, Angela
Binda, Carolyn Johnson, Chris, Gena, Jesse Arnold, Liz Sullivan, Mary Ellen
O'Neill, Rebecca Bailey, Shawn, Tara Gregory, Angela
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Jacquelyn LaVerde
Topics of Discussion:
This meeting was held remotely via Zoom.
Town Moderator, and Chair of the Appointment Committee, Alan Foulds, called the meeting
to order at 5:01 pm.
Deliberate and Vote on Appointments to the Finance Committee
Mr. Foulds recapped that there are three open positions for three-year terms ending in
2027, and five candidates, all of wham had been put in nomination at the last meeting.
However, Select Board Chair Carlo Bacci requested a delay in the vote so that he could
gather further informatlon.
Mr. Baccl stated that he advocated not to reappoint Joe Carnahan to the Finance
Committee. He read the letter written by former Select Board Chair Jacqueline McCarthy,
based on not participating in an investigation following her resignation from the Board. In
her letter, Ms. McCarthy refers to two Town Meeting members who texted her. She quoted
one as saying, an open meeting law violation "would be disastrous if it delegitlmized the
outcome of a vote for a new Town Manager." Another told her that "someone was
preparing to Flle an OML complaint against me." To protect the process and her reputation,
Ms. McCarthy decided to recuse herself from the process and resign from the Board. Mr.
Bacci then stated that the quote about delegitimizing the outcome of the vote came from
Joe Carnahan, and the OML complaint came from Vanessa Alvarado. He asked Mr. Foulds
as Town Moderator to take the alleged bullying against Ms. McCarthy seriously. He stated
there were no direct threats, but he argued that Mr. Carnahan should not be reappointed
because he told Jackie to be careful who she votes for, and her letter quotes his text
message verbatim.
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Joe Carnahan stated that he had heard that he did something disturbing, but he did not
hear what that was or why it was disturbing. He learned that there was a substantial
miscommunication between himself and Ms. McCarthy, but he did not become aware of It
until the middle of March. When he realized, he reached out and spoke to her. He noted
that Ms. McCarthy also asked to not make a public thing over the situation, which is why he
has not spoken publicly about it. He asked exactly what he did that was a problem. He
noted many people were likely lobbying her and their elected officials, and he reached out
to other Select Board members about the Town Manager search as well.
Mr. Bacci clarified that the text messages and phone calls were obtained through a public
records request, and were provided by Ms. McCarthy. He noted that the barrage of calls
and messages followed the day after Ms. McCarthy's husband had a phone conversation
with Select Board member Karen Herrick.
Ed Ross disclosed that he was included in the text messages as well. He stated that he did
read through the other text messages and content. He noted that he knew the context of
his exchange with Ms. McCarthy, and felt that others who contacted her may have also had
some type of relationship and comfort in reaching out to her. He stated that he was not
comfortable being interpreter and arbiter of the content and Intent, and how it was
accepted. In reading the texts, he did not see anything that constituted a threat or an
ultimatum. He argued that Mr. Carnahan has been an excellent, well -respected member of
the Finance Committee, and has no concerns about Mr. Carnahan serving on the Finance
Committee now or in the future.
Mr. Foulds stated that his feelings were similar to those of Mr. Ross. He did not see
anything inconsistent with what any citizen in town could do to address their elected
officials. He stated that he does not see any of It as a threat and had no Issue with voting
for Mr. Carnahan to continue on the Finance Committee.
As all five candidates, had been nominated, the Appointment Committee members each had
three votes and voted as follows:
Joe Carnahan: Ed Ross - Yes, Carlo Bacci - No, Alan Foulds - Yes
Geoffrey Coram: Carlo Bacci - No, Ed Ross - Yes, Alan Foulds - Yes
Endri Kume: Carlo Bacci - Yes, Ed Ross - Yes, Alan Foulds - Yes
David Fodera: Carlo Bacci - Yes
Boris Nuslnov: Carlo Bacci - Yes
With three votes, Endri Kume was reappointed to the Finance Committee, term from July 1,
2024, through June 30, 2027.
With two votes each, Joe Carnahan and Geoffrey Coram were reappointed to the Finance
Committee, terms from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027.
Following the vote Mr. Ross begged Mr. Bacci to just move on, and stated that he would be
happy to speak with him privately. Mr. Foulds suggested that conversation be held outside
this meeting.
On a motion by Ed Ross, seconded by Carlo Baccl, the Finance Committee Appointment
Committee voted unanimously 3-0-0 to adjourn at 5:23 pm.
Roll call vote: Carlo Baccl - Yes, Ed Ross - Yes, Alan Foulds - Yes.
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