03/19/2026
At last night's candidates forum, the MMA (Massachusetts Municipal Association) vote issue came up once again, and once again a candidate who claimed to have done their research got it completely wrong.
People are free to dislike my meeting style or disagree with decisions I've made. That's fair game. But I won't stand by while a clear, verifiable falsehood is repeated as fact when the truth is right there in black and white.
To be clear: The MMA does not contact Select Board chairs directly about voting matters. They reach out to Town Managers. In this case, Matt received an email from the MMA three days before the vote, but it was never forwarded to me until after the vote had already taken place, leaving no time to place the item on the agenda for discussion. That short of a notice regardless, is not helpful to 351 cities and towns in similar positions.
Separately, Mrs. Herrick contacted me with less than 24 hours' notice asking to cast a vote. After reviewing the materials, I declined because (1) I oppose new taxes on residents and (2) the full board had not yet taken an official position. Despite that, Mrs. Herrick voted anyway. This prompted the entire Select Board, including Mrs. Herrick, to unanimously agree the vote was unauthorized and to rescind it.
The full details, including all relevant correspondence and context, are clearly documented in the publicly available Select Board packet from February 10, 2026. I simply ask that anyone claiming to have "done the research" actually review the public record before making assertions.
I spoke to Tony after the forum last night regarding all of this and he and I had a great conversation.
I also submitted the clip from last night's forum to https://voterspotlight.com and it got approved. I encourage everyone to have a look at the materials yourself there.
Documenting the public record, one statement at a time.
