Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Truro are remote. Go to truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. The agenda includes instructions on how to join.
Thursday, June 22
- Climate Action Committee, 10 a.m., Public Library
- Charter Review Committee, 5 p.m.
Monday, June 26
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 27
- Local Comprehensive Plan Committee, 10 a.m., Public Library
- DPW open house, 2 p.m., 17 Town Hall Road
- Select Board, 4 p.m.
Wednesday, June 28
- Planning Board, 5 p.m.
- Walsh Property Community Planning Committee, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Select Board Executive Session
The select board held an executive session on Friday, June 16 with two substantial items on the agenda. The first was “to discuss the reputation, character, rather than professional competence, of an individual … or complaints or charges brought against a public officer, employee, staff member or individual.” The second was to discuss the contract renewal of Town Manager Darrin Tangeman.
Before the board entered the closed session, member Sue Areson read a statement, identifying herself as the subject of the first agenda item.
On June 13, the select board received a letter from attorney Adam T. Dupuy representing a registered voter who, he wrote, remained unnamed “out of fear of retaliation.” The letter alleged that, based on the client’s conversations with credible sources, Areson had violated three sections of the town charter. The supposed violations include conducting unofficial investigations, exercising individual authority as a member of the select board, and dealing with employees supervised by the town manager without going through Tangeman himself.
Areson requested a continuance of the discussion, saying that 48 hours notice was not enough time for her to retain counsel. She also requested that the discussion take place in an open session. Areson said she had consulted attorney Bruce Bierhans.
Select board member Bob Weinstein moved to grant Areson’s request for a continuance. The board voted 4-1 for Weinstein’s motion; Areson herself was the only “nay.”
When the select board reconvened after its closed session, Chair Kristen Reed said that no votes had been taken regarding Tangeman’s contract renewal, which has been the subject of controversy in town. The board will reconvene in another executive session on June 28, according to Reed, for a discussion of Tangeman’s contract and possibly for further investigation into the charges against Areson. —Sophie Mann-Shafir
