Mansfield Select Board Signs 2022 Town Meeting and Election Warrants

MANSFIELD -- March 30, 2022, Mansfield Select Board signs 2022 town meeting and election warrants while chairman publicly rebukes a colleague. The board voted unanimously at its March 30 meeting to approve both the Annual Town Meeting warrant and the town election warrant ahead of a March 31 filing deadline; a discussion item was added to a future agenda to allow package stores and liquor retailers to comment on a warrant article involving nip bottles before Town Meeting acts on it. In extended closing remarks, the chairman addressed accusations made at the March 16 meeting, in which a fellow board member had allegedly accused two colleagues and the town manager of "an utter lack of transparency, irresponsible actions, and manipulated timing" regarding a confidential personnel matter. The chairman disputed the claim that the member had been kept uninformed, saying the member had been briefed via phone, confidential email, and in-person conversations on three separate occasions: "For him to claim that he suddenly learned of certain facts after examining a budget document is simply untrue." The chairman also cited the board's code of conduct in warning that publicly berating the town manager or assistant town manager is unacceptable and would be stopped immediately.