The Select Board had a full agenda on July 29, 2026, including the promotion of two police officers and a discussion regarding the code of conduct for the Board.
Police Chief Wendy LaPierre introduced the officers receiving promotions and Town Clerk Andraea Cesarini administered the oath of office to Lieutenant Thomas J. Baragwanath and Sargeant Mark Digravio. Both men had family in attendance, who presented them with their new shields.
Fraser Townley spoke to the Board requesting the approval of appointment of Allison Parks to the Affordable Housing Committee (AHC), which was approved. He also requested the appointment of a Select Board member to the Affordable Housing Trust (AHT), which has not been active since the May 2024 Town Meeting. Chair John Brown said he would accept that appointment, which was was also approved. Town Manager Bill Chenard said there was still some legal paperwork that was needed to make the AHT active and that he would follow up on those tasks. The last request was that the by-laws be amended to allow for term limits on the by-law committee members, staggering terms for the current members in order of seniority, for three, two and one year for the newest member. This will ensure not all appointments expire at the same time. This was also approved. Townley thanked the Select Board for signing a book about Pembroke that will be presented to the Boston 25 News Zip Trip staff on Friday, July 31 when they visit Pembroke.
Next was the door-to-door solicitation permit request from SunRun, a solar energy company. The permit was granted for three months, for the single individual who applied for the permit and can only be used during the hours of 9am until dusk. The permit will need to be carried by the individual doing the solicitation at all times. The Town Manager said that there are currently no other active solicitation permits in town, and if a resident has someone come to their door, they should immediately call the Pembroke Police and report it, as unpermitted solicitation carries a fine of $300.
There was disagreement among Board members on how to proceed with the staff changes for the Historic District Commission (HDC). The resignation of John Flanagan was accepted, but Tracy Marino proposed that filling the remaining positions be tabled until September so that all the applicants to the Commission would have time to be interviewed. Dan Trabucco argued that the HDC board had reviewed the candidates and they had authority to make the recommendation on applicants. Steve Ciciotti stated that all applicants should have equal access to the available positions rather than "ramming through" applicants. The Board continued to discuss the question of tabling or proceeding, and Ciciotti said that "the process, the way it has been done, has some red flags around it" based on information he has gotten from outside sources. Sean Keegan asked Chris Perry, chair of the HDC, about this thoughts, and Perry replied, "I'll do whatever the Board wants to do, it's fine. I believe we acted accordingly when the position was available, the next person up. That's what we do." Ciciotti again stated that "I have heard from multiple members that were not happy with the way this process has panned out." Perry asked Chenard, who attended the HDC meeting where the appointments were discussed, if he felt there was any animosity, and Chenard stated that he did not. After additional discussion, the Select Board agreed to table the appointments until September.
The next agenda item was the code of conduct, and given that the code will need to be updated and developed, a subcommittee was suggested. Resident Judy Ferrante asked if a resident could be represented on the subcommittee and was told that it was usually two members of the Board and they report back to the Board. Judy continued that "you're writing your own code of conduct, and something feels wrong." Trabucco answered saying, "according to Mass General Law, there is nothing that can be done to an elected official by the Board; you can not remove them, you can not keep them from voting, you can not keep them from attending a meeting. Do you want to publicly shame them? You can do that any day of the week, you don't need a code of conduct for that." Accountability seemed to be the main issue for Ferrante, but Trabucco said that the voters are the source of the accountability. "Residents are tired, they want to see something besides a formal recall, which is impossible, and wait for the election" Ferrante said. "There has to be some recognition between elections when somebody misbehaves. And I think it needs to be in that code of conduct document." Trabucco responded, "When an individual puts in over 20 years of being elected, term after term, after term, blood, sweat and tears, into the town of Pembroke... then someone wakes up and says 'I am just getting interested in town politics and I don't like what someone said in this one instance', after 20 years of day in and day out service to this community, so if this is what this Board wants to consider, is being asked to consider, is censure..." Keegan replied that the Board wanted to move forward, not backward, but that a code of conduct was appropriate. Ferrante reiterated that the town should have something in writing that outlines the expectations for conduct, and that she too wanted to move forward.
The suggestion was made that a working group be formed made up of Sean Keegan and John Brown, to review suggestions for the code of conduct. A working group is not subject to the same open meeting regulations, but the final draft will be brought back to the entire board in September and will be open to public.
A final discussion was held regarding liaisons from the Select Board to each board in town. Policy stated that there should be a liaison from the board to each town committee, but the board members had limited time to volunteer. Ciciotti suggested that the board review the Pembroke Select Board liaison policy and procedures to decide which boards should be prioritized for the positions and all agreed. A motion was made to dissolve the liaison position to the Water Commissioners, and it was passed. Tracy Marino was appointed to be liaison to the Board of Health, and Steve Ciciotti was appointed as liaison to the Community Preservation Committee.
Chris Perry asked the Board to approve the renaming of the Veterans Memorial Park as the current name shown on the assessor's property card simply says, "Town Common". Because of this name, Pembroke is prevented from applying for grants that would recognize the historic nature of the space. The request was for the assessor's card to be updated to the new name: "Veterans Memorial Park on the Town Common." The motion was passed unanimously.
Correction: The working group members for the code of conduct were identified as Steve Ciciotti and Tracy Marino; this was an error and the story has been corrected to name the actual members, who are Sean Keegan and John Brown. We regret the error.
