Good Morning, Burlington!

After a very light (and beautiful!) day yesterday, Burlington is full of activities and opportunities to learn about the town today, including the Elementary School Social Emotional Curriculum Night at Francis Wyman. First, a quick note from the latest Board of Health meeting.

Town Counsel Weighs In Regarding Potential Conflict of Interest in Hiring

The town’s Board of Health has been without a Supervisory Nurse for nearly a year. The posting was taken offline for a while and is now open again, with around five applicants as of the September 26 Board of Health Meeting.

Recently, the daughter of Board of Health Member, Marybeth Welch, applied for the position, opening an unexpected can of worms regarding Massachusetts Conflict of Interest Law (Chapter 268A). In light of Wellesley’s Fire Chief having been fined $10,000 for violating this law, the Board of Health Chair, Dr. Ed Weiner, requested an opinion from our town counsel’s office regarding how to move forward with the interview and hiring process.

Mr. Murray from the office of Burlington’s town counsel appeared before the Board to explain his written opinion, within which he states that if the immediate family member (child) of a Board member is a candidate for a paid position, the Board member must recuse themselves from every part of the interviewing and hiring process. This part seemed clear to Board members, but the question of what comes next sparked much debate.

As the Supervisory Nurse reports to the Director of Public Health, and the DPH is hired and supervised by the Board, the question of whether the Board Member (in this case, Ms. Welch) would be able to perform her elected duties or would have to recuse herself from any conversation regarding the office of the Supervisory Nurse proved a difficult one to answer. Supervision of the child of a Board Member by someone who is the agent of the Board has the potential to become very convoluted.

To bypass the morass that could be caused by allowing the immediate family member of a Board member to be employed by the department, Dr. Weiner attempted to put forth a motion to “adopt a policy that the immediate family of elected and appointed members, including paid professionals, be ineligible to either apply for, or be considered for, compensated staff positions due to the administrative burdens it would provide.” There was no second, and the motion failed.

In the interest of maintaining the appearance of propriety, the Nurse Interview Subcommittee was reorganized (Ms. Welch and Dr. Weiner were members of the previous subcommittee and had previously discussed the candidate) and will be meeting tomorrow to review current resumes.

Today in Burlington

The Board of Health’s regular Tuesday meeting has been canceled for this week.

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

• 10:00 AM - School Building Committee - Sustainability Working Group will discuss sustainability goals for the new school building, available incentives, and more. (Virtual)
• 1:00 PM - English at Large Conversation Group (Library)
• 4:00 PM - Pipe Cleaner Spiders craft (Library event for grades K-5; Register)
• 6:00 PM - Social Emotional Curriculum Night for Elementary School Families (Francis Wyman Auditorium)
• 6:00 PM - Free Cornhole Tournament on the Green at 3rd Ave.
• 7:00 PM - Rules Committee will review the September 27 Town Meeting and discuss a Return to Town Meeting Supper in 2024. (Town Hall Annex Basement)
• 7:00 PM - School Committee will hear an update about the equity audit, discuss financing options for the proposed new Fox Hill building, and more. (BHS and Virtual)
• 7:30 PM - ISSAC will continue discussing cybersecurity culture and the consultant engagement process, as well as cybersecurity awareness month (which is this month!) (Virtual)

Sports and Activities

The girls’ soccer team lost their game against Belmont yesterday by a score of 3-0.

Today, our young residents will be participating in a wide array of athletic events:

• Middle school cross country meet at Lexington at 3:30
• Volleyball in Woburn (freshmen/JV at 4:00 and varsity at 5:30)
• Freshman soccer against Woburn at 4:15 (boys travel; girls host)
• Field hockey at Woburn (varsity at 4:15 and JV at 5:30)

That’s all for today. See you tomorrow!

Nicci

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