Billerica Select Board Votes 3-2 to Censure Member Dina Favreau

BILLERICA — August 11, 2025 — Billerica Select Board votes 3-2 to censure Member Dina Favreau and approves $75.5 million in bonds at contentious August 11 meeting. Chair Jolene Pavides, Vice Chair John Burroughs, and Secretary Daniel Darius O'Connor voted in favor of the formal censure, citing a May 12, 2025 independent investigation by Discrimination and Harassment Solutions LLC that found Favreau had harassed town employees, created a hostile work environment, and violated the town charter; Members Mike Rosa and Favreau voted against. Rosa argued the board's own code of conduct does not authorize censure, noting a 2-3 vote in January 2023 specifically removed the mechanism, and that Town Counsel had warned the action risked legal challenge and public embarrassment with no enforceable outcome. Favreau called the resolution "retaliation, not government" and said the matter is subject to an ongoing Attorney General review. Separately, the board unanimously approved $52.48 million in general obligation bonds for the DPW facility, sold to Janney Montgomery Scott LLC at $52,689,726.18, and $23 million in bond anticipation notes for the Recreation Center and North Billerica Fire Station. Police Chief Glenn Foster and architect Aaron Eisenberg of PRA Architects presented two renovation options for the 1987-era police station — a high-priority plan at $5.6 million and a full renovation at $10.6 million — with no vote taken pending a debt-schedule analysis from Acting Town Manager Chris Dillon.