Select Board chair rules out motion to release manager records

Select Board Pt. 3 · Meeting of July 31, 2026

Billerica Select Board chair blocks vote on releasing former town manager's closed-door records. Returning from executive session, the board first approved and sorted decades of old executive session minutes, some dating to 1986, into batches for redacted release, unredacted release or continued confidentiality under the state's open meeting law. The contested moment came when a board member moved to immediately release unredacted minutes from nine 2024 and 2025 executive sessions covering "the former town manager's departure, complaints, town council, and any related resolved litigation," arguing confidentiality expired under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30A, Section 22F once a separation agreement was signed.

The chair repeatedly cut off the motion, saying, "I'm going to rule the motion out of order because it's not even on our agenda." The board then voted 5-0 by roll call to adjourn, with Vice Chair Pavidis and Select Board members Daniel Darris-O'Connor, Favreau and Mike Rosa joining the chair in the unanimous vote.

In the full story:

• Return From Executive Session
• Approving Decades of Executive Session Minutes
• Redacted vs. Unredacted Release
• Motion on the Former Town Manager's Departure
• Adjournment
• Implications and what is next
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 1,688 words

Source: the Select Board Pt. 3 meeting of July 31, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.

Correction (Nov. 2, 2026): An earlier version of this story did not identify Chair Michael Riley, Vice Chair Jillian Pavidis and Select Board member Dina Favreau in its list of participants and gave Pavidis the wrong title.