County director: 2023 mediation failed; board warned to avoid undermining litigation

County Director John Cronin told the advisory board that a prior mediation between the county commissioners and Register Bill O'Donnell was undertaken in 2023 by a retired Supreme Judicial Court justice and "the outcome was not successful." The director used that history to caution that further mediation might be complicated and to emphasize the need to coordinate any public communication with commissioners and legal counsel.