Barre council moves cemetery‑committee reconsideration to executive session after contested appointment correspondence

At Councilor Spalding’s request, Barre City Council on July 1 took up a reconsideration of a cemetery committee appointment and voted to move the matter into executive session to hear parties and review correspondence.

The item was prompted by emails about the conduct of a single committee member and by the chair’s assertion that a non‑support letter had not been included in the appointment packet. The council debated whether the matter should be handled publicly or in executive session and then voted to enter closed session.

City staff and the mayor clarified the municipal bodies appointment process: a chair’s letter of support generally spares an appointee from appearing before council, but it is not intended as a mechanism to publicly oppose or 'tank' a candidate. Staff said had a negative letter been received in time, it would not have been placed in the public packet without additional steps.

The council invited the affected committee chair and the member in question into executive session; the council later exited closed session. No public removal or rescission action was recorded during the open meeting; the council discussed applicable rules for rescission votes and the higher procedural threshold if the council were to rescind an appointment outside a warned agenda item.