Select Board names Maureen Bernard chair; new Council on Aging member introduced

The Town of Danvers Select Board voted 5‑0 on May 20 to appoint Select Board member Maureen Bernard as chair for the coming year.

The vote came during reorganizational business at the start of the meeting. After a nomination and second, the board took a voice vote; the clerk recorded the tally as unanimous. The board also voted to table approval of minutes from its May 8 meeting until a future meeting because Town meeting and election schedules had delayed their preparation.

At new public business the board introduced Leota DeMule, who the town manager appointed to a three‑year term on the Council on Aging with the senior center’s endorsement. DeMule told the board she has lived in Danvers since 1963, became involved with the senior center while caring for her husband after a stroke, and volunteers frequently there. “I just enjoy going down there and helping out,” DeMule said.

Board members welcomed DeMule and invited questions; none were raised. The board did not take a separate recorded roll‑call vote on the appointment during the meeting’s discussion because the transcript records the appointment as a manager appointment with public introduction.

The reorganizational business also included a procedural consent to revisit seating arrangements among board members for the coming year.