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Select Board debates residency, reappointment rules for child sexual abuse awareness committee
Summary
A debate over whether non‑residents may serve and whether members must step aside for one term delayed appointments to the town’s child sexual abuse awareness committee. Former selectman Jim Devellis urged the board not to disenfranchise long‑serving volunteers; the board will seek Town Counsel clarification before finalizing outstanding appointments.
The Foxborough Select Board spent a prolonged portion of its June 4 meeting grappling with how to interpret the bylaw that governs the town’s child sexual abuse awareness committee, a panel formed after residents reported historical abuse. The dispute followed a recent vote in which a long‑serving member was not reappointed because some board members interpreted residency language as a disqualifier.
Jim Devellis, a former selectman who helped draft the committee’s warrant at Town Meeting, told the board the group was created to protect children after widespread abuse allegations came to light and that town meeting intended the “member at large” slot to allow non‑residents with relevant expertise. "When this came up last week there was a lot of discussion of the bylaw of the Town," Devellis said, recounting the committee’s history and arguing the town had not intended to impose term limits that force volunteers to step away for a full term.
Board members were sharply divided. Some members said they voted at the prior meeting against reappointing a particular candidate because that person was not a resident. Others said the handbook and prior minutes show selectmen retain the discretion to appoint non‑residents to ad hoc or advisory committees when the committee’s mission warrants it.
Town Clerk and Town Counsel were cited in the discussion as having offered interpretations of handbook language; the board agreed it needs a written, authoritative legal opinion to reconcile differing readings about the sentence that reads, in part, "any member may be reappointed after one term has elapsed since the expiration of his or her most recent term." Without that clarification, the board concluded it could not complete two outstanding appointments without risking an improper appointment.
Several committee members and victims’ advocates in the audience urged the board to avoid removing experienced volunteers or creating operational gaps in the committee’s work. Devellis emphasized the committee was created and funded by Town Meeting and said altering membership rules now would undercut a decade of work the volunteer panel has done on training, prevention and outreach.
Action/next steps: The Select Board asked staff to return a formal opinion from Town Counsel and deferred final appointment votes for two weeks. It also agreed the committee may continue to meet, but that some seats may remain non‑voting until the bylaw language is clarified.
Context: The child sexual abuse awareness committee was established after abuse allegations surfaced in prior decades and carries a modest town budget and responsibilities for training and prevention programs. The debate highlighted tensions between a strict residency preference and the committee’s expressed need for particular expertise and continuity of volunteers.
