City clerk screening committee votes to enter executive session for clerk interviews

The Cambridge City clerk preliminary screening committee opened its meeting and immediately voted to enter executive session to conduct interviews for the city clerk position.

The committee chair said the purpose of the meeting was "to review and interview applicants for the position of city clerk," and that "conducting these interviews in open session will have a detrimental effect on obtaining qualified applicants." The chair also advised, "Please be advised that there'll be no public comment today." The chair cited authority for remote participation "pursuant to chapter 2 of the acts of 2025 adopted by the Massachusetts General Court and approved by the governor."

Clerk-led roll call established a quorum. On a motion made by Vice Mayor McGovern to go into executive session, the committee took a roll call vote. The motion "passes on the affirmative vote of 7 members," with one member recorded as absent. The transcript records affirmative responses during the roll call but does not unambiguously map every individual "yes" to a named member in each utterance; the meeting record therefore reports the overall tally rather than a full name-by-name roll-call breakdown.

The chair closed the open portion of the meeting and said the committee would not return to general session after moving into executive session to conduct the interviews. No public comment was taken at the meeting; the chair invited written communications to the city clerk's office as an alternative.

The committee’s next public step was not stated on the record. The executive session will include the applicant interviews; the public record of deliberations and any subsequent formal actions will depend on whether the committee later votes in open session to report finalists or make appointments.