Select Board recap: August 4, 2026
(7-minute read)
For residents looking to stay up to date on key town matters, this recap highlights major takeaways from the Select Board meeting held on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.
Watch the full meeting here on RCTV’s Youtube page.
Review the full Select Board packet.
Key takeaways
Public comment was lengthy and contentious, centering on a discrimination complaint tied to the volunteer appointment process and on the conduct and tone of Board members. The town’s Office of Equity and Social Justice said it is working toward a resolution.
The Board spent much of the meeting discussing how to structure the $6.5M November override, weighing whether to phase the tax increase over two years and, if so, what split. Members were divided, and no decision was made.
The Board approved an overdose awareness proclamation by a 5-0 vote and worked on setting its own goals and the Town Manager’s goals, coalescing around financial transparency, communication, and the management of the Killam and ReCAL capital projects.
Public Comment [0:03:10]
Public comment ran long and grew heated, focused largely on a discrimination complaint connected to the volunteer appointment process and on tensions surrounding the Board.
Albert Pless, Director of the town’s Office of Equity and Social Justice, told the Board that a resident had contacted his office, believing they were discriminated against during the appointment process. Pless said he had met with the person and others involved and was still working toward a resolution, emphasizing that discrimination, whether real or perceived, affects more than the individual, and that his goal is to foster constructive dialogue. He thanked the Board for its care on the matter.
Several residents spoke. Some raised concerns about the conduct and tone of Board members and about town spending, while others urged the Board to support the equity office’s work and to de-escalate the situation. One speaker suggested the Board invite Pless to present on the office’s work.
Select Board member Chris Haley, speaking as a resident, offered a sharply different view. He characterized the situation as involving deflection and denial, said he viewed it as discrimination, and alleged that a former firefighter had been denied appointment because he was a white male. During the exchange, Haley yelled at the previous speaker, a Reading resident.
The appointment Haley referenced was regarding a former firefighter who had applied to the Retirement Board.As the Retirement Board already had three members with firefighting experience, it decided to appoint another applicant whose professional background included police experience. Race was not discussed as a part of the appointment process.
By policy, the Board does not respond directly to public comment, reserving deliberation for agenda items. The Board’s Operating Procedures, last updated and agreed to in April 2026, include a Code of Conduct stating that Board members, applicants who come before the Board, and staff are entitled to be treated with respect despite differences of opinion, and the procedures assign the Chair responsibility for addressing member conduct.
Overdose awareness proclamation [0:24:56]
Erica Maillet, Director of the Reading Coalition for Prevention and Support and now in her 18th year with the town, appeared before the Board to request an overdose awareness proclamation. She spoke briefly about the coalition’s work before the Board voted 5-0 to approve it.
Maillet, the Coalition’s first staff member, said the group was created in response to community calls to address opioid and substance misuse and has worked to reduce overdoses and deaths and their impact on families. She highlighted recent projects, including the use of opioid settlement funds to purchase airway management equipment used with the Fire Department to quickly visualize airways during a response, and a program partly funded to connect families with services, including work at the middle school level.
Stop sign on Sylvan Road [0:32:08]
Reading Police Lt. Chris Jones appeared to request a stop sign at the end of Sylvan Road at Pine Ridge Road. He said traffic on Sylvan Road already comes to a stop there and that a sign would serve as a visual aid to make the area safer.
Override discussion [0:35:21]
Town Manager Jayne Wellman opened the discussion on whether to phase the $6.5M override, an approach the Board had previously considered when weighing larger numbers. Under a phased approach, the town would increase part of the amount in the first year and the remainder in the second, raising the tax levy while increasing in steps rather than all at once.
Wellman also updated the Board on communications, including an override hub on the town website, a special override email for questions, and meeting dates across August, September, and October offering different formats and times. She said the goal is to keep information clear and current through frequently asked questions and updates at Board meetings.
Chief Financial Officer Sharon Angstrom said the structural deficit is large and that a phased approach would still require the town to commit to changes. She described splitting the override into roughly $5M to $5.5M in the first year and $1M to $1.5M in the second, noting the town could draw on some free cash while the Killam School and Reading Center of Active Living (ReCAL) projects are not yet operational for the full fiscal year. She cautioned that FY29 will bring a second tranche of debt from those projects, while noting that the full amount has not been borrowed and the projects are coming in under budget.
Angstrom reviewed four options for phasing a $6.5M override, each reaching the same total estimated household tax impact of $736.47:
Option 1: increase by $4.5M in year one, an estimated $509.86 per household, and $2.0M in year two, an estimated $226.61
Option 2: increase by $5.0M in year one, an estimated $566.52, and $1.5M in year two, an estimated $169.95
Option 3: increase by $5.5M in year one, an estimated $623.17, and $1.0M in year two, an estimated $113.30
Option 4: increase by $6.0M in year one, an estimated $679.82, and $0.5M in year two, an estimated $56.65
Board members were divided. Haley expressed interest in option 2, with the possibility of taking less than the full second-year amount, and pushed for sharper use of free cash to preserve reserves. Chair Melissa Murphy said she supported a phased option while remaining mindful of the year-over-year increase and could support option 1. Sal Bramante said he could support options 2 and 3 and was leaning toward option 3. Karen Herrick said the third option seemed palatable, praised the new website page, and asked for more detail on student academic outcomes, adding that a 5.75% increase would be unsustainable for the schools.
Vice Chair Karen Rose-Gillis said she did not favor phasing the $6.5M, which she considers the base amount, arguing that splitting it makes less sense because the tax impact of the phased option is greater over time. She also pressed to see sooner what the school department would face under any approach. Wellman said she was working on slides with the school department, that the Finance Committee would discuss the matter at an upcoming meeting, and that a decision would be needed in September, with the Board bringing it back for a vote.
Select Board goals [0:59:44]
The Board discussed setting three to five broad goals for the year, with Wellman noting that a focused set is easier to act on and point to. Members each named a priority, which Wellman grouped into four themes: improving public understanding of the town’s financial standing, long-range financial planning, transparency and communication, and the management of capital projects. Herrick pointed to the roughly $150M tied to the Killam and ReCAL projects and asked for a centralized way to track upcoming grants, and Haley floated a Select Board Facebook page. Wellman cited work already underway, including a new sign, a possible community app, and a Council on Aging survey.
Town Manager goals [1:09:54]
Wellman said her previously discussed goals would align with those the Board set and proposed regular check-ins so there are no surprises, including monthly updates to the community. Rose-Gillis suggested quarterly check-ins, and Herrick said she would like the Town Manager evaluation form to align more closely with the established goals. Haley asked about adding a goal related to artificial intelligence, including taking inventory of existing tools and bringing some work in-house. Wellman called the idea interesting, said hiring for it is not possible right now, and suggested assessing its feasibility and potentially making it a duty of a future role.
Watch the August 4, 2026 Select Board meeting on the RCTV Youtube page. Seated (left to right): town staff Maddie Baptiste, Karen Herrick, Board Vice Chair Karen Rose-Gillis, Chris Haley, Sal Bramante, and Town Manager Jayne Wellman. Chair Melissa Murphy attended via Zoom.
