Somerville Planning Board Faces Transparency Concerns Over Executive Session

During the latest Somerville Planning Board meeting, concerns were raised by a resident regarding the transparency of the board’s decision to enter into an executive session to discuss professional service contracts.

The meeting, initially scheduled for August 28th, had been canceled and rescheduled multiple times, causing confusion.

In addition to these transparency issues, the board also dealt with changes in its leadership. Deirdre Rosinski, the former vice chair, resigned after a long tenure, and Bernard Navatto, the chair, temporarily stepped down due to personal issues. The board voted to appoint Lisa Werner as the temporary chair and Jason Kraska as the temporary vice chair to ensure the board’s continued functionality.

The public comments section was closed after Foso’s statements, and the board proceeded to enter the executive session despite the objections raised. The session was intended to discuss the professional service contracts, although specific details were not disclosed to the public.

Note: This meeting summary was generated by AI, which can occasionally misspell names, misattribute actions, and state inaccuracies. This summary is intended to be a starting point and you should review the meeting record linked above before acting on anything you read. If we got something wrong, let us know. We’re working every day to improve our process in pursuit of universal local government transparency.

Mayor:
Brian Gallagher
Planning Board Officials:
Bernard Navatto, Laurence Cleveland (Environmental Commission), Roger Vroom (Council member), Deirdre Rosinski, Lisa Werner, Al Kerestes, Andrea Adair, Jason Kraska, Christopher Adickes (Alternate #1), Arthur Akins (Alternate #2), Jenna LaRusso (Planning and Zoning Board Secretary), Kara Kaczynski (Board Attorney), Michael Cole (Board Planner and Engineer).

Somerville Planning Board Faces Transparency Concerns Over Executive Session

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