Lincoln Select Board votes 3-0 to oppose petition shifting Finance Committee appointments

LINCOLN -- June 16, 2025, Lincoln Select Board opposes citizens' petition shifting Finance Committee appointments to itself. The 3-0 vote against Article 5, filed by resident Bob Domnitz with 130 signatures, came as members Jennifer Glass, Kim Bodnar and Jim Hutchinson said moving appointing authority from the moderator to the board would create a conflict of interest. Hutchinson, a former Finance Committee chair, said: "If I'm appointing the people that are approving my budget, how are they going to feel about their chances of getting reappointed if they say no to my budget?" Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden told the board she is "completely open" to advertising vacancies and public interviews; two residents disputed that, saying recent requests for an open process were refused. The board also voted 3-0 to support a $2.3 million stabilization transfer to close a community center bid overrun and 3-0 to adopt a municipal decarbonization roadmap, zero-emission-vehicle-first policy, and a 2050 net-zero statement of intent for the state Climate Leader Communities application.