Select Board revises draft code of conduct

Select Board · Meeting of September 23, 2026

ORLEANS — The Orleans Select Board spent its work session reworking a draft code of conduct without taking a vote. Chair Mefford Runyon, Vice Chair Michael Herman, Clerk Mark Mathison, and members Kevin Galligan and Mary Wright reviewed a compiled draft pulling language from Plymouth, Carver, the Finance Committee and MIIA. Wright said the code shouldn't govern "how the public was supposed to behave," prompting the board to move public-facing language into a separate procedure section.

The board changed the purpose clause's "expects" to "request" to avoid implying a mandate, and agreed complaints against members should go in writing to the town manager's office rather than to committee chairs. Town Manager Kim Newman said staff liaisons should continue handling requests "for a reason." The board left unresolved how complaints against roughly 24 boards that don't report through the town manager would be handled, and scheduled another workshop for next week.

In the full story:

• Call to Order and Attendance
• Purpose and Applicability
• Core Principles and General Conduct
• Conduct in Relation to Fellow Members
• Conduct in Relation to the Town Manager and Staff
• Public Meetings and Procedure
• Compliance and Complaint Procedures
• Unaddressed Agenda Items and Scheduling
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,601 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of September 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.