GEORGETOWN – After serving on the town’s Conservation Commission (ConCom) for more than a decade, the SelectBoard declined last week to reappoint the veteran chair Rachel Therrien to the commission. It was the second consecutive ConCom chair that has been removed by the SelectBoard with no explanation. ConCom Chair Chris Candia was not reappointed in 2024. Carl Shreder, who served more than 20 years, said he was pushed off the commission by town officials, including then SelectBoard Chair Amy Smith and Town...

GEORGETOWN – SelectBoard member Mike Donahue is suing at least two and possibly three town residents for calling him a “homophobe,” which he believes cost him the 2023 election to serve on the school board. Donahue ran third in the three-candidate race for a seat on the school committee, losing by about 188 votes. The issue was Donahue’s perceived opposition to displaying the Gay Pride flags in the Georgetown Middle School. He is suing Kimberly Fair for $50,000 in Salem Superior Court for “defaming” him. The...

GEORGETOWN – A simmering feud over the last few weeks at the top of town government has been kicked upstairs to the state Attorney General. The issue is whether Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco exceeded his authority in his abrupt firing of conservation agent Michele Grenier without asking the approval of the SelectBoard. Selectman Mike Donahue filed an Open Meeting Law complaint with the Attorney General when the SelectBoard, headed first by Robert Hoover and last week by Doug Dawes, refused to hold a meeting...

Elevated Disinfection Byproducts at Georgetown Water Department (We periodically re-run this reminder.) GEORGETOWN – Last Fall, residents received a detailed double-sided notice in the mail advising them the water they have been drinking has been “in violation,” on-going, since May 2025. Under the headline of “What should you do?" the letter states: “You can choose to limit the amount of tap water used if you are pregnant, may become pregnant or are giving water to young children. For example, you can use water...

GEORGETOWN – The town’s Conservation Commission (ConCom) is looking for an agent to replace Michele Grenier, who was fired in April in a disputed action by Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco. The ConCom formed a hiring subcommittee to recruit and interview candidates for the conservation agent position before Pacheco, with questionable authority under state and town law, hired John Lopez, a conservation agent for the town of Rockport, as an interim consultant. This month the ConCom met in a special meeting, made...

GEORGETOWN –   Georgetown Selectman Mike Donahue asked what many thought was a simple, reasonable question: What was the process used to fire ConCom Agent Michèle Grenier? He pointed out both on camera and in writing that the process as he could observe, did not involve the SelectBoard, the firing was taken unilaterally by Town Administrator Orlando Pacheo, and that the firing appeared in conflict with both the town's employee handbook and bylaws. He asked for a meeting to review the process. That's when things...