Ethics Committee Meeting (minutes)
The Ethics Committee approved April 21, 2026 minutes with corrections (5-0-0) and both Non-Public Session minutes (5-0-0). Members reviewed a revised training presentation, deciding to simplify slides and add an FAQ to the website. Ms. Caravoulias will update the complaint process flow chart for Ms. Stramaglia. The training is scheduled for June 15, 2026, as a workshop prior to the Town Council meeting, requiring approximately 45 minutes. Regarding communications, Ms. Mailloux instructed members to avoid committee-wide email chains to comply with RSA 91-A. The Committee entered Non-Public Session to discuss Complaint 2026-02 (5-0-0) and subsequently voted to seal those minutes (5-0-0). The meeting adjourned at 6:26 PM. Source: https://www.salemnh.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05112026-1725
Ethics Committee May 11, 2026 Town of Salem NH Page 1 1 MINUTES OF THE 2 ETHICS COMMITTEE 3 4 MEETING OF 5 May 11, 2026 6 7 The Ethics Committee held a meeting on Monday, May 11, 2026, at the Salem Town Hall, 33 8 Geremonty Drive, Salem, NH. 9 10 Committee Members Present: Donna Loranger; Marybeth Stramaglia; Anthony Conte, Kevin 11 Breen and Kaitlyn Caravoulias 12 13 Also Present: Assistant Town Manager Colleen Mailloux 14 15 1. Call to Order 16 The meeting was called to order at 4:35 pm. 17 18 2. Approval of Minutes 19 20 MOTION BY: Anthony Conte 21 Move to approve the Ethics Committee minutes of April 21, 2026 with corrections. 22 SECOND BY: Marybeth Stramaglia 23 VOTE: 5-0-0 24 The motion passed. 25 26 MOTION BY: Anthony Conte 27 Move to approve the Non-Public Session #1 minutes of April 21, 2026 as presented. 28 SECOND BY: Donna Loranger 29 VOTE: 5-0-0 30 The motion passed. 31 32 MOTION BY: Anthony Conte 33 Move to approve the Non-Public Session #2 minutes of April 21, 2026 as presented. 34 SECOND BY: Donna Loranger 35 VOTE: 5-0-0 36 The motion passed. 37 38 3. Review of Revised Training Presentation 39 40 A copy of the revised presentation slides was reviewed by members of the Committee. Committee 41 members provided some suggestions for revisions to organization and format. 42 43 Ms. Caravoulias provided comments regarding the distinction between the duty to disclose and 44 when to recuse. Ms. Stramaglia suggested simplifying the slide that explains administrative versus 45 quasi-judicial actions. It was agreed by the committee that an FAQ can be added to the website, 46 for the purposes of training, this should be simplified. Ethics Committee May 11, 2026 Town of Salem NH Page 2 1 The committee discussed the use of influence and the proper channels for communication between 2 elected officials and staff. 3 4 Mr. Breen will circulate an example of training from Massachusetts that includes topics covering 5 modern ethics, electronic communication and social media. Mr. Conte stated that officials do have 6 a first amendment right to express themselves on social media. Committee members discussed 7 providing recommendations for best practices on social media – how to avoid social media traps. 8 9 The committee further discussed presentation slides and edits. Ms. Caravoulias will work on 10 updating the flow chart for the complaint process and will send it directly to Ms. Stramaglia for 11 inclusion in the presentation. 12 13 The committee discussed the slide regarding ethics investigation consequences and suggested 14 changing the heading to “outcomes” and keeping the listed outcomes as they cover the breadth of 15 what findings could be made, ranging from no-finding to a recommendation for dismissal. The 16 Committee would like the slide to clarify that the Committee makes a recommendation to the Town 17 Council, the Council makes the final decision. 18 19 Ms. Mailloux indicated that the June 1 Town Council agenda is lengthy, so the Town Manager’s 20 office is recommending that the training be held on June 15. The training will be held as a 21 workshop prior to the meeting. The Committee indicated that it will need approximately 45 22 minutes for the training. 23 24 Mr. Breen will provide his examples of ethics requirements from Massachusetts to the committee. 25 Ms. Caravoulias will forward her recommendations and draft edits to Ms. Stramaglia. It was noted 26 that Committee members should not have back and forth communication via email, as that may 27 constitute a meeting under RSA 91-A. Ms. Mailloux suggested that slide materials can be 28 submitted directly to Ms. Stramaglia, with Ms. Mailloux CC’d. Email sent to the entire committee 29 should not be responded to as “reply all”, but if members have specific comments or questions, 30 they can be directed to Ms. Mailloux. 31 32 4. Non-Public Session – Complaint 2026-02 33 34 MOTION BY: Anthony Conte (5:55 PM) 35 Move to enter non-public session under RSA 91-A:3, II (c) 36 SECOND BY: Marybeth Stramaglia 37 Roll Call Vote: 38 Kevin Breen – Yes 39 Anthony Conte – Yes 40 Marybeth Stramaglia – Yes 41 Donna Loranger – Yes 42 Kaitlyn Caravoulias - Yes 43 VOTE: 5-0-0 44 The motion passed unanimously. 45 46 MOTION BY: Anthony Conte (6:25 PM) Ethics Committee May 11, 2026 Town of Salem NH Page 3 1 Move to leave non-public session and return to public session. 2 SECOND BY: Marybeth Stramaglia 3 VOTE: 5-0-0 4 The motion passed unanimously. 5 6 MOTION BY: Anthony Conte 7 To seal the minutes of the non-public session because it is determined that divulgence of this 8 information likely would adversely affect the reputation of any person other than a member of 9 this board. 10 SECOND BY: Kaitlyn Caravoulias 11 Roll Call Vote: 12 Kevin Breen – Yes 13 Anthony Conte – Yes 14 Marybeth Stramaglia – Yes 15 Donna Loranger – Yes 16 Kaitlyn Caravoulias - Yes 17 VOTE: 5-0-0 18 The motion passed unanimously. 19 20 During the non-public session, the Committee discussed the process for complaint 2026-02. 21 22 6. Date for next meeting 23 The Committee will provide training on June 15 at the Town Council meeting. 24 25 7. Adjourn 26 27 MOTION BY: Anthony Conte 28 Move to adjourn at 6:26 PM. 29 SECOND BY: Kaitlyn Caravoulias 30 VOTE: 5-0-0 31 The motion passed unanimously. 32 33 ADJOURNMENT AT 5:37 PM 34 35 36 Notes/minutes taken by: Colleen Mailloux 37 38 Approved: Ethics Committee 39 40 Date Approved: September 15, 2026