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Lunenburg Trust Fund Commission
Bilotta Meeting Room /PACC
Lunenburg Town Hall
June 26, 2025
Present: John Bowen and Richard Howard (elected Members), Assistant Town Clerk 
Ellen Griffin. 
Agenda
1. Call to Order
 The meeting opened at 5:30 PM.
2 . Public Comment
Member John Bowen made a statement expressing his concerns with the legal 
process regarding the submission of the agenda by the town clerk specifically noting the
separation of powers , whereby the town c lerk ’s office  upon direction from the town 
manager,  imposed upon these elected persons  to this commission  an agenda  they 
created, conjoined together , for the reason that it “may ” be in violation of the Open 
meeting law without no legal clarity  except to cite MGLA Ch. 30a sec. 20(a)  which is 
referencing emergency submissions of agendas notating the law that 48 hours ’ notice 
must be given and done by the “chair ” of the board, as well as stating  that this was 
“customarily ” how things were always done in town. This was over the  objection  of 
Member  J ohn Bowen  because the  elected members John Bowen and Richard Howard 
agreed upon an agenda and submitted that agenda within 48 hours of a meeting of the 
Trust Funds Commission for organizing the board and other matters.  Mr.  Bowen made 
clear the town clerk is not subject to the open meeting law and therefore cannot 
convene a meeting of any board or commission which has  already been created by 
charter and in statute  and  this process should never occur, which clearly is a violation of 
the separation of powers and not within the scope of the power and duties of a town 
clerk let alone a town manger by statute.  Mr.  Bowe n  stated the town manager ignored 
him when he informed her he spoke with the Office of Open Government  and clarified 
that his position is correct and that the Meeting Agenda requirement of 48 hours is the 
only parameter to be met under the open meeting law and the specific use of the word 
“chair ” in the statute, which was a misapplied statute by the town manager, is an open 
statement and not one that primarily singles out it must be  the chair to act when a board
has no chair, the law of common sense applies.  Clearly the town clerk and the town 
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manager hasn ’t the authority to convene board meetings  and the only parameter for the 
person who is required to file a submission of an agenda , in  this   instance , is only by a 
member of the board or in absence of members the elected persons to said board . It is 
not for the executive branch to exercise the powers of the Legislative branch and above 
all the administrative branch clearly has no authority except that which is allowed by the 
legislative branch.
3. Review and Approve Minutes
There were no Minutes to review and approve as this is the first meeting of this 
formed commission.
4. New Business
a . Organization
Asst Town Clerk Ellen Griffen initiated the organizational activities of the 
Commission as both Mr. Bowen and Mr. Howard are new members of the Commission.
Mr. Howard made a motion to nominate Mr. Bowen as Chairman of the Trust 
Fund Commission.  Mot ion passed unanimously.
Mr. Bowen made a motion to nominate Mr. Howard as Vice-Chairman of the 
Trust Fund Commission.  Motion passed unanimously.
b . Scheduled Meetings
 Chairman  Bowen and Mr.  Howard discussed the schedule for future meetings.  
Mr. Howard proposed that every other Thursday from  5:00PM-6:30PM be our default 
meeting time.  So agreed by both members .  Next meeting scheduled for Thursday July 
10, 2025.
c. Action items for next meeting
There were no specific items to address in advance of our next meeting.  
Chairman Bowen advised that a relatively new MGL 203( c) ( Massachusetts Prudent 
Investor Act. ) went into effect and this is something that the Trust Fund Commission 
needs to be cognizant of and make sure that the provisions are followed as there has 
not been a consistent focus on the oversight of these funds the past few years by the 
Commission.
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5 . Public Comment
 There were no comments from the public.
6 . Adjourn
 There was a motion to adjourn by Vice Chairman  Mr. Howard , seconded by 
Chairman  Bow e n . It was unanimously voted. The meeting was adjourned  at 6:1 0  PM