Concord Select Board Unanimously Declines to Alter IHRA Antisemitism Proclamation

CONCORD — April 13, 2026 — Concord Select Board takes no action on IHRA antisemitism proclamation, seats MCI master plan committee. After each member offered individual statements and 14 public speakers addressed the board, all five members — Chair Mark Howell, Clerk Wendy Rovelli, and members Paul Boehm, Mary Hartman, and Cameron McKennitt — agreed Monday to leave unchanged their January 27 proclamation referencing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, which had drawn more than 840 emails to the chair. The board also voted 4-0 (McKennitt abstaining) to approve the charge for the MCI Concord Master Plan Committee, then unanimously nominated six residents to the panel: John Boynton, Aaron Cusker, Dan Gainsborough, Matt Johnson, Sven Weber, and Burton Flint. Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Barrett reported total ARPA spending of $3.15 million against a $5.65 million award, with a $17.509 million May bond issue pending a Moody's rating call the following week. The board unanimously approved five public art projects, including provisional approval for a $30,000 mural in the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail Powder Mill Road underpass, and granted provisional approval for the Black Heritage Trail Markers project, which proposes 8 to 10 interpretive signs along the existing trail funded by a $20,000 Mott Destination Capital Grant.