(This version of the story has been edited to correct a factual error about a unanimous June 2025 vote on appointments taken by the Select Board. Minutes show David Golden left the meeting just prior to the vote. The Independent regrets the error.)
A move to oust Select Board member Bill Keohan from his longtime role on the Community Preservation Committee failed this week by a 3-2 vote of the board, but not before more conflict-of-interest allegations were tossed around.
Keohan later suggested the unsuccessful attempt was retaliation for his vocal opposition to another vote last week advancing a housing project put forth by a well-connected developer who once pleaded guilty in a bribery corruption scheme.
Select Board Chair Deb Iaquinto and member David Golden on Tuesday tried to remove Keohan because he also sits as chair of the Affordable Housing Trust. They said holding both roles constitutes a conflict of interest. Instead, they said Golden should take his spot.
No such conflict was raised a year ago when the same board – with the same members – appointed him to both posts.
Keohan is the Select Board’s representative on the CPC. He was chair of the committee since its inception in 2002 until two years ago – prior to his election to the Select Board. He was ousted by the Select Board then after what he characterized as his efforts to keep the committee independent of town politics when awarding grants. At the time, board members indicated they wanted the committee to spend more on affordable housing.
The Community Preservation Committee makes recommendations to Town Meeting on how to spend approximately $4 million raised each year from a 1.5% surcharge on property taxes. The grants must fund historic preservation, open space and recreation, or affordable housing.
The CPC does not decide on funding priorities, but vets grants as they come in and makes recommendations. Town Meeting alone decides which projects to fund.
In 2025, a year after he was booted off the committee, Keohan was elected to the Select Board, and the board then reappointed him to the committee as its representative. At the same meeting, he was appointed to the Affordable Housing Trust. Both votes were unanimous, although Golden left the meeting just before the vote.
This week, Iaquinto and Golden said Keohan has a conflict of interest since as chair of the Affordable Housing Trust he might apply to the CPC for grants.
Board members Kevin Canty and Dick Quintal came to Keohan’s defense, and the effort to remove him from the CPC and replace him with Golden failed by a vote of 3-2.
Iaquinto told the Independent her concerns about Keohan serving on both the CPC and the Affordable Housing Trust had nothing to do with him personally. She said town staff had brought their concerns to her about keeping the two committees independent.
“It’s just the perception that there is less independence than we would like to see between two boards that take taxpayer money and make decisions about financing projects,” she said.
Iaquinto said the question of Keohan’s conflict of interest still needs to be addressed.
“My only concern was to have some sort of independence for each of those committees and have some sort of a firewall between the two committees as one is applying for funds from the other,” she said.
Canty said he does not understand that rationale. He pointed out that as the board’s appointee to the Affordable Housing Trust and the CPC, Keohan is advancing the town’s interests on each committee.
“The belief that a firewall, as it’s being called, needs to be in place is misplaced,” he said.
Keohan said he has since consulted with the state Ethics Commission, which told him it can find no conflict. He also wonders about the timing of the effort to remove him from the Community Preservation Committee.
“Interestingly, it’s coming on the heels of interest around Hedges Pond Road and Landers Farm Road,” Keohan said.
Last week, Keohan and Dick Quintal voted against a proposal supported by Iaquinto, Golden, and Canty to allow the sale of 138 acres in Cedarville to Matt Sheridan, a developer who is Golden and Canty’s friend and Golden’s campaign manager for his run for state representative. Sheridan was also Canty’s campaign manager in his recent run for re-election. Sheridan years ago pleaded guilty to his role in a bribery corruption scheme involving a state transportation official.
Despite the conflict, Golden and Canty refused to recuse themselves from the vote. They said since they filed the legally required disclosure forms about their relationship to Sheridan, they are free to vote on their campaign manager’s project.
Keohan argued they should have recused themselves. This week, he tried unsuccessfully to have the board revisit the vote.
“I wouldn’t be bullied,” he said.
Iaquinto said every year, the Select Board reviews all its members’ appointments to town committees.
“It’s not an automatic renewal of the role each year,” she said. She said she spoke privately with each Select Board member last week about their assignments and asked them if they wanted a change.
“David has expressed interest in the CPC,” she said. “Everything is always up for grabs. I wouldn’t look at it as a challenge. It was just two people that were interested in the same role.”
Golden did not respond to a request for comment.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org