Braintree Called On To Be A Model Town At Swearing In Ceremony

BRAINTREE, MA — As Braintree starts its second decade under the mayor-council form of government, Mayor Joseph Sullivan has civility on his mind.

That was the main theme of Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony for the town council, school committee, library trustees, electric light board, and housing authority. Noting the dysfunction on the federal level, Sullivan said civility needs to be on the forefront of the minds of elected officials.

“The tweeting, the vitriol, the one-upmanship is not productive and should not be tolerated. It’s not an example of how government should work,” Sullivan said. “If we conduct ourselves in a way that makes our community proud, we will become a model community.”

Sullivan showed optimism in the elected officials who were sworn in. The event saw some new faces and others in new positions. On the town council, Thomas Whalen was sworn in as the new District 2 councilor and Timothy Carey now represents District 6. David Ringius moved from the school committee to the District 5 council seat. The rest of the council also took part in the swearing-in ceremony.

The three new faces represents the largest turnover the council’s first 10 years.

The school committee welcomed longtime school volunteer and advocate Jen Dolan. Incumbents Cyril Chafe and George Kokoros were also sworn in.

Other officials sworn in included Annette McLaughlin and Margaret Ann Morton of the board of library trustees and James Regan and Thomas Reynolds of the electric light board.

Following the ceremony, Councilor Charles Ryan was named the council president and Council Charles Kokoros was named the vice-president.

Image Credit: Dan Libon