David Mills To Guide Danvers Select Board As New Chair

DANVERS, MA — David Mills, who was re-elected to the Danvers Select Board in 2022 and has been a strong proponent for the Human Rights and Inclusion Committee in town, was elected as the new Chair of the Board during Tuesday night's meeting.

Mills won a 3-2 vote of the Board with Board member Maureen Bernard receiving the other two votes.

"If elected, I just want to say that I believe so strongly in the principle of principles over personalities," Mills said before the vote. "And that, always, the best interests of all of the people in the town of Danvers are the business of this board."

Mills succeeds Select Board member Daniel Bennett, who voted in favor of Mills as the new Chair, along with Select Board member Gardner Trask, who nominated Mills.

Bernard accepted her nomination from Board member Matthew Duggan and said she sought the chance to bring some new perspectives to guiding the Board's meetings.

"I think sometimes that not being a senior Board member, but having some new ideas, I think is very appropriate to lead this Board into a new generation of welcoming people, having people come to the meetings who have any questions, ideas, any concerns," she said.

Bernard recently ran unopposed to retain her seat on the Board. She later congratulated Mills on his selection as Chair.

"One of the reasons I did want to be the Chair of this Board was because I want good leadership," she said."I think we will have it. The biggest thing I want is that we are to respect each other, to learn from each other, and to help each other, and most importantly to do the best for all the residents of the town."

Mills is a St. John's Prep alumnus is a retired lawyer who spent 11 years as an associate justice on the Massachusetts Appeals Court. He grew up in Danvers and went on to Boston College undergraduate and law school before embarking on a 54-year career in the law.

Mills has served as a Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney, Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General, Board Chair and Trustee at Essex Aggie, Danvers town moderator, Massachusetts State Ethics Commissioner, and as of 2022 was the commissioner of the Commission to investigate and report the health and safety of LGBTQ persons in state and county custody.

He told Patch in 2022 that his election bid would "probably be my last campaign" for public office.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)