09/20/2022 MASHPEE INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY COMMITTEE Minutes

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Nashpee IncCusion and Diversity Committee ..__... _. .............................. �www ........... _ 16 Great Neck Road North Mashyee, LAI-A 02649 and that was the only other experience where any of them were down to 4 members. Optics were bad, they didn't know what to do. Previously, Mr. Gottlieb asked Mr. Weeden if he was interested in being Chair, and he said no. When Mr. Gottlieb resigned, his assumption was Mr. Weeden did not want the Chair position. This was not a previous discussion any of them were having. When it all happened, this is the part where he was offended. On social media, it took on a life of its own and went a little wild. There are a lot of media groups in Mashpee. It seems if you don't like one, you create your own. A lot of people chimed in and made accusations and assumptions of what transpired. He was nominated as Chair the previous year, that being said Mr. O'Hara thought he was a good Chair and nominated him, he did not know what to do. Mr. Weeden also nominated Mr. Cotton as Chair, it was unanimous. Then Mr. Weeden stayed as Vice Chair and that was it. A couple days following, social media started building up that it was a conspiracy and accusations of racism and other words were used, and he takes that to heart. He was offended. If you knew him and his friends, he is the furthest from a racist. He doesn't care about race, color, creed, it had nothing to do with it. He was appointed and then he was attacked on social media and via emails. He stayed quiet but he did take it as a learning moment. Mr. Gottlieb was the Chair and he was very opinionated and a strong minded board member. They didn't agree on a lot of things but he was one of the closest people to Mr. Gottlieb and they discussed everything. He loves a diverse board, he doesn't want 'yes people' or all five members with the same opinion. With that being said, all he wants is what he thinks is best for Mashpee, every decision he makes, if you watched the last meeting, they talked about environmental questions and specifically basements and platforms with flood vents. He was put in the same bracket as going against these items, if you were to look back at the minutes that is simply untrue. He voted against withdrawing it from the Warrant. (2-2) Knowing that wouldn't pass, his compromise was to get 90% of Mr. Lehrer's article passed by pulling two parts of the article. On social media he was looped into being against the environment. He would love to respond, but he is busy, and if he does it once the second he stops responding he would be considered off hiding. He is a Boy Scout leader, he can't even attend every meeting. He is a Red Cross responder, he was in Texas with refugees, and to make insinuations about his character, he will not say but it hurts. He does appreciate the opportunity to talk about it, he does understand the optics, and how it made Mr. Weeden feel. There was no pre-conceived meeting or discussions prior. He offered Mr. Weeden every personal bit of data he had, his email and his cell phone, to prove none of that took place. Social media is a growing platform and people read it and think it's automatically true. If you believe everything you read you will be in trouble. 6