Select Board Picks McCaskill Over Borgia for Trust Seat
Select Board · Meeting of September 21, 2026
Harwich Select Board reappoints McCaskill to Affordable Housing Trust in a 3-2 roll call over rival candidate Kim Borgia. Board members Doucette and Jeff Handler backed Michael McCaskill; Mark Kelleher and Don Howell backed Borgia, HECH's executive director; the board chair broke the tie. McCaskill said the trust's balance has grown to roughly $925,000 and that Harwich is near "9.3 percent of the 10 percent" threshold for 40B Safe Harbor status.
Howell pressed McCaskill on "lashing out at individuals at meetings," and McCaskill pledged to keep working on it. Separately, the board unanimously suspended its nepotism-hiring policy so Town Administrator McGrail could appoint Keith Hutchinson as building inspector and elevate Paul Deaton to acting building commissioner. Harwichport resident John Hodgkins told the board the Cemetery Commission is replacing a "50-year" six-foot fence at Mount Pleasant Cemetery with a two-foot rail fence after "an unannounced survey crew appeared in our backyards."
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 3,949 words
Source: the Select Board meeting of September 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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