Conflict of interest concerns swirl around Route 30 project

With the Route 30 project approaching 75% design status, concerns about a potential conflict of interest between a Traffic and Sidewalk Committee member and the Route 30 project rekindled in March.

Several residents have called for Rebecca Mercuri, a South Avenue resident appointed to the Traffic and Sidewalk Committee in September 2025, to recuse herself from the project, as her property abuts a small portion of the town-wide road reconstruction proposal.

“It’s 200 feet over the course of 3.7 miles. A drop in the bucket at the end of the day,” Mercuri said in a recent interview. She added she has taken the Ethics Commission’s training and has used the agency’s confidential advice service, but is still working through “several issues and variables.”

The estimated $18 million state project, which received voter approval for design funds at the 2018 and 2024 annual Town Meetings, is a full reconstruction of Route 30 from the Natick town line to the intersection of Cutters Bluff Road that will resurface and widen the road, create a shared-use path, improve pedestrian crossings, update drainage and make connections to other sidewalks and paths along the route.

“Whatever I do is going to be in the best interest of the town,” Mercuri said. “That is my top priority; I’m not going to compromise my integrity on this.”

The Traffic and Sidewalk Committee is an advisory board, meaning it votes to send recommendations to the Select Board, rather than making decisions outright.

Massachusetts’ conflict of interest law generally prohibits public employees – the statute considers elected and appointed municipal board members to be employees – from participating in matters affecting abutting or nearby property, as the state presumes a property owner has a financial interest in the matter.

Participation is defined as “approval, disapproval, decision, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation or otherwise.”

“Thus, a public employee participates not only when he makes a final decision or vote on a matter, but also when he discusses the merits of a matter with a colleague or makes a ‘non-binding’ recommendation,” according to the Ethics Commission’s website.

“What you see there is a starting point, a number of opportunities and variables, where some of those things can be remediated or rebutted, and those are the things I’m working through,” Mercuri said.

The Ethics Commission does not comment on potential conflicts of interest.

There are several exemptions to the law. First, a presumed financial interest can be rebutted by an independent real estate appraisal if the appraiser determines the municipal employee’s property value would not be affected by the matter in question.

Second, and open to only appointed officials, a municipal employee can file a written disclosure to their appointing authority describing their financial interest in the matter. If the appointing authority – in Mercuri’s case, the Select Board – issues a written determination concluding that the financial interest is not so significant as to affect the integrity of the employee’s participation, then they may participate, according to the Ethics Commission.

Concerns about a potential conflict of interest were raised at the March 11 Traffic and Sidewalk Committee meeting, where a fellow committee member stated he would like to see the situation resolved.

“I want to commend Rebecca for all her great work since she joined our committee last year, but I also wanted to remind members when the Select Board voted to appoint Rebecca, there were questions raised,” James Doyle said. “We have a series of important Route 30 meetings fast approaching this spring … I think the issue needs to be resolved before we get into the details of the project and take a vote.”

Several others, including Jonathan Buchman, a Weston resident and the developer behind 518 South Ave., called for Mercuri to recuse herself fully from the project.

“I just think it’s inappropriate and it is going to become an ethics violation for her to participate,” Buchman said. “To keep things above board, I think it would be the right thing for her to recuse herself until you get advice from the Ethics Commission on if she is allowed to or not participate.”

Mercuri stated then she does not intend to recuse herself “at this point,” citing the “very small portion” of the project that touches her property.

Concerns about Mercuri’s proximity to the Route 30 project were raised during the Select Board’s interview and appointment process last year.

“I have looked at the conflict of interest law, and I personally don’t believe there’s a conflict there,” Mercuri said in her Aug. 26 interview with the Select Board. “It’s a long project from one end of Weston to the other, and just because I happen to live on the road doesn’t mean I don’t look at the full scope of the project.”

Mercuri was appointed to the board in a 2-1 decision on Sept. 9, with Tom Palmer casting the dissenting vote.

“I just don’t see how you can put her on a committee that she’d have to recuse herself on all those agenda items related to that project,” Palmer said.

“I think there’s five members on the committee, and if one person is unable to vote on an agenda item, I don’t think that should preclude them from being on the committee,” replied Select Board Chair Lise Revers. “If she has to recuse herself over the Route 30 project, that doesn’t bother me at all.”

Mercuri has been outspoken about the Route 30 project over the last several years, and has written several letters to the town, the Weston Owl and the state opposing aspects of the project. A May 2025 letter, also signed by Revers, Select Board member John McDonald and several dozen others, urged the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization to withhold funding from the project until a “safe and environmentally sound option for bicycles in the corridor” was addressed.

She said she is concerned about cyclist safety on the trail, and opposing points of view help create the best project for every stakeholder.

“People have differing points of view on this, and the differing points of view are not a conflict of interest,” Mercuri said. “We may have different points of view, but all of that adds to making a better project.”