Hopkinton Select Board Chair Muriel Kramer has formally applied for appointment to Massachusetts Governor’s Council.

The Governor’s Council, often referred to the Executive Council, consists of eight members elected from districts, alongside the Lieutenant Governor who participates by appointment. These councilors convene weekly, and their responsibilities include offering advice and consent on state treasury warrants, pardons, commutations, and confirming appointments made by the governor. This includes positions such as judges, clerk-magistrates, public administrators, Parole Board members, Appellate Tax Board members, Industrial Accident Board and Industrial Accident Reviewing Board members, notaries, and justices of the peace.

Kramer is a licensed social worker, employed as a Senior Consultant at Health Management Associates in Boston. She has served in an elected capacity on several boards, including twice on the Select Board and also the Planning Board.

Kramer filed her paperwork with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance on January 20, coincidentally on the same day as Sgt. Tim Brennan’s Loudermill hearing. Brennan was terminated by the Select Board on Thursday, February 8 in a 4-1 vote, with Kramer the lone dissenter.

Kramer’s term on the Select Board expires next May. Although she has not made an official announcement about whether she will seek reelection, it seems unlikely given her requested appointment to the Governor’s Council. Meanwhile, a group of concerned residents spent the weekend collecting signatures seeking to recall all members of the Select Board. Reportedly, the group collected more than 2,200 signatures in just six hours.

While a member of the Planning Board, Kramer came under fire from several residents for her work with the Massachusetts Bail Fund, an organization that she served as the Treasurer of. The fund has faced significant backlash for providing financial support to individuals accused of violent offenses, among them a convicted sex offender who faced charges of raping a woman shortly after his release.