BILLERICA — For the second time in under a year, the Billerica Select Board held a vote on whether to investigate one of its members for alleged wrongdoing, but the measure failed 3-2.

Select Board member Dina Favreau had put forward an agenda item at the end of last Monday’s meeting to censure fellow board member Daniel Darris-O’Connor for statements he made in the public comment period of the Feb. 9 Planning Board meeting about two subjects.

Speaking remotely, Darris-O’Connor first addressed an item on the Planning Board agenda that night about an interim moratorium on battery energy storage systems the Select Board had passed 3-2 the week before. Darris-O’Connor suggested to the Planning Board that the moratorium was written by artificial intelligence like ChatGPT, and said “there wasn’t really a strong need basis or scientific basis for it.”

“It did say at the end it is nonbinding, so it was really like a feel-good resolution,” said Darris-O’Connor to the Planning Board. “I wanted to provide that context as you lead into your discussion today, mainly because these BESS systems are highly regulated at the state level by multiple authorities, and they have the potential to serve great benefits to the residents of Billerica.”

The second topic Darris-O’Connor brought up in that public comment period was the alleged online conduct of Planning Board member Anthony Ventresca.

“It has recently come to my attention that this member has made vile, vile comments to certain classes of people in the town of Billerica and beyond. He has compared Black people to gorillas, he has made completely disparaging remarks to our immigrant neighbors, to people of racial minority groups, to gay people and transgender people,” said Darris-O’Connor. “He threatened to shoot and kill our fellow neighbors for attending an event at our library, and this kind of conduct has absolutely no place in Billerica, especially when we’re trying to bring new investment and businesses into our town.”

Ventresca did not respond to multiple emails, texts and phone calls requesting comment on Darris-O’Connor’s statements Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday. Darris-O’Connor provided The Sun with screenshots of the alleged posts and comments by Ventresca from his personal Facebook account, and his account for his role as a Massachusetts Republican State Committee man. The threats “to shoot neighbors” Darris-O’Connor cited is a reference to a comment Ventresca allegedly made online in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

One screenshot depicts a post shared by Ventresca from June with a drawing of a family holding an umbrella with a Christian cross on it, blocking falling rainbow colors likely representing the LGBTQ+ pride flag. Another screenshot depicted Ventresca sharing a video of different kinds of animals with the faces of different politicians, including former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. President Donald Trump was recently criticized for sharing a part of a similar video on his own social media pages, which many deemed racist.

These posts are not visible on either of Ventresca’s Facebook profiles depicted in the screenshots, which Darris-O’Connor claimed was because they were deleted.

Darris-O’Connor’s comments on both topics Feb. 9 served as the basis for Favreau’s request to investigate him. Favreau said in a Feb. 10 letter to Executive Confidential Assistant to the Select Board Kerri Rufo that Darris-O’Connor “expressly identified himself in his official capacity and used the authority of this elected office to address a matter then pending before the Planning Board.

“In doing so, he presented information that was materially inaccurate and misleading, creating confusion regarding the factual and procedural position of the Select Board’s approval of the BESS Moratorium matter that was under review,” said Favreau’s letter. “Select Board member Darris-O’Connor’s remarks subsequently escalated into a personal attack directed at duly elected Planning Board member Anthony Ventresca, who was notably absent.”

In the Feb. 23 Select Board meeting when the investigation vote was taken, board Chair Jillian Pavidis acknowledged the animosity that has simmered between Darris-O’Connor and Favreau over the last two years, and said she did not believe the Select Board is “the platform to be resolving some of these issues,” though she allowed Favreau’s request on the agenda for the discussion. That meeting was held remotely due to a massive snowstorm hitting the region that day.

Favreau said Darris-O’Connor has “misused his position in several serious ways” since he was elected to the board last spring, including publicly attacking elected town officials, misuse of the town seal, mixing of campaign materials with town documents, unauthorized disclosure of personnel information, falsification of police reports and violations of Office of Campaign and Political Finance policies.

“Collectively these actions constitute a direct violation of the town’s code of conduct, yet no action has been taken,” said Favreau.

Favreau was herself the recipient of a successful censure vote last year after an outside investigation found she had mistreated and verbally abused town employees and other Select Board members.

“There is currently a mentality of ‘rules for thee, but not for me’ happening here, and the code is effectively rendered void because of it,” said Favreau.

She made a motion to call for an outside investigation into Darris-O’Connor, which was seconded by board member Michael Rosa.

“Asking for an investigation is not unprecedented. Obviously we’ve done it across the board with Ms. Favreau, [Select Board member John Burrows] had an investigation against him, and he was exonerated,” said Rosa, also pointing to a request by the police chief in 2020 to open an investigation into himself, Burrows, and former Select Board member Dan Burns for possible violations of the town charter. The request for that investigation was withdrawn by the police chief.

Favreau and Rosa were the only two members to vote in favor of the investigation, meaning the motion failed.

“So, we no longer have a code of conduct then, because if it is not applied uniformly, then it does not apply to anyone,” said Favreau immediately after the vote.

Darris-O’Connor said when he spoke during the Feb. 9 Planning Board meeting, he was utilizing his First Amendment rights.

“I shared the minority opinion of the board, and made it very clear that it was my personal opinion as an individual, and that I routinely avoid going to other board meetings because they all have their own statutorily required responsibilities, and I like to respect that separation of powers,” said Darris-O’Connor, referring to the BESS moratorium. “I thought it was important to share the minority perspective, so I decided to go as a resident and exercise my First Amendment rights.”

On his criticisms of Ventresca, Darris-O’Connor said Ventresca “has the First Amendment right to spread hate,” but that “legally, individuals can take stances on that.”

Burrows called the situation “kind of embarrassing.”

“A lot of people go to a lot of meetings. We see the same four or five individuals go to every meeting and lead and uproar. We see people violate our policies daily,” said Burrows.