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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-02-06 Appointment Committee -Finance Committee MinutesR Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Appointment Committee - Finance Committee Date: 2014 -02 -06 Building: Reading Town Hall Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: Interview applicants Attendees: Members - Present: Time: 7:00 PM «ECEIVED FOWN CLERK DING, MASS. 1014 FEB I I A It 56 Location: Conference Room Town Moderator Alan Foulds, Finance Committee Chairman Barry Berman, Selectman Marsie West Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Robert LeLacheur Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: The meeting convened at 7:00 pm in the Conference Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Committee members Alan Foulds (Moderator), Barry Berman (FINCOM Chair) and Marsie West filling in for James Bonazoli (Selectmen Chair) as well as Town Manager Bob LeLacheur and applicants listed below. Mr. Foulds called the Appointment Committee to order at 7:00 p.m. Eight applicants asked to be considered for the two partial FINCOM terms available. Charles Ehl could not attend the meeting but sent in an application and letter. Mr. Berman spoke highly of his candidacy from his experience with Mr. Ehl in Reading Youth Baseball. As Commissioner, Mr. Ehl was excellent working with people. Cory Fox mentioned that he grew up in Westwood and had been in Reading for five years. Currently he is an attorney in Newton, and has experience in the MA Treasurer's Office. Ms. West asked why he is interested in FINCOM, and Mr. Fox said he learned of the opportunity through the website, and he was available and interested. Mr. Berman asked what the biggest issues Reading faced were, and Mr. Fox replied that the downtown development of vacant buildings, school system, low crime rate and library project were all priorities. Mr. Foulds, asked if he saw anything he would do differently, and Mr. Fox said no, but he was generally unfamiliar with the local government and decision making, that's why he wanted to become involved. Mr. Foulds asked if he would take a FINCOM leadership role in a few years, and Mr. Fox replied that he would, he has spoken in front of folks often. Mr. Berman asked if he were a Town Meeting member, and Mr. Fox said he was not. Mr. Foulds asked if he had any known conflicts, and Mr. Fox said he did not. Page 1 1 Finance Committee Appointment Committee Minutes — February 6, 2014 — nacre 2 Sherilyn Friedman said that she has been a CPA for five years, and an Auditor of non - profit clients. She has lived in Reading for two years, and she is looking to get involved outside of her work. She has two children that will soon be in the public schools system. Mr. Berman asked her what issues currently face the Town, and she replied that she likes the recent downtown improvements, and she is aware of the upcoming discussion about the Library building project. Mr. Foulds asked what it is that the Town does right, and Ms. Freidman said she very much liked the sense of community, likes her neighborhood and is already very proud to live here. Ms. West asked if there were any other Committee openings that interested her, and she replied that the FINCOM meeting schedule was very convenient for her. Ms. West asked if she were comfortable with disagreement, and she replied that as an Auditor she was quite experienced in being polite but firm when she disagreed. Mr. Foulds asked if she were a Town Meeting member (no) and if she would be comfortable speaking in front of Town Meeting (yes). Mr. Berman asked if she had a hard time saying `No', and she replied that she did not, depending on the circumstance. Mr. Foulds asked if she would be willing to take a future leadership role on the Committee (yes) and if she had any known conflicts (no). David Heron has spent about forty years in I /T, specifically in financial application systems. As a result he needed to learn the financial jobs in order to translate that into building financial systems, especially years ago when the technology was very basic.. Currently he volunteers doing taxes and is on the Board of Directors of his Condo Association. As such he is responsible for doing five year forecasts and setting condo fees. Ms. West asked why he was interested in FINCOM, and he replied that it combines his interest in community and finance. He enjoys his condo involvement as directing a decision is helpful for everyone. Mr. Berman asked that in his ten years in Reading what are the big issues, and Mr. Heron responded that he wasn't sure and that is why he wanted to get involved. Mr. Foulds asked if he were a Town Meeting member (no), and wondered what we do right as a town. Mr. Heron said we had good schools, and he wasn't concerned about any specific issue. He was aware of the Library building project and that a lot of thought goes into decisions that the Town makes. Mr. Berman asked if he had any questions, and he did not. Mr. Foulds asked if he had any known conflicts (no), if he would speak in front of a crowd (not happily, but yes) and he would take a leadership role (not sure as he was getting older). Mr. Heron asked if there was a lot of preparation work for this position, and Mr. Berman replied that depends on the liaison assignments and interest of each member. Peter Lydecker said that he has been a resident since 1982 and retired since 2009. Currently as a CPA he does some tax work, and has a mutual fund background, and he handed out additional personal information. Ms. West asked if his wife as a Joshua Eaton teacher would pose a conflict, and Mr. LeLacheur said that it would not, with the proper disclosure. Mr. Berman asked what the biggest issues facing the Town were, and what our greatest strengths and weaknesses are, and he replied that the annual budget pressures were the biggest challenge, along with the constant juggling of priorities given the limited revenues. He said the Library building project was also a big challenge. The strengths include the sense of community, the small town feel and the good school system. Mr. Foulds asked what should be done differently, and he replied there was nothing significant he would change. Mr. Berman asked if he were a Town Meeting member (no). Mr. Foulds asked if he would be comfortable in front of Town Meeting (yes, he has done presentations) and take a leadership role (maybe, wait and see). Ms. West asked if he had any questions (what is their view of FINCOM's role). Mr. Berman responded that they are advisory to Town Meeting on all financial issues. The Town was required to present a balanced budget, and then needed to further balance the needs of the schools and town departments. Page 1 2 Finance Committee Appointment Committee Minutes — February 6 2014 — page _3 Craig Merry gave a brief background, and Mr. Berman asked why he was interested in FINCOM, Mr. Merry has only lived in Reading for one year, but moved back as he grew up and lived here 25 years ago. He stated he was very glad to be back, having moved from Wakefield and North Andover. He said he thought he had some things to offer as a volunteer, and would enjoy contributing to the Town. Mr. Foulds asked why FINCOM, and he replied that his financial background was the reason. Mr. Foulds asked if he were a Town Meeting member (no) and asked what the Town does right. Mr. Merry replied that the strong school system and the people and their community spirit were very good. Mr. Berman asked what the major issues in Town were, and Mr. Merry said he was just going to ask them, but he thought balancing the budget each year must be. He described his background at MA Housing, from putting together all the financial reports to issuing debt for single family first time buyers and multi - family developers. Mr. Berman asked if that would pose a conflict, and he replied that if it did he knew about disclosure rules, and that only one Reading property came in front of MA Housing many years ago as far as he knew. Mr. Foulds asked if he would be comfortable speaking in front of Town Meeting (not a strong preference but yes). Ms. West asked if he had any questions, and Mr. Merry proceeded to ask several, including what the Town's Audit looked like, if there were any findings, what the job description of FINCOM was, and if there was personal liability for members. Mr. LeLacheur answered all of his questions, assisted by the rest of the Committee. Ms. West asked if he would be willing to bring up strong opinions he held (yes) and Mr. Berman asked if minded the need to say `No' (he did not). Mr. Merry proceeded to ask each person about their background and why they were in their positions here tonight. Marc Moll described his twenty years of strong financial experience in public accounting, budgeting and making financial projections. Mr. Berman asked if in his five years in Reading what the biggest issues were (nothing significant), if he were a Town Meeting member (no) and what the strengths of the Town were (Schools). Mr. Foulds asked if he would change anything, and he replied that the transparency needed improvement as it was difficult to figure out how to get involved. Mr. Foulds asked about speaking at Town Meeting (fine, he did lots of presentations) and interest in a future FINCOM leadership role (yes). Mr. Roll asked about the time commitment, and Mr. Berman described the meeting schedule and liaison assignments. Kellen Scarpito said that he has lived in Reading for all of his 23 years, as his parents both work for the Schools. Mr. Berman asked what the biggest challenge in Town was, and he replied funding the schools was always difficult. He wondered if FINCOM had a role in bringing businesses to town, and Mr. Berman replied that the Economic Development Committee worked in that area. Mr. Scarpito also mentioned the challenge of infrastructure and road improvements. Mr. Foulds asked what the Town does right, and he replied the school system was very strong, and the Town had very good people here, they were affluent and had a low crime rate. Mr. Foulds asked if he were a Town Meeting member (no). Ms. West asked about confronting others that had differing views, and he replied that he was fine with that, as currently his job was to support portfolio managers, which didn't \rnean he always agreed with them. Mr. Foulds asked about addressing Town Meeting (fine). Mr. Berman asked if he had any questions, and he wondered about liability (Mr. LeLacheur replied) and why there were two vacancies (one work situation and another was a School Committee appointment). Mr. Foulds said that he would ask for a motion to place every candidate as nominated for both terms available, and they would first vote on the longer term followed by the shorter term. Members described their views on each candidate and how strong the entire pool of applicants Page 1 3 Finance Committee Appointment Committee Minutes — February 6, 2014 — page 4 was. This will make the replacement of two FINCOM members tonight plus two more hitting term limits next June easier. On motion by Mr. Berman seconded by Ms. West the following names were nominated for a term expiring June 30, 2016, with the votes received noted: Charles Ehl, Cory Fox, Sherilyn Friedman, David Heron, Peter Lydecker, Craig Merry (all three votes cast), Marc Moll and Kellen Scarpito. Craig Merry was therefore selected. On motion by Mr. Berman seconded by Ms. West the following names were nominated for a term expiring June 30, 2015, with the votes received noted: Charles Ehl, Cory Fox, Sherilyn Friedman, David Heron, Peter Lydecker (all three votes cast), Marc Moll and Kellen Scarpito. Peter Lydecker was therefore selected. On a motion by Ms. West seconded by Mr. Berman, the FINCOM Appointment Committee voted 3 -0 -0 to adjourn at 9:45pm. Respectfully submitted, Secreta ry V Page 1 4