HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-05-01 Volunteer Appointment Committee Town of Reading
k Meeting Minutes RECEIVED
TOWN CLERK
READING, MA.
Board - committee - Commission - Council: 2019 MAY 23 AM 8: 39 1
Volunteer Appointment committee
Date: 2019-05-01 Time: 7:30 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session
Purpose: General Business Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Vanessa Alvarado, Andy Friedmann
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders
Topics of Discussion:
The VASC interviewed candidates for various volunteer positions.
First up with Raymond Boyd who is interested in the position of Custodian of Solider and
Sailors Graves. Mr. Boyd noted he talked to our Veterans Agent who expressed a need for
this position. He is a veteran of the Navy and Army with a total of 22 years in the military.
He grew up in Wakefield, however, he moved to Reading in 1977 and has been here ever
since. Mr. Boyd was looking for a way to get involved and thinks this position suits him well.
Next up was Brendan Zarechian. Brendan is an incumbent on the Board of Assessors
seeking reappointment. He feels he is just getting his feet wet now and still has a lot to
learn. He took the OLS Assessment course. He is enjoying the board so far and noted Victor
Santaniello is fantastic.
Elanor Shonkoff is an incumbent on the Board of Health seeking reappointment. She noted
she has enjoyed her experience so far. She feels she still has a lot to learn but feels up to
speed generally. She noted she brings a nice balance to the board seeing as its only three
members. Ms. Alvarado asked how she felt about a three-member board; she explained at
first, she didn't understand why they wouldn't consider making it a 5 person board but now
being on the board she sees how three people keeps all conversations at the meetings and
not offline. She did want to note that the board is considering putting all inspection
information readily available to the public online. Mr. Friedmann asked her how she felt
about the way the health fines are done after he brought his concerns to the board. She
noted she did find it weird to see that all fines suddenly stopped but they are learning the
process and learning how to move forward with the Health Agent.
Karen Pinette was next up. She is applying for a position on the Council on Aging. She
currently works at Sanborn place so she works with the elder population every day. She has
also worked with Jane Burns before. Ms. Alvarado asked her what her thoughts are on what
the town can do better for the senior population. She explained transportation is always an
issue but she also knows its hard to work that out. Mr. Friedmann asked her if she would be
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sensitive to any potential conflicts of interest that may arise because of where she works
and she noted absolutely.
Michael Colton is an incumbent on the Recreation Committee seeking reappointment. He
noted this is really his first touch into town government. He feels the Recreation Committee
should reconsider their mission statement and make it clearer. He also thinks the
procedures for accomplishing some things seems more complicated than it should be. Mr.
Colton noted Jenna Fiorente is fantastic and does a great job juggling everything. He is
really enjoying his time on the committee.
Peter McGowan is new to volunteering in town and wants to get involved in any committee
they see fit for him. He noted a few preferences he thought would be fun but would be
happy to volunteer anywhere needed. He recently battled leukemia and now that he is
doing better and able to get out of the house, he wants to volunteer with the town. He loves
Reading and wants to be more active in the town.
Marie Hanson is a new applicant for the Housing Authority. Marie noted she lives Frank
Tanner Drive, one of the locations required for the Housing Authority appointment. She was
interested because she wants to step out of her comfort zone and try something new and
she is always interested in what is going on where she lives. The Housing Director Julie
Johnston wrote a letter in support of Marie's appointment.
Last of the night was Andrew McLauchlan who was interested in a few boards. His
background is a family of construction. He went into construction project management and
now works on large projects in Boston. He grew up in Reading, went into the Army for 12
years and then came back to Reading. He is interested in boards that he has a had
experience with in his career as well, i.e. ZBA, CPDC, Historical and FinCom. Mr. Friedmann
asked if he ever did work in Reading as there could be a potential conflict if he sat on one of
those boards. Mr. McLauchlan noted all his projects are in Boston. The VASC explained to
him that CPDC and Historical have no vacancies right now and ZBA only has an associate
vacancy at the moment. He noted he would be interested in pursuing the full membership
on FinCom or the associate for ZBA, he has no preference and just wants to contribute to
the town as he can.
The VASC adjourned at 9:05 PM.
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