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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-06-24 Appointment Committee - Finance Committee Minutes Town of Reading Meeting Minutes rE:;EIV'ED TOWN CLERK Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2819 JUL -9 AM 8141 Appointment Committee -Finance Committee Date: 2019-06-24 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Chair Moderator Alan Foulds, FINCOM Chair Eric Burkhart, Select Board Chair Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Bob LeLacheur Topics of Discussion: Chair Foulds called the meeting to order at 7:00pm Edward Ross - Mr. Foulds asked the candidate to introduce himself. Mr. Ross has lived in Reading for 18 years, and been a Town Meeting member for 6 or 7 years. He moved here from Southern Illinois. His wife grew up in Wakefield. They have two children currently at Parker MS and Joshua Eaton ES. He works at Intercontinental Exchange (owner of NYSE). He is in global relationships, collecting and selling content. His clients are typically big banks. Ms. Alvarado politely interrupted and asked if Brown Brothers Harriman was a client, and Mr. Ross and they were not. She explained she works for BBH and there might have been a conflict of interest issue if he had said yes. Mr. Foulds asked if he had any known conflicts, and Mr. Ross said no. He said his firm did receive campaign contributions, and he also had ethics policies to follow. Ms. Alvarado asked what experience he had with budgets. He explained that he is part of a team that manages a client book of business, but he is in more of a big picture and not day- to-day financial person for this. He explained that he does travel a lot but can schedule that around commitments. Mr. Burkhart asked why he was interested in FINCOM? He responded that he wants to participate in the town, and do more. He was not fully aware of all of FINCOM's work but thought his background could be helpful. He supported the Override and became more involved, and learned quite a bit. He then heard Eric's pitch at Town Meeting for volunteers, so he applied. Mr. Burkhart explained the meeting schedule, and Mr. Ross said that would fit in fine, but he wondered if material was sent out in advance? Mr. LeLacheur explained Page 1 1 the October-April budget process briefly and how much information was available to members along the way. Mr. Ross asked what type of person is needed on FINCOM, and Mr. Burkhart responded that different backgrounds were a helpful mix on the committee. Ms. Alvarado said that an inquisitive person that drills down and then can step back is also very helpful. Mr. Foulds asked if he is on any other boards, and he is not. Mark Zarrow - Mr. Foulds asked the candidate to introduce himself. Mr. Zarrow has been in Reading for 30 years. His kids are grown up and he thought it was time to get more involved in the community. Ms. Alvarado asked about his professional background. He was an Accounting major with an MBA, and worked at Apollo Computer for several years, then a startup software company in Charlestown, then Nova Biomedical and Abbott Sports where he did video editing. He is semi-retired, with 25 employees in a 17-yr consulting business that he founded. Mr. Burkhart asked why FINCOM and why now, and was there any specific issue? He replied that there was no one specific issue, but that he had free time available. Mr. Burkhart explained the meeting schedule, which worked well. Mr. Foulds asked if he was a Town Meeting member, and he is not. Ms. Alvarado asked if he had any other volunteer interests, and he said he had not thought of any in advance. Mr. Foulds asked if he had any conflicts, and he did not. Mr. Foulds asked if he had any questions, and he replied that he previously spoke to Eric and Mark Dockser, so he did not. Mr. Foulds said he was open to a process to select among the seven applicants, and reminded the committee that there were two full 3-year terms and one 1-year term available. Mr. LeLacheur added that those terms could be approved effective immediately instead of waiting to July Sat as FINCOM had a June 26th meeting scheduled that might have quorum problems. Mr. Foulds said maybe the best way to start is for everyone to pick their top three choices, and his were Ed Ross, Marianne Downing, and Sean Jacobs. Ms. Alvarado offered Ed Ross, Sean Jacobs as having young children for balance, and Andrew Macl-auchlan as her choices. Mr. Burkhart said that in no order he liked Marianne Downing as inquisitive, Sean Jacobs, Bill McIsaac and Ed Ross. The committee discussed the applicants, with a focus on some 2- or 3-vote 'consensus picks' from the lists above. Ms. Alvarado expressed her concern about one of the 'consensus picks' posting inaccurate information on social media, and Mr. Foulds and Mr. Burkhart agreed that if that were the case then it would be inappropriate for a FINCOM member. A discussion followed about having a good mix in age and background would be helpful for FINCOM. Mr. LeLacheur asked Mr. Burkhart what background was most needed on FINCOM, and he replied that a deep financial one would be most helpful at this time. After more discussion, Ed Ross and Sean Jacobs emerged as a consensus choice for the two full terms. On a motion by Ms Alvarado to nominate both Mr. Ross and Mr. Jacobs to till out terms through June 30 2019 seconded by Mr. Foulds the appointment committee voted 3-0. On a motion by Ms. Alvarado to nominate both Mr. Ross and Mr. Jacobs to full year terms July 1 2019 through June 30 2022 seconded by Mr. Foulds the appointment committee voted 3-0. The committee then discussed all of the remaining candidates in consideration for the one- year term. The discussion went on at length as the candidate pool was very strong. Finally, agreement was reached that Andrew MacLauchlan would fit best on the committee right now, but other candidates were encouraged to remain interested and engaged. Page 1 2 On a motion by Ms. Alvarado to nominate Mr. MacLauchlan to fill out a term throuah lune 30. 2020 seconded by Mr. Foulds, the appointment committee voted 2=1 On a motion by Ms. Alvarado seconded by Mr. Foulds, the appointment committee voted 3-0 to adiourn at 8:27om. Note: After the meeting the Town Manger learned that a letter of resignation had not been received from a current FINCOM member. Thus, the nominations for two members to complete terms ending 6/30/19 should not have happened, as only one of them was vacant. However, the FINCOM meeting scheduled for lune 26m was cancelled due to a lack of a quorum, so there was no impact for this oversight. Respectfully submitted, Secretary Page 1 3