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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-08-30 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting August 30, 2005 For ease of archiving, the order that items appear in these Minutes reflects the order in which the items appeared on the agenda for that meeting, and are not necessarily the order in which any item was taken up by the Board. The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Camille Anthony,Vice Chairman Richard Schubert, Secretary Joseph Duffy and Selectmen James Bonazoli and Ben Tafoya. Also present were Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Human Resources Administrator Carol Roberts and Town Accountant candidate Gail LaPointe. Discussion/Action Items Interview and Appoint Town Accountant - Chairman Camille Anthony announced that they are going to be doing interviews for the position of Town Accountant this evening. She turned the meeting over to Ben Tafoya who chaired the Town Accountant Screening Committee. Selectman Ben Tafoya reviewed the process of initial screening, interviewing, selecting finalists and then "going back to the drawing board." The intent was to have multiple candidates before the Board of Selectmen. However, when the Screening Committee went back and reviewed applicants as well as interviewing additional candidates, it became clear that one candidate — Gail LaPointe — had qualifications over and above all of the other candidates. The Screening Committee unanimously felt that to bring additional candidates before the Board of Selectmen just for the sake of having additional candidates would be doing disservice to the candidates and to the Board. Vice Chairman Richard Schubert who was also on the Screening Committee agreed, and reinforced that the intent was initially to bring all of the candidates forward but it did not make sense in this instance. Selectman James Bonazoli indicated that he was disappointed that the process was not kept with regard to multiple candidates. This is not a comment on the candidate being brought before the Board of Selectmen this evening. Gail LaPointe presented her credentials to the Board of Selectmen. Selectman Ben Tafoya asked her to review her educational background and experience that qualify her for the position. Ms. LaPointe noted that she went to Salem State College for a Bachelor's degree in Accounting, spent seven years in public accounting, and gained a wide experience in a number of areas. She applied to Lynnfield for the accounting position and was appointed. She served there for 11 years. She then went to Boxford as the Finance Director. After a couple of years, she applied to Burlington for the Town Accountant position and has been there since. She's interested in staying in the field but would like a situation that is closer to her home in Lynnfield. Board of Selectmen Meeting—August 30, 2005—PaQe 2 Selectman Ben Tafoya asked why she maintained her CPA when it wasn't required. Ms. LaPointe indicated that she worked very hard to get it and that it is not that hard to maintain it. One needs to keep current in professional development in any case. She indicated that she does not now do outside work on tax returns other than for family. Selectman Ben Tafoya asked about her experience with school building projects. Ms. LaPointe reviewed her experience in setting up the systems in Lynnfield for their school building projects. Since the whole process is changing, she would have to come up to speed on it but does not see that as a problem. Vice Chairman Richard Schubert asked about her work style and relationship building. Ms. LaPointe noted that she would come into a situation like Reading and study and review the current systems. She would talk with all of the people involved in the accounting process. She's open to other ways of doing things. She would make changes slowly. She reviewed the process of working with staff in Burlington. She worked in training current and new employees and believes in establishing procedures manuals. Vice Chairman Richard Schubert noted that two areas where she does not have experience is in working with the Light Department and being a member of the Retirement Board. He asked how she would come up to speed on these issues. Ms. LaPointe indicated that she likes to learn new processes. This is just another nuance to the job, and there is plenty of training available including PERAC for the retirement system. She looks forward to learning these new aspects of the job. Selectman James Bonazoli asked her about her experience in the reporting structure. She noted that in Lynnfield and Burlington, she was appointed by the Board of Selectmen. In Lynnfield; she hada lot of contact with the Board of Selectmen—they would stop in and ask her questions. The Burlington reporting process is very similar to Reading. The Town Accountant has to be able to exercise independence and to be a watch dog. Selectman Joseph Duffy indicated that he can see that Ms. LaPointe is somebody who would be innovated and he likes that. Chairman Camille Anthony asked about her experience reporting.to the Board of Selectmen and how she did that. Ms. LaPointe reiterated that in Lynnfield, the Board of Selectmen stopped in often. Both the Town Administrator and the Selectmen Chair were accountants and she worked with them a lot. In Boxford, she reported to the Board at meetings. In Burlington, the Town Accountant does a State of the Town presentation along with the Town Administrator and the Finance Committee Chairman. She's worked on those presentations to make the information easier to understand. She meets with the Board of Selectmen on some matter about once every other month. Vice Chairman Richard Schubert reviewed the watch dog responsibility and asked if there were any examples of where she had to "call" on inappropriate expenditures. Ms. LaPointe related a situation where a department wanted to take in revenue directly to their budget for something that they were selling without a revolving fund having been established. Board of Selectmen Meeting-August 30,2005 –Page 3 Selectman Ben Tafoya asked if Ms. LaPointe had been involved in any software changes. Ms. LaPointe indicated that she is not familiar with Admins but has had to learn different software systems, particularly when she was in private work. She likes doing that work and maximizing the use of software. Ms. LaPointe was given the opportunity to ask any questions. She noted that she's worked in the Town Accounting and public sector for 16 years in several communities. She knows what to expect and is looking forward to working with the Town of Reading. Selectman Ben Tafoya noted that her reference checks were excellent. Selectman James Bonazoli noted that he understands why only one candidate was brought forward and feels that Ms. LaPointe is an excellent candidate. Chairman Camille Anthony noted that she is very impressed. Ms. LaPointe meets all of the criteria and attributes that she previously laid out and she has a very nice way about her. On motion by Bonazoli seconded by Tafoya, the Board voted to appoint Gail LaPointe to the position of Town Accountant with a term beginning October 1, ZOOS and expiring March 31, 2006, subject to a successful completion of a pre-employment medical examination as required by Town Bylaw, and that the salary within Grade 18 and benefits v'vill be negotiated by the Town Manager. All members voted in favor of the motion, and Gail A.LaPointe was appointed as Town Accountant. Chairman Camille Anthony and Vice Chairman Richard Schubert commended the Screening Committee and Ben Tafoya for their excellent job. Chairman Anthony suggested that the Screening Committee meet and review the process that was used. Retreat Follow Up– Chairman Camille Anthony presented a proposed tracking log. The Board discussed some of the details. The Town Manager will use this as basis,put together a template, and email it to the Selectmen. In the template, we will include the items that Chairman Anthony has noted as well as follow-up items from the Action Status Report. The Town Manager will review with staff whether Excel or Microsoft Word would be better. The Board agreed to the general schedule where they would meet the 1St, P and 4th Tuesdays of the month. They will start at.7:00 p.m. starting September 6, 2005. The 1St Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. before the Selectmen's meeting, the Board will have office hours. They will rotate it among the Board members. Selectman James Bonazoli and Vice Chairman Richard Schubert will take the first session, and they will locate in the Town Hall Conference Room. We will advertise this on RCTV and the web page and,hopefully, get articles in the Chronicle. The first half hour of each meeting will be spent on Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments, Town Manager's Report, Public Comment and Proclamations. Other business will then be able to start at 7:30 p.m. On the first Tuesday of the month, the meeting will start out with department highlights. On the 4th Tuesday of month, we will review the status of the Action Status Report. We will try to arrange when public and staff needs to be at the meeting, to be Board of Selectmen Meeting—August 30, 2005—Page 4 done starting at 7:30 p.m. We will continue with the process of having a workshop meeting once per month. At the workshop meetings, the first half hour will still be devoted to the Selectmen's/Public Comment/Town Manager Reports, and then they will go onto other items: During each meeting, they will review the next agenda, and get the Board material on major items ahead of time. The Board talked about their site walk on September 10, 2005. They will be in the Chute Street area at 9:00 a.m., and at the Water Treatment Plant at 10:30 a.m. They will give notice to residents in the High Street to Sanborn Lane, Middlesex Avenue to Woburn Street area. The Town Manager noted that we were trying to give longer notice for hearings and, therefore, the agendas are less flexible at the last minute. The Board of Selectmen is interested in getting on the Cable Television bulletin board and/or the website a list of things being considered for Board action. They would like to consider having an evening — a workshop meeting just on traffic issues -the Town Manager will work with staff on this. The Board suggested a section of the agenda for List/Copy for response to citizens questions and comments. This would be separate from the rest of the List/Copy material. The Town Manager asked for input on whether or not the materials that are being copied to the Board are relevant. As a general rule, the Town Manager will respond on behalf of the Board where there are issues that the Board has already made decisions on. There was discussion about issues with employees. These need to be directed to the Town Manager. If comment needs to be given back to a resident, the Town Manager will do that. The Board discussed whether or not there should be a broad policy on site visits. They also discussed Boards, Committees and Commissions training, and whether or not members, of Boards, Committees and Commissions should wear name tags when they are in the field. The Town Manager will get back to the Board with specifics on the Retreat issues. Chairman Camille Anthony will work with Vice Chairman Richard Schubert to modify the Minutes of the Retreat to bring them to completion. On_motion by Schubert seconded by Tafoya, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn their meetinL of AujZust 30,2005 at 9:55 p.m. by a vote of 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Secretary L'