The Board of Selectmen voted not to limit the number of committees on which an individual can serve and streamlined the process of appointing volunteers to town boards and committees, at a workshop meeting last Saturday morning.
The workshop was called after members of the Board of Selectmen, which serves as the appointing authority, expressed concern that the current appointment process was confusing as well as causing some applications to inadvertently slip through the cracks, with applicants waiting for months to hear a decision on their appointment.
Also up for discussion was whether to cap the number of boards on which volunteers can serve. The topic has sparked debate in recent months after Selectman Walter Cruz suggested that citizens serving on multiple boards could present a conflict of interest among boards. He made a motion Saturday to limit volunteers to three committees.
Selectman Brenda Eckstrom disagreed with Cruz's proposal. "I don't see why you'd want to limit free work from somebody," she said, citing the lack of volunteers for many currently open committee seats. She pointed out that each Selectmen has a vote when appointing a member, and each could vote against the appointment if they thought the person served on too many committees.
Selectmen Chair Jane Donahue noted that she could not remember any instances of conflict of interest among boards.
Three Selectmen voted against the proposal, with Selectman Cara Winslow abstaining. Winslow said she wanted to give the new appointment process a chance to work and see if it alleviated some of Cruz's concerns.
In its review of the appointment process, the Selectmen decided to add a step-by-step list to the application for boards and committees.
The current appointment process is as follows:
- A citizen applies for an open seat on a board or committee.
- The citizen receives acknowledgment of their application.
- The application is forwarded to the relevant committee along with a request that that committee make a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen on who to appoint.
- The Board of Selectmen makes appointments to boards and committees on the third Tuesday of each month.
In an effort to cut down on appointments that do not turn out to be a good fit, the Selectmen decided to "strongly recommend," but not require, that volunteers interested in a particular committee attend three of that committee's meetings to ensure they are interested in the work. The interested applicant can then inform the committee of their intentions to apply, the committee chair can set up an interview, and the committee can come to a consensus on the applicant and then forward its recommendation to the Board of Selectmen.
Applicants are then "generally expected" to appear before the Board of Selectmen for an interview on the third Tuesday of the month, said Donahue. Those who cannot attend the Tuesday night meeting can speak with Donahue, as chair of the Selectmen, or the Selectman liaison to the particular board to which they are applying, who will report to the rest of the Selectmen before an appointment is made.
Members of the Selectmen said they wanted to make sure that the most qualified individuals are appointed to boards and committees.
"These boards have real work to do," said Selectman Steve Holmes, who the board voted to make "appointment policy liaison," to keep track of applications and the appointment process. "They make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen to commit dollars."
