The Rochester Select Board met on Monday and approved and signed the warrant for the May 22 Annual Town Meeting, with one big surprise. It was by a vote of 2-1, with board member Paul Ciaburri voting against. That negative vote from Ciaburri, who was attending remotely via Zoom, resulted from discussion of one of the salary items in the proposed $25,000,000 FY24 operating budget.
Select Board Chairman Woody Hartley and member Brad Morse said they wanted to eliminate from the budget a Town Administrator Administrative Assistant position proposed by the new Personnel Board. They argued no one had discussed the plan for the new position with the Select Board in advance, and they wanted more time and needed more funding than budgeted to consider a new job that would be under the Select Board’s jurisdiction.
Ciaburri asked, “Why can’t we let the people decide at Town Meeting?” Later in the discussion, Ciaburri added, “We’re giving raises to a lot of people in this budget. My question is why can’t we spend it on this one?”
Hartley and Morse, nonetheless, kept Town Administrator Glenn Cannon’s proposed changes to the warrant before voting to sign it.
Before that motion, Personnel Board member Adam Murphy asked why his panel’s hard work reclassifying a job description over the past year was being rebuffed this way. He argued this is a change in a job classification, not a new job per se, and someone is already doing the duties in the job description. The Personnel Board’s specific goal was to streamline the job classifications within Town Hall, Murphy noted.
The new Personnel bylaw states his panel’s mission is to categorize job descriptions to be financially compensated in a like manner. Now someone will keep doing those duties for less compensation, Murphy argued.
Murphy also noted that Cannon sits in on every Personnel Board meeting. Why is that not enough advance notice of the panel’s decision making, he asked.
Morse said the Select Board knows this oversight is Cannon’s responsibility, and Cannon has been spoken to about it. Cannon agreed, saying he takes full responsibility for the Select Board’s lack of adequate time to respond to the matter.
Hartley admitted the Personnel review system could be more refined but added, “We are trying to be careful with the town’s money. We see a reduction in free cash in our future. This is a decision we had to make.”
In a follow-up interview, Ciaburri explained he feels that elevating the duties and compensation of the Select Board/Town Administrator’s administrative assistant was the right thing to do.
“I feel the Personnel Board did their due diligence and have it correct,” Ciaburri said. “I’ve seen their hard work. This is what the Personnel Board was trying to do. Her job has changed. She has so much more work to do and should be compensated for it. What the Personnel Board did was absolutely right.”
He said someone on Town Meeting floor could motion to retain the new position, “and that would be the right thing to do.”
During Monday night’s meeting, Morse and Hartley whittled down the warrant they approved to 32 articles to include combining two articles, one to eliminate the town’s Stretch building codes and the other to withdraw from the Green Communities program, into one article.
The Stretch codes tighten the base building codes in the name of more energy-efficient construction but are an expensive part of being a Green Community. The town is reconsidering its participation in the Green Communities program as it explores the costs of building an addition to the Police station and building a new Fire station.
The Select Board also approved a new approach to presenting articles at Town Meeting. Crediting Town Moderator David Arancio for his suggestion, Hartley proposed that speakers who can explain each article be introduced as each article is presented. All three Select Board members agreed.
In other action, the board approved appointing Richard Forand as alternate building inspector.
No future meeting date was set before adjournment.
Rochester Select Board
By Michael J. DeCicco