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The Advisory Committee chose not to recommend adverse action on the grounds that its members “respect the public position” and, at a recent meeting, found that the elected committee already had the power to appoint a committee. Members said at a recent meeting that they decided not to recommend measures because of the
“This is a big decision for the town. People want to be involved in this big change,” said Ann Marie Papasodero, sponsor of Article 23 on the warrant. “Residents have very strong authority over this decision.”
“I applaud the citizens’ pleas. Polito said. “It’s an open process. Time is usually set aside on the agenda for public comment.”
“The public isn’t always comfortable with being on the agenda,” Papasodero said. “We wanted to give the community a way to make their voice heard.”
According to the petition, a seven-member civic committee will ask the Town Manager finalists one question at a time, with applicants presenting their qualifications and reasons for applying for the job.
“Town managers make a lot of decisions on our behalf…It’s essential to make the right choices from the start, and the community wants to be involved,” says Papasodero. “At the end of the day, I understand that the selection committee makes the decisions.”
Papasodero said he wanted seven members on the finalist panel because Community Paradigm Associates, a consultant hired by the town to conduct a full investigation, suggested five or seven to avoid a stalemate. He said he chose.
“Paradigm said a lot of civic committees were involved in these kinds of searches, so eventually everyone gets to have their say,” she said. We pay for their expertise, I just follow their procedures.”
The finalist committee petition was filed before the selection committee committed to appoint two citizens to the committee to interview the semifinalists. Papasodero asked if the selection committee could have a civic committee, but at the time “they weren’t sure whether citizens would be involved in the selection process,” so he filed a town meeting petition. Eleven citizens applied for the two available slots to select the semi-finalists.
“I was impressed by the willingness of the residents to get involved,” Papasodero said. “They love their town and care about how it develops in the future.”
Among those 11 applicants was Papasodero, who said, “I wanted to be as involved in this process as I could, so why not apply to be one of the two citizens on the semi-finalist panel? ?” said. However, she believes the commission she proposes has value.
“We need to involve more community members in the process,” she said. “The finalist committee can do that.”
The semi-finalist panel consisted of two elected board members (Greg Gray and Irwin Nesoff), one advisory board member (Patricia Cormier), one school board member (David Twombly), and two of community members. A community representative was appointed by the selection committee on Monday, April 24th, and the group’s first meeting is scheduled for his Thursday, April 27th.
Papasodero proposed a finalist committee made up of residents, whose main purpose is to “gather more information so seven citizens can ask pre-selected questions to the finalists.” And give the selection committee a wider perspective.”
Current town manager Philip Lemnios, who will retire at the end of June, said: “The final interviews will be open. , is already tense enough for the applicant.”
Papasodero said the finalist committee’s intention was “never” to stress candidates and that they could submit questions via the Zoom platform if needed.
“We weren’t going to make a fuss,” she said. “Selection committees can pose questions. They’re just looking for ways to get their voices heard.”
“The selection committee has expressed concerns about the time required to interview and appoint members of the civic committee,” Papasodero said. “They liked all the candidates they had just interviewed… so don’t reinvent the wheel. Bring some of those people back. There’s been more than enough.”
Advisory board chair David Clinton praised Papasodero for “seeing a hole and deciding to fill it” and said there are ways the public can be heard in the process. .
“Regardless of the outcome[at the town meeting]there is nothing stopping us from putting these questions together and presenting them to the selection committee chair for dissemination,” he said.
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