Selectmens Meeting Minutes 09/10/2019
Board of Selectmen September 10, 2019
Chairman Joseph Pacheco called the open meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the meeting room at Veterans’ Memorial Town Hall, 558 South Main Street. In addition to Chairman Pacheco, Selectmen Marie Smith and Patricia Riley were in attendance.
Ms. Riley led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance and Mr. Pacheco informed everyone that the meeting was being recorded live by RayCAM. Mr. Pacheco stated, “We had a special meeting last night and we will have another special meeting tomorrow night.”
Acceptance of the Minutes
Ms. Riley made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held of September 3, 2019, as printed, Mrs. Smith seconded, and Mr. Pacheco made it unanimous.
New Business
Mr. James Banks, Commander of American Legion Post 405 of Raynham, was present to inquire about the three sewer betterment fees that they are being charged for the sewer expansion project along Mill Street. He explained that although the Legion’s facility is located on one lot, they are being charged for three lots because the Legion also has two adjacent lots, one of which the Legion allows town sports teams to use. He asked if there was a way that the Legion could pay for only one of the betterment fees. Mr. Pacheco explained, “My opinion would be two fold. First, this Board doesn’t have the jurisdiction because the Sewer Commission is an independently-elected Commission, and they handle betterments. Secondly, if we did have jurisdiction, I don’t know if we would have the statutory authority to waive a betterment fee. Betterments are done through a Town Meeting vote and so, from a legal standpoint, I don’t believe we would have the ability to do that because the betterments are supposed to be spread out among all people in that phase.” Mrs. Smith recused herself because of her involvement with the Legion. Ms. Riley suggested asking Town Counsel for his opinion. Interim Town Administrator Gordon Luciano said the legal opinion that he would seek would be whether a Town Meeting article could ask if the Town would pay for the stub for the sewer tie-in. Ms. Riley made a motion to follow up on the matter with Town Counsel, Mr. Pacheco seconded, and Mrs. Smith abstained. It was so voted.
Town Administrator’s Report
Mr. Luciano reviewed his report as Interim Town Administrator. He reported that the Governor is coming to the area on Thursday to have a press advisory on EEE. The meeting will be in Lakeville and Raynham’s Health Agent, Matt Tanis, will represent the Board.
The Public Safety Building Committee will be on the Agenda for next week’s Selectmen’s meeting to discuss with the Board the next steps to be taken regarding the feasibility study and the proposed project.
The Massachusetts.Department of Transportation held their Route 138 Design Public Hearing on August 27th. Anyone who missed the meeting can see it replayed on YouTube. The anticipated construction start period stated at the meeting would be in the fall of 2021. That is a separate project from the lights that will be installed at the intersection of Center Street and Rt. 138. That timetable for the light installation is tentatively scheduled for the Fall of 2020.
The Fall Town Meeting will be held on Monday, October 21, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at the Raynham Middle School. The meeting will be primarily focused on capital expenditures. The deadline has already passed for articles to be considered for placement on the warrant.
Upcoming Meetings
In his report, Mr. Luciano also noted that a special meeting of the Board of Selectmen will be held on Wednesday, September 11th at 6:00 p.m. at Town Hall for the sole purpose of interviewing Graham Waters, the second of the two finalists to be interviewed for the permanent Town Administrator’s position. This will be an open meeting and televised via the cable channel.
The next scheduled Selectmen’s Meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 17th at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall Meeting Room.
The Capital Planning Committee will begin the process of reviewing articles for the Fall Town Meeting on Wednesday, September 11th at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall conference room.
Selectmen’s Report
Ms. Riley wanted to thank the R.A.V.E. volunteers for riding on the buses with the kindergarten children during their first four days of school. She noted that with fourteen morning and afternoon buses to ride, there were over 100 volunteer slots to fill and every bus had a R.A.V.E. volunteer on it.
Interview with William D. McKinney for the position of Town Administrator
Mr. Pacheco invited Mr. McKinney to the podium and started, “We appreciate you taking the time for submitting your application for consideration and congratulations for being one of the two finalists for the position.” Mr. McKinney thanked the Board for the opportunity and thanked the search committee. He started by saying he received his Bachelor’s degree at Holy Cross and his MBA at Babson College. Under Governor Romney, he was the last MDC Commissioner. He was the CFO for the Town of Weymouth, and currently is the Director of the Department of Labor Standards under Governor Baker. He previously served as a Finance Committee member for six years. Mrs. Smith asked him why he was interested in this position and why he wanted to leave his current position. He answered that with his skill set, he decided that he would like to get back to being a Town Manager or Administrator and saw this opportunity. Mrs. Smith asked, “What do you see as our greatest strengths and what would you do to build on these strengths?” Mr. McKinney replied, “The first thing I would do is update the website, as I couldn’t find the financial statements. I would look to make things more efficient.” He said his transition plan would be to talk to people, employees and businesses to see what they are looking for because they have great ideas. His experience with school districts has been limited to being on the finance committee.
Ms. Riley asked, “What do you see as the role and responsibility of the Town Administrator?” Mr. McKinney replied, “Leadership and making sure that employees are focused on what we can do better. Having a connection to the State will help us quite a bit.” Ms. Riley asked what noteworthy accomplishments he has had that will have relevance to his success in the Town Administrator’s position. Mr. McKinney pointed to his creation of a trust fund when there was none and initiating online payments. Ms. Riley asked for an example of a situation that, in retrospect, he wished he had handled differently and what he learned from the situation. Mr. McKinney replied, “Someone came to me with an issue about another employee and I addressed it with the other employee without gathering all the facts. I realized afterward that I really needed to hear both sides of the issue.” Ms. Riley asked about his management style. He replied, “I want to see employees passionate about what they do and sometimes there are obstacles that get in the way that prevent them from being as successful as they want to be. I would assist them in resolving the issue. Communication is key.” Ms. Riley asked, “How involved have you been in preparing budgets? “ Mr. McKinney replied, “I would put the budget together and present it to Town Counsel, then to the School Committee and have the budget online so people could see it.” Ms. Riley stated, “The Town of Raynham is embarking on a Master Planning process. Do you have any experience in that type of planning?” Mr. McKinney replied, “I have not.” Ms. Riley asked, “What about human resources?” Mr. McKinney stated that he had worked closely with human resources at the MDC and with other agencies. Ms. Riley asked if he had any experience with alternative funding sources, such as grant funding. Mr. McKinney replied, “I have been involved with looking to see what’s out there, I haven’t written them, but I have managed them.” Ms. Riley said, “The Town has been very fortunate to have wonderful resources in the community, including very active parent and community groups and local businesses. What strategies would you implement within the Town to make sure that community support and involvement remains strong and continues to grow?” Mr. McKinney replied that people need to be passionate about the Town and we need to get out there to insure that continues. Ms. Riley said, “There is a lot of residential development going on and many people who are moving into Town have no connection to it and only chose to move here because Raynham is a great location geographically. What can the Town do to try to keep a sense of community?” Mr. McKinney suggested giving new residents information about volunteer groups. Ms. Riley asked, “What is your strategy for dealing with difficult people?” Mr. McKinney replied, “Finding out what the issues are and sitting down with them and asking what’s causing their angst.” Ms. Riley asked, “If a member of the Board asked you to do something that you disagreed with from a policy standpoint, what would you do and what would you do if it was from an ethical standpoint?” Mr. McKinney replied, “From a policy standpoint, I would want to talk to the person privately and see what their understanding of the issue is. And for something ethical, I would also try to talk them out of doing something unethical.” Ms. Riley asked, “What is the most compelling reason why you should be the next Town Administrator?” Mr. McKinney replied, “I think that would be my years of experience in both municipal and state government and in the private sector as well as having connections throughout the state government.”
Mr. Pacheco asked, “A few years back, when you were employed in Weymouth, there was a controversy during a budget hearing, can you elaborate on that?” Mr. McKinney replied, “We had a meeting to talk about the town budget and after watching the St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast event in South Boston, I put together videos to lighten the mood because it had become kind of tense. It completely shocked me that people had taken it the wrong way. That was something that I learned a great deal from that, and that was not to be funny.” Mr. Pacheco asked about human resources and, in particular, labor relations. He asked, “Can you speak to your familiarity to that?” Mr. McKinney replied, “When I was at the MDC, we had layoffs and I had five unions that I had to deal with, such as cutting back on overtime. The same thing happened in Weymouth, and there is nothing more disruptive than layoffs, so I always try to plan ahead.” Mr. Pacheco asked, “For labor negotiations, typically one of the three of us will be the lead negotiator. I largely rely on the Town Administrator to assist me in crunching numbers, with strategy and approach. I am assuming by your resume that you have done negotiations in the past, but what is your comfort level with that?” Mr. McKinney replied, “I was involved with the State’s unions the first time and there had been issues that came up and we did whatever needed to be done to make sure it went smoothly.” Mr. Pacheco stated, “Ninety percent of your career has been in senior management roles, and I think we need a balance in a Town Administrator being in the office doing the job but also making sure that the staff knows who he or she is. I want to gauge what your comfort level is going to be also rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty, not just in town hall, but out in the community?” Mr. McKinney said, “My goal is doing the best at what needs to be done and getting out and talking to people because you have to find out what’s going on and talk to the employees because sometimes they have the best ideas. They are the ones who are on the front line.” Mr. Pacheco asked, “What do you see as the dynamic between the Town Administrator and the Board of Selectmen? This Board serves as the Chief Executive Office of the Town and that is something that I am very protective of because at the end of the day, our names appear on the ballot and we have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers.” Mr. McKinney replied, “I don’t see any issues with that. Each one of you brings a different background to the Board and just to have a dialog and communication and to know what each other’s styles are. Ultimately, we are responsible to the voters.” Mr. Pacheco said, “My last question is why Raynham?” Mr. McKinney replied, “The time is right and it’s not too far from Dedham.” Mr. Pacheco said, “We have one more interview tomorrow night and I believe it’s going to be on our Agenda for next Tuesday’s regular meeting for deliberation. The appointment will be contingent upon negotiations, but don’t expect to hear anything from us before next Wednesday.”
Adjournment
At 7: 44 p.m., Mrs. Smith motioned, and Ms. Riley seconded, to adjourn for the performance of administrative duties, signing of Bills and Warrants, with no business to be conducted afterwards. Mr. Pacheco made it unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Murphy
Recording Secretary