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Clarksburg Has Plan to Replace OfficialsBy Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
01:24AM / Tuesday, February 02, 2010
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Town officials are making plans in case it loses three elected positions in Town Hall.
Last year's town meeting unanimously approved by floor vote making the tax collector, town clerk and treasurer all appointed positions. Voters will have to approve the issue a second time this year as a question on the town election ballot.
A proposal developed by Town Administrator Michael Canales to fold seven elected and part-time positions into three full-time appointed positions will be presented on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at 6 p.m. at the Senior Center. The PowerPoint presentation is available below.
Canales said at the Selectmen's meeting last Wednesday that the plan focuses on making Town Hall "customer-service oriented."
"It's not just about changing it from elected to appointed," he said. "It's a chance to create a very customer-oriented, very service-oriented Town Hall."
Currently, only the town administrator and administrative clerk work full days, Monday through Thursday. The town clerk, collector, treasurer and assessors each work different hours on different days, making it difficult for townspeople to get questions answered or services completed in a single trip.
For instance, the town clerk and the tax collector are only available one day a week — but not the same day and not always all day.
"What's the biggest complaint that you get?" asked Chairwoman Debra LeFave. "I went to Town Hall and nobody was there. I wanted to pay my taxes and nobody was there. I wanted a fishing license and nobody was there."
Canales' plan would merge the assessor duties with the administrator's, the town clerk with the administrative clerk and create a tax collector/treasurer position. The result would be a more streamlined and efficient Town Hall, he said, for about the same price.
"As long as we're paying $8,000 or $10,000 [a year] these are never going to be primary jobs for somebody, they're always going to be secondary," he said. "You're always going to have to work around other jobs."
Changing the positions to appointments has been raised before but this is the first time the concept's gone this far. A petition was prompted this time by problems with sewer fee collections that forced taxpayers to foot a $30,000 increase to replenish the sewer fund.
Wednesday's presentation will be the first of several before the May election and officials will be seeking input from citizens and making changes based on the response.
Any changes would instituted as each official's term expired over the next couple years should voters eliminate the positions.
In other business,
■ Selectmen tabled a request by the Tietgens family to place a large family grave marker on a four-grave plot in the town cemetery. The base would be 96 inches and the stone 60 inches but cemetery regulations limit the size to 24 inches per plot or no larger than 48 inches. The regulations were established to create uniformity in the new section, said LeFave. "If we were to permit someone to put in a stone of that size, I don't see us turning down anyone else ... so we might as well throw the policy out the window."
Selectman Carl McKinney, however, said putting four separate stones on the plot would equal 96 inches and he wasn't ready to vote on the matter. They agreed to table the request until they could do a site visit at the cemetery this spring.
■ Canales reported the senior housing application survived the first stage of the federal grant process. The board also signed a consent decree with the state, agreeing that it would ramp up monitoring of the Senior Center well and move forward with finding a new water supply, which is expected to be the senior housing well.
■ Representatives from the state Riverways Program will be before the Conservation Commission on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 6:30 p.m. for permitting on the removal of the Briggsville Dam.
■ The tax rate for fiscal 2010 was set at $10.10 per $1,000 valuation, up 7 cents from last year. Tax bills for the last two quarters were set to be mailed by this week. Those seeking senior exemptions should pick up application forms at Town Hall. |
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary. Comments are closed for this article. If you would like to contribute information on this article, e-mail us at info@iBerkshires.com |
| I think the idea is great and long overdue. If thesee positions are appointed a job description can be developed and then the person who is hired based on credentials can be held accountable by the appointing authority! Electing people to these types of jobs doesn't work any more. Unfortunately, voters often chose candidates based on personal traits rather than on the needed skills and knowledge. Electing may have worked in the past but this change is long overdue. This plan will create better government- let's give it a chance. | | from: Robert T | on: 02-03-2010 12:00AM
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Top 10 Reasons Why Town Clerks Should Be Elected…
…and be responsible to the citizens for their appointments.
The small town tradition of having an elected Town Clerk is one that we want to retain. It is a tradition that has stood the test of time because it works! Besides maintaining the small town heritage, the elected Town Clerk has some pragmatic advantages over an appointed Town Clerk.
—Although elected clerks are department heads, they are independent in their actions, and are able to appoint a deputy of choice to assure the independence and integrity of both the office and the work involved. The Town Clerk knows what the staffing needs are and is best qualified to make such appointments. Assistant Town Clerks may be called upon, in the absence of the Town Clerk, to act as the Town Clerk would. In the role of Registrar of Voters it is vital that the sanctity of the ballot be maintained. MGL Ch. 41, Sec. 19 tacitly recognizes the necessity of Town Clerks to choose their staff in that ATCs in small towns are exempt from the Civil Service requirements of MGL Chapter 31.
—Electing a Town Clerk avoids the cronyism, or "politics", of having an appointment made by the Selectmen. Furthermore, they have a sensitive role in the administration of elections and town meetings that would be ill-served by being beholden to those who are seeking re-election. It was just such a concern that led to the creation of the Civil Service in the first place.
—The Office of the Town Clerk is a hybrid of Town and State responsibilities, and functions less efficiently if run directly by either entity.
—An elected clerk is directly accountable to the people of the community and thus serves at the will of the people, not at the discretion of a three-person board of Selectmen. This is especially important during town elections, when the independence of the Clerk’s office is vital. An appointed clerk comes with an inherent conflict of interest in this area.
—The decision of electing a Town Clerk involves an electorate of several hundred people as opposed to an appointment made by only three individuals on the Board of Selectman.
—Elected Town Clerks are more service-oriented. They often have flexible office hours and are more accommodating to the people that have elected them. Many Town Clerks have traditionally provided some services (hunting licenses, etc.) out of their home and during weekends, or accommodating a panicked citizen who needs a copy of their birth, or marriage certificate on a Holiday weekend.
—Having an elected Town Clerk frees up time for the Selectmen that would have been spent supervising an appointed person.
—Appointed employees, after six months on the job, should only be removed "with cause", requiring proper personnel management skills on the part of Selectmen. An elected clerk can be removed from office by the People at election for any reason.
—Elected Town Clerks have employment longevity that affords them on-the-job training. When combined with the information gained from Clerk’s Conferences, this is a formidable amount of knowledge regarding what is required by law. It would be untenable for the Selectman to manage a department with insufficient knowledge of what the job entails.
—An additional layer of management has never resulted in increased efficiency. Ever.
Elected Town Clerks have served the towns of the Commonwealth admirably for many years. There is no valid reason to take this responsibility and right away from the People. The people’s power should never have been taken out of the hands of “the Many”, and placed in the hands of “a Few.”
| | from: Carol Jammalo-Town Clerk | on: 02-05-2010 12:00AM
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| Well said Ms. Jammalo. There is a lot to be said about having elected officials. When you have appointed offcials, one person or one board is in direct control of these people. If they don't like you - oh well, your days will be numbered. I support elected officials - there needs to be a balance. Don't let the Board direct your actions.... Vote to keep our elected officials ELECTED!!!!! | | from: Voter | on: 02-06-2010 12:00AM
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Greetings-
While i nostaligly see what Carol is saying, in todays world of municipal finance and government, oversight and efficiencies must be had in the operation of government. It was not the selectboard who drew up this petition, nor presented it to the Town Meeting. The Selectboard did attempt to make the Tax Collector an appointed position back in 2004. We lost by 9 votes.
Given the choices we have, it would seem to me that better service, all the time, at little or no additional cost is a good thing. I would point out that this Selectboard actually appointed Carol. I think she has done a fine job. After her re-election this may...it will take a full 3 years for this plan to be implimented. The term of Carols term. I have no pre-concieved positions as to how this is all going to shake out...but I can promise you an honest, careful,timely decision when the time comes.
This will have to come in stages, and I think we all have to keep in mind that nobody is trying to use this potential change for personal benefit.
What is...is!
Best-
Carl W. McKinney, Select Board Member
| | from: Carl W. McKinney | on: 02-08-2010 12:00AM
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Why is the Board of Selectman "making plans for the elected positions" when we won't have the outcome until after the May elections? They will have "three years to make plans" after the outcome is known.
Editor: Because citizens have been asking what would happen if the positions became appointed. | | from: Concerned Citizen | on: 02-09-2010 12:00AM
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Nothing would change if the positions were appointed. The time things would change would be increasing the pay, only then would the jobs in question become more full-time. The voters can do what is suggested by vote. It doesn't have to do it by appointment.
Editor: Do you mean keep them elected but pay them for full time? Even though, as elected officials, there is no requirement they actually have to work full time? | | from: Voter | on: 02-18-2010 12:00AM
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