Williamstown Selectmen Name Kaiser Acting Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen on Monday finalized a contract to appoint retired Town Manager Peter Fohlin as interim town manager and appointed Public Works Director Tim Kaiser as acting town manager during Fohlin's one-month absence.
 
Fohlin retired from the position effective Sunday, and Massachusetts law does not allow him to return to work for the town within a month of his retirement date.
 
So even though Fohlin has agreed to return on an interim basis until a permanent successor is hired, Kaiser will temporarily be the final authority on town affairs on a day-to-day basis.
 
Not that Kaiser expects to throw his weight around too much.
 
"You're in good hands," Kaiser said. "The town has a very good staff. They know what they're doing, and they do it very well.
 
"I'll just try to make sure the ship doesn't run aground the next month before Peter gets back."
 
Kaiser has been acting town manager in the past, filling in for Fohlin while he was away on vacation.
 
The contract for Fohlin's interim appointment calls for his appointment up to Aug. 28, but the board hopes to have a permanent replacement on board before then.
 
Selectman Thomas Sheldon reported to his colleagues on Monday night that the headhunter hired to find the new town manager received 30 applications.
 
GovHR of Illinois is vetting those applicants and conducting Skype interviews with an eye toward delivering a list of possibilities to the town's screening committee on May 11, Sheldon said. 
 
That committee will then conduct private interviews before giving the Selectmen a short list later in May for public interviews.
 
Moments after Kaiser was named the acting town manager on Monday evening, he performed his first official task: delivering the last town manager's report prepared by Fohlin in his 15-year tenure at Town Hall.
 
The highlight of the report was the news that the town has finalized its power purchase agreement with Solar City to operate an up-to 2.5 million killowatt-hour photovoltaic project on the town's capped landfill.
 
The town and solar power producer also have a memorandum of agreement that will allow Solar City to install a 1.0 million Kwh private project or for both the town and Solar City to opt out if there are no net metering credits available.
 
The commonwealth's net metering cap for municipal projects is already met, and it is near meeting the cap for private projects, but Fohlin reported that the legislature may increase the municipal cap, which would allow for a more lucrative facility for the town.
 
"We're confident that will happen," Kaiser said.
 
In other business on Monday, the board in its capacity as liquor licensing authority, approved a change of manager at Taconic Golf Course, where David Travisano takes over for Dominic Sachet.

Tags: interim appointment,   solar array,   town administrator,   

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Letter: Vote for Someone Other Than Trump

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

I urge my Republican friends to vote for someone other than Donald Trump in November. His rallies are getting embarrassingly sparse and his speeches more hostile and confused. He's looking desperately for money, now selling poor-quality gold sneakers for $399. While Trump's online fans embrace him more tightly, more and more of the people who actually worked with Trump have broken with him, often issuing statements denouncing his motives, intellect, and patriotism.

Mike Pence is the most recent, but the list now includes William Barr, former attorney general (who compared him to a 9-year-old); former NSC Chairs Bolton and McMaster; former Defense Secretaries Mattis and Esper; former Chiefs of Staff Kelly and Mulvaney; former Secretary of State Tillerson; former Homeland Security chief Bossert; and former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, who referred to Trump as a "wannabe dictator." This level of rejection by former colleagues is unprecedented in American politics.

Are these people just cozying up to the Establishment "Uniparty," as his fans would have it? No. Most of them are retired from politics. It's just that they see the danger most clearly. General Milley is right. Trump's most constant refrain is his desire to hurt his critics, including traditional conservatives. Although Liz Cheney lost her Wyoming seat in Congress, he now wants her jailed for investigating him.

This man should not be president of the USA.

Jim Mahon
Williamstown, Mass.

 

 

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