Adams Selectmen Vow Transparency, Openness
ADAMS, Mass. — The newly reorganized Board of Selectmen pledged on Wednesday to be more transparent both with the public with other town boards after an election last week that swept two of its members out of office."I think we all took a look at the outcome of that election, and while some of us don't totally agree with the editorializing of the North Adams Transcript, we will certainly work — and I certainly will as chairman — to make this committee as transparent as possible," said Chairman Donald Sommer after introducing the board's newest members at the meeting's end.
Arthur "Skip" Harrington and Jason Hnatonko trounced incumbents Joseph Solomon and Eward MacDonald last Monday in an election many saw as a referendum on the board's extensive use of executive sessions.
The issue came to a head last September with the board's use of executive session to negotiate a $45,000 payment for the departure of former Town Administrator William Ketcham. Citing a confidentiality agreement they signed, it took six months before the board revealed the details and only after public records requests by the Transcript (and several biting editorials) and orders from the state.
Solomon and MacDonald had stood by their votes on the matter, saying they were working in the best interests of the town. The town, apparently, felt otherwise.
Sommer, who was elected chairman at a meeting of the board on Monday, said the five-member panel will be "more than happy to get the suggestions and comments from all of our citizens." He also said the Selectmen will reach out to other town boards.
"We're not necessarily [going] to have them come to us all the time, and us hold court while we ask questions," he said. "Our plan is to go to their boards and to try to work with them and with our citizens so we're not working against each other."
That won't mean an end of using executive sessions, he said. "There are certain laws and restrictions that require going into executive session and we will certainly do that to protect the integrity of the community."
That included going into executive session at the end of the meeting to continue negotiations with the Paul Jonathan Butler, who was selected as next town administrator.
Jeffrey Lefebvre, a regular attendee of meetings and frequent critic of the board's policies, introduced a petition to be put on the town warrant for a recalling an elected official.
"If someone is derelict in their duty there should be a way to remove tham and put someone else in," he said. The town should have a mechanism for doing that, "especially because of what's happened over the last few years," he said later.
Lefebvre said he had spoken with secretary of state's office and that a majority of the state's towns and cities had some form of recall.
According to his petition, 15 percent of the registered voters as of the last town election would be required to file an affidavit with the town clerk to start the process; if the official resigns, the Selectmen would be authorized to appoint a replacement.The board accepted the petition and referred it to town counsel for review.
In other business, Sommer asked that the board direct the Office of Community Development to develop a plan to make Adams a "green community."
"If we're certified as a green community that will allow us to compete for state energy grants," he said. "There's a lot of money out there and there are only a few green communities approved so far. We'd be some of the first people in line to get some state energy grants."
Selectman Michael Oullette agreed, saying he had done some research on what the town might have to do. "I think we really have to come up with a committment, maybe people in town can help. We need a shot in the arm."
The board unanimously approved that concept and also to have Community Development Director Donna Cesan investigate whether the town would be able to avail itself of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funds awarded to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission for brownfields testing.
Sommer said his main concern was the MacDermid Inc. building that once contained W.R. Grace Co. Although the building's owners were paying their taxes and maintaining the structure, it could change hands or deteriorate over time. The "town could be left with a building that's falling apart and full of pollution," he said, adding testing could open the way to cleanup money.
In bad news, the town could see $113,562 in local aid cut from its budget under the Senate version of the budget released Wednesday. That would mean residential tax rates would rise to $15.94 per $100 assessed value and would put the town at just $15,000 below its Proposition 2 1/2 levy limit.
