FINANCE COMMITTEE PUBLIC SESSION Town Hall, Conference Room 1
Minutes from the Meeting of Thursday, June 23, 2011
Committee Members Present: Also Present: Christopher Avis, Chairman Joseph McDonald, Committee Candidate Charles Gasior, Vice Chairman James Condon, Committee Candidate Mark Davini, Clerk Marshall Brem, Committee
Candidate George Schmidt Oskar Klenert Robert Chalker
CALL TO ORDER Chairman Christopher Avis called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES George Schmidt made a motion that the minutes from the Finance Committee meeting held on Thursday, May 19, 2011, be approved as presented. Oskar Klenert seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.
George Schmidt made a motion that the minutes from the Finance Committee meeting held on Thursday, June 9, 2011, be approved as presented. Mark Davini seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.
NEW BUSINESS 1. Reserve Fund Balance Christopher Avis stated that as of 5/27/11 the reserve fund account balance was $77,274. There is $52,780 in the expense account which is for the audit and other expenses. Out of the expense account, there is $ .97 remaining.
2. Committee Contact List Mike Richardson, BOS Liaison, will be added to the list, as well as the newly appointed committee member. The recording secretary will update the list and distribute to the committee members.
3. Committee Liaison Appointments Christopher Avis distributed a copy of the liaison guidelines followed by the Board of Selectmen, for review by the committee members. Charles Gasior stated that he has a list of the liaison assignments from the past year, and will email a copy to the committee members. Mr. Gasior suggested, and the committee agreed, that at the next Finance Committee meeting, new liaison assignments will be made.
4. Liaison Reports George Schmidt reported his attendance at the last School Committee Finance meeting as Finance Committee liaison. The School Committee voted to give everyone else a raise that wasn’t covered by union contract. It was unanimous when it came to food service personnel and there was one dissent when it came to any non-union personnel. It was identical to the union raises. The raises are in the School Committee budget for this year.
Charles Gasior reported on a summary financial report through the end of May, 2011 which shows that there is an $18.26 MM budget, and with one month to go there is $3.3MM to spend. George Schmidt stated that there was some mention at the School Committee meeting about extraordinary expenses with the summer school salary sessions. George Schmidt stated that the School Committee sent out a schedule of the committee meetings for the year and listed which ones were regular and/or financial.
Charles Gasior reported on the transfer station totals, which went down from 1,069 tons to 1,007 tons, the conclusion being that recycling is increasing.
5. Interview of Candidates for Finance Committee Vacancy
Joseph McDonald. Mr. McDonald introduced himself to the committee, stating that he has a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering, with 27 years of employment at Sweetheart Cup Company. Mr. McDonald stated that he has spent his productive life in engineering, manufacturing, and management. He retired in 1984 and set up a consulting business which ended in 1995. Mr. McDonald has been a year-round Mashpee resident for 8 years and wants to contribute his time and talents to the community. He is Chairman of the Southport Homeowners Transition Board. Mr. McDonald is primarily interested in the areas of recycling and wastewater treatment. He stated that he and his wife like Mashpee, he wants to remain active, and would like to give back anything he can to the town.
James Condon. Mr. Condon introduced himself to the committee, stating that he spent his adult life in the fire service, retiring in 2003 as the Chief of the Fire Department for 8 ½ years in the City of Pawtucket, RI. The department had a $17,000,000 budget. Mr. Condon holds a degree in Public Administration, and an Associate Degree in Business. The Condons have owned a home in Mashpee for 17 years, and have been year-round residents for the past 2 years. Mr. Condon is a member of the Mashpee Men’s Club. He also held an elected position of Fire Commissioner in the town of Cumberland for six years. One of Mr. Condon’s largest jobs as Fire Department Chief was handling negotiations, and was involved in negotiations with town employees who were illegally collecting disability insurance. Mr. Condon is familiar with
town and city budgeting and this is his area of expertise. Mr. Condon is a year-round resident of Mashpee, and would like to be able to give back to the town whatever assistance his experience and talents can provide.
Marshall Brem. Mr. Brem introduced himself to the committee, stating that he has been a summer Mashpee resident for the past 20 years, and a full time resident for the last 13 years. His public service includes 8 years on the Mashpee Zoning Board, serving under three chairmen; he is an Elder Services volunteer, working in their money management program. Mr. Brem stated that handling money is his main interest. He is concerned that medical insurance is 12% of the budget for the town, and stated that this is something he would personally like to investigate; he is not happy about the fact that the tax collector is content with collecting 98% of the tax money and he would like to go after the other 2% which represents one million dollars owed the town; the school budget is $18,000,000 and there are ten people making over $80,000 per
year, and nine others making over $50,000 in school administration, for a student population of 1,800. Mr. Brem questioned the need for a Board of Assessors, or a Board of Health, and the legitimacy of the stipends being paid to these board members. Mr. Brem stated that he is a digger: he has a big mouth, and says what is on his mind; he is a dependable person who gets things done. Mr. Brem asked the committee what authority the Finance Committee had, and Christopher Avis responded that the committee has no authority. The committee’s role is to recommend decisions on each warrant article proposed, and has some influence on decisions made. Mark Davini stated that the town departments come to the Finance Committee to ask for money; the committee acts as the town’s due diligence and tries to determine whether or not it is an appropriate request. It is the decision of the town meeting whether or not to approve the request.
Christopher Avis thanked the three candidates for their presence, and stated that the Board would go into Executive Session at the end of the Public Session to come to a decision on selection of the candidate for recommendation to the Town Moderator.
6. Thank You Letter to Dan Wolf, Randy Hunt, David Vieira The Committee members offered suggested changes to the draft letter.
Mark Davini made a motion that the draft letter be approved with the suggested amendments. The board secretary will prepare three separate letters for submission to Joyce Mason for mailing. Charles Gasior seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.
7. New Emailing Procedures. Christopher Avis stated his concern that the committee members’ use of their personal email addresses for inter-committee dialog could possibly be construed as nontransparency, and suggested that all committee members’ email correspondence be sent on the town email address.
Oskar Klenert stated that the Finance Committee is not a part of the Town government. The committee is responsible to the Town Charter. Therefore, Mr. Klenert is not in favor of the committee members converting to the town email addresses. George Schmidt stated that he will set up a separate email account for all Finance Committee business.
Mark Davini stated that in his business, confidentiality is the rule, and in the event that there was some question of impropriety on the part of the committee, the committee members’ personal emails could be subpoened, and for that reason he would be in favor of converting to the town email addresses.
Mark Davini stated that he will meet with Bruce Stello to determine the possible options of setting up separate email accounts for the Finance Committee, other than the Town email address which would be separate but not personal.
Mark Davini made a motion that the committee adjourn the public session to move into executive session, to reconvene to public session, for the purpose of deliberating upon matters involving individuals regarding the reputation and character of the individuals. George Schmidt seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Christopher Avis, yes; George Schmidt, yes; Mark Davini, yes; Oskar Klenert, yes; Charles Gasior, yes; Robert Chalker, yes.
The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 PM.
The Public Session reconvened at 8:47 PM.
Charles Gasior made a motion that the Finance Committee make a recommendation to the Town Moderator to appoint James Condon to the unexpired term of William Johnson to be completed as of May, 2012. Robert Chalker seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote: Robert Chalker, yes; Charles Gasior, yes; Oskar Klenert, yes; Mark Davini, yes; George Schmidt, no, Christopher Avis, yes.
The motion was approved.
George Schmidt made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Mark Davini seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ina G. Schlobohm Recording Secretary
FINANCE COMMITTEE – EXECUTIVE SESSION Mashpee Town Hall – Conference Room 1
Minutes of the Meeting of Thursday, June 23, 2011
Committee Members Present: Christopher Avis, Chairman Charles Gasior, Vice Chairman Mark Davini, Clerk Oskar Klenert George Schmidt Robert Chalker
The Executive Session convened at 8:12 PM.
The committee members discussed the qualifications presented by the three candidates.
Marshall Brem: All agreed that Mr. Brem was extremely qualified to serve on the committee, but felt that he would become frustrated by the fact that the committee served only in an advisory capacity and had no power to make decisions on issues that come before them.
James Condon: The committee members agreed that he was well qualified, they liked his collective bargaining experience, his well-rounded business background, and it would be a plus to have someone on the committee coming from the public sector.
Joseph McDonald: The committee agreed that Mr. McDonald was well qualified to serve, and has an interest in the critical issues facing the town. Oskar Klenert reminded the committee that Mr. McDonald has a historical interest in serving on the Finance Committee and was assured in the past that should a vacancy occur, he would be the one selected. If we pass up this opportunity to recommend him to the BOS, it would be going back on our word to him. George Schmidt concurred, and added that in his opinion, Mr. McDonald presented a good biographical background, a good series of opinions, and had a more professional approach opposed to the other two candidates.
George Schmidt made a motion that the committee adjourn the Executive Session, to return to the Public Session. Oskar Klenert seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Mark Davini, yes; George Schmidt, yes; Oskar Klenert, yes; Robert Chalker, yes; Charles Gasior, yes; Christopher Avis, yes. The motion was unanimously approved.
The Executive Session was adjourned at 8:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted, Ina Schlobohm Recording Secretary |
