Minutes for the January 5 Town Hall Structural Advisory Committee
Present: Larry Klein, chair; Norma Champigny; Susan Gallant; Scott Jenssen; Bob Lazzarini; Muriel Lazzarini; Ray Tryon; and Steven Weisz
Also present: Anne Marie Enoch, Melissa Noe, Emily Johnson, and Mike Johnson
Anne Marie Enoch, Monterey’s tax collector, joined the meeting to discuss her responsibilities, as well as her ideas about what specifically would improve her work life at town hall and what she believes would generally be helpful to all those who work for the town. Mari considered the work atmosphere in town hall to be positive. She interacts most often with the assessors, but also relies on Melissa for general office needs, and the town clerk and the police for accurate address information. She reported that her interactions with the public have been excellent.
As an elected official, she answers to the state and her greatest undertaking is getting the tax rate set. Last year, that task was problematic. In response to the question of whether she and assessor Don Clawson should be used as a resource when the accountant and treasurer have job-related questions, Mari said that they should instead turn to fellow professionals in their respective fields or professional associations. Mari did note the lack of a “financial team” since she rarely sees either the accountant or the treasurer and suggested that regular meetings for the three of them would achieve that goal. Mari also recalled that there used to be quarterly lunches at town hall for all elected officials and appointees. These
lunches, she said, were well attended and did much to boost morale and to create cohesiveness, and gave her a sense of being part of a larger team.
Mari did admit that over the 20 or so years she’s been tax collector, she has had her share of frustrations, most of which she was able to work out on her own. Most recently she had an issue that remained unresolved until she spoke with a select board member whose intervention resolved the problem.
The committee thanked Mari for her time and moved on to the next interviewee, Melissa Noe, the town’s administrative assistant.
To questions about her role as secretary to the select board, her interpersonal relationships within town hall, and how she feels about dealing with the public, Melissa said that she believes that all requests made by the select board are appropriate and do not overstep her responsibilities as administrative assistant. She also said that whenever she’s had interpersonal issues, she always reports them to the select board, though many have remained unresolved. Melissa said that she loves her job and, despite some difficulties, enjoys dealing with the public. When someone comes in asking specific questions about such things as licenses and permits and other official documents, Melissa said that she always refers that person to the
appropriate department and only provides people with the forms that she has available to her.
Melissa also believes that the select board should be responsible for conflict resolution, the most recent being an incident with an elected official in which Wayne Burkhart intervened. At the time, Wayne spoke with each individual separately and then brought the two together in an attempt to resolve the dispute. Although Melissa said she thought Wayne did a good job, the conflict continues and has escalated with no follow up on Wayne’s part.
The committee then thanked Melissa for her time, after which the discussion turned to the next steps the committee needs to take. Although the goal was to wrap things up by the end of January, when a report would be submitted to the select board, it was apparent that such a deadline was not feasible. Upcoming meetings would focus on getting committee members’ feedback on the content and the mechanics of compiling a report, among other issues yet to be discussed.
Respectfully submitted, Susan Gallant
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