Minutes for the January 14 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: Melissa Noe
The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m.
After reviewing and approving minutes to last week’s meeting, the committee discussed the possibility of interviewing additional people, specifically town appointees/department heads who work at town hall. With that in mind, the committee decided that Brendan Fletcher, Don Torrico, and Gareth Backhaus should come in to provide their opinions on how things are going at town hall. In addition, Ken Basler, Monterey’s newest select board member, will also be asked to speak with the committee.
Muriel Lazzarini and Bob Lazzarini each prepared and presented written recommendations for the final report that will be given to the select board.
Among the suggestions offered by Muriel were that the select board must improve its oversight of the business of running the town and become proactive in resolving problems before they become crises. Muriel also noted that the select board has relied too heavily on Melissa Noe to carry out its obligations. This has put Melissa in the position of acting in a supervisory capacity, a role that the select board needs to assume. Other areas that the select board needs to take charge of are the town website, communicating with town counsel, and careful review of the minutes to its weekly meetings. Finally, Muriel suggested that a receptionist be hired to field both phone and walk-in inquiries.
Muriel then stated that over the past few years she has personally received complaints from both appointees and residents, all of whom wished to remain anonymous, about one town appointee. According to Muriel, their desire for anonymity had to do with fears of retaliation from the person in question.
Bob offered two critical areas that have caused problems in the past and therefore need immediate attention. These are the lack of training for both appointed and elected officials who have little or no experience in the job they are about to assume and the other area has to do with interpersonal relationships and ongoing staff conflicts. To resolve the training issue, Bob suggested regular meetings to respond to questions, to provide information and deadlines, and to improve communication in general. As for the interpersonal issues, Bob suggested providing separate office space for the administrative assistant and hiring on receptionists to handle the day-to-day running of the front desk at town hall.
Since Larry Klein, committee chair, will be out of town from the end of January until the beginning of March, it was decided that the January 20 meeting would be the last until the second week in March. Before adjourning the meeting, Larry asked committee members to create their own reports of problems that need to be addressed and suggested solutions based on the information provided to the committee by the elected officials and town appointees. If time permits, some of these reports will be heard next week, with the remainder being presented in March.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Susan Gallant
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