Selectmen support switch to town manager
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - Although it was a split decision, the end result is that the Board of Selectmen will support the warrant article that recommends Westborough alter its town charter and change the position of town coordinator to town manager.

The vote on the matter, which came at the board's April 15 meeting, was 3-2, with Selectmen Sue Abladian, Leigh Emery and George Thompson voting for the change, and selectmen Lydia Goldblatt and Tim Dodd against.

The Government Study Committee, which spent more than a year researching this topic and many others, recommended the switch, detailing in its report the many benefits the town would reap from having a town manager rather than a town coordinator.

A factor in Goldblatt's decision to vote against supporting it is the fact that current Town Coordinator Henry Danis has announced he will retire in 2009, meaning a person whose identity is not known at this time will be the first town manager hired after the charter is changed.

"I understand and agree with all the arguments of why we should make the switch," Goldblatt said, "but at the same time, we're going to be bringing in someone we don't know and giving [him or her] more responsibility to lead this town than we've ever given anyone else. That makes me a little uncomfortable."

Goldblatt suggested leaving the entire situation status quo and, if the person earns the trust level of someone who would merit being promoted to town manager, the change could be done a year or two after the person has taken the position.

Danis explained to Goldblatt that her suggestion wasn't feasible, asking rhetorically about what would happen with the person hired after the next one, after the position was upgraded once the trust had been created.

"That's where the search committee comes in," Danis said. "They have to be absolutely sure when they select the person that is to be town manager, that they've weighed all the options, all the pros and cons, that they're comfortable giving this person all the leadership and power that goes along with it. If they're not done off er it to that finalist. Off er it to someone else or readvertise the position."

Thompson said altering the charter and creating the position of town manager is a necessary step the town needs to take now.

"Westborough isn't what it was 10 or 20 or 50 years ago," Thompson said. "It's a $70 million business and we need someone to lead it. One person. With checks and balances, to be sure, but there needs to be one person responsible to oversee the day-to-day operations. This is a move that is long overdue. This should have been done 15 years ago."

One item suggested by the Government Study Committee that the board indicated it wasn't going to support was placing term limits on serving on town boards, commissions and committees.

The Government Study Committee suggested implementing a stipulation that a resident would be able to serve a maximum of three consecutive terms on a board, commission or committee. After a one-year hiatus from the board, commission or committee, the individual would be eligible for future appointment to the board, committee or commission in question.

When it became clear the Board of Selectmen weren't going to support the recommendation, Government Study Committee Chair Tom Shea asked the board to vote to eliminate it from the warrant, which the board did.