By Keith Regan, Contributing Writer
Board will operate with four members until March
Photo/submitted
Westborough–Leigh Emery has resigned her seat on the Board of Selectmen, a move that preserves her ability to collect a pension from her 30 years of working as a state employee–and leave the board operating with four members until March.
Selectmen at their meeting Oct. 14 voted against holding a special election to fill Emery’s seat, instead placing the two remaining years of her term on the ballot for the March 2015 town election.
Westborough had been advancing special legislation to earn Emery an exemption from recently enacted pension reforms prohibiting so-called double dipping into multiple state pension systems.
Because selectmen receive an annual stipend of $500, they also receive a modest annual contribution to the Worcester regional pension system. As a result, Emery was paying into the statewide pension even as she was preparing to collect her teacher’s pension earned during 30-plus years of service at UMass Medical School and in local schools.
A series of pension reforms passed by state lawmakers includes a prohibition against state employees participating in more than one retirement system.
A special election to fill the now-vacant seat would cost the town around $12,000, said Town Manager Jim Malloy. And, with at least 50 days needed to hold the election, the vote would come with at most just over three months before the March 2015 annual election
An article on the warrant for next week’s special town meeting would have asked lawmakers to pass special legislation to exempt Emery from the new rules, allowing her an exemption to be able to continue to serve and to later collect a selectmen’s pension that would have been worth just $12 per month.
But Malloy said Emery was facing pressure to make a decision immediately, which led to her decision to resign. Her resignation is retroactive to Sept. 23.
Emery worked for 30 years at UMass Medical School in Worcester, retiring in 2012 from that position but continuing to work and pay into the state’s retirement system while working part-time as a school nurse.
In her resignation letter, Emery said she had not given up hope that a solution can be reached to enable her to serve out her term.
“I fully intend to pursue any avenues that will enable me to return to the board to serve out the last two years of my elected service,” she said.
With two full three-year terms already on the ballot for March, three of the five seats on the board will now be up for grabs.
