SHREWSBURY – Select Board members unanimously — but not without prolonged discussion — voted on Aug. 8 to update the board’s Policy 1 to better reflect current practices.
Two members of the board’s policy working group — Chair Beth Casavant and Carlos Garcia — were the driving force behind the change. After determining many of the policies were “outdated” and “sparse,” Casavant and Garcia worked to amend Select Board policies, starting with Policy 1.
Policy 1 isn’t just the first of the board’s 32 policies, it’s also the least detailed. The 32-word policy — created in 1998 and last reviewed in 2016 — outlines how the Select Board’s agenda is composed.
“[Policy 1] didn’t really encompass the role of different board members, primarily the role of the chair, the vice chair and the clerk. What we did is we looked at… examples from neighboring communities, and then we thought through how our board operates historically and what our current practice is, and what we might want the board to have in place as far as some guidelines and guidance,” Casavant said.
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Town Manager Kevin Mizikar added introductory material to the proposed policy, and the board members had the chance to review the policy for weeks before voting on Aug. 8.
The updated policy lists 12 responsibilities of the board chair, including preparing the agenda and calling special meetings of the board. The policy also briefly outlines the vice-chair and clerk’s responsibilities.
Theresa Flynn noted the new policy is more about documenting existing operations, and it doesn’t seek to change anything about the Select Board going forward. Casavant said that the policy is “nothing new” and just an attempt to get some previously unwritten responsibilities “on paper.”
However, Flynn asked several questions about the new policy regarding the mechanics of local government. The board discussed the balance of power between the Select Board chair and the other four members: who gets to put items on the agenda and what is the extent of the chair’s power and ability to create the agenda?
Board members leaned on past experience to answer these questions.
“I don’t think of this as an iron-fist ‘the chair says and that’s the way it is.’ I always think the board should be collaborative and take into account what they’re hearing from other board members in setting the agenda,” Casavant said.
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She continued, “For the most part, setting an agenda is going to be very straightforward, and a lot of what’s on an agenda comes from the [town] manager’s office. But there are… agenda items that require more thought and preparation… How do we make sure that we balance it?”
The board opted to “live with” the revised policy with the understanding that if the changes are not working, the policy could be adjusted moving forward. Flynn noted she “didn’t feel strongly enough to hold [approval of the policy] up,” and Policy 1 was unanimously amended by the board.
Select Board members indicated that Policy 15, which details how the board responds to emails, may be the next policy that is reviewed. The policy predates social media and needs “some help,” according to Casavant.
