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11-04-2022 11:46pm
Westwood's Select Board Officially Reconstitutes Long Range Financial Planning Committee by Appointing New Members
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Westwood’s Select Board has reconstituted the town’s Long Range Financial Planning Committee, in what may be the largest or one of the largest town committees, with 20 members. In the board's last October meeting, the board unanimously approved a slate of candidates comprised of 13 voting members and 7 ex- officio members.
Earlier this May, Select Board Chair Robert Gotti, Clerk Michael Walsh and Member Marianne LeBlanc Cummings unanimously agreed to take action to reconstitute the Long-Range Financial Planning Committee which was dissolved in 2019. Select Board had noted that reconstituting the committee would help give some fiscal direction to the town and add visibility to what issues are competing for taxpayers’ dollars.
According to Mr. Gotti, the Long-Range Financial Planning Committee originally had a long-term focus on financial issues such as discussing five-year projection plans of revenue and expenditures, reserve accounts, capital budget, debt management, health insurance and employee benefit costs, financial policies, and the impact to residential and commercial tax rates.
The former committee that was dissolved in 2019 included representatives from some of the same town bodies that are appointed to the newly reconstituted committee. The old committee drew its members from Select Board, School Committee, Planning Board, Board of Assessors, the Finance and Warrant Commission, Tax Collector, Town Treasurer, Town administration, Westwood Public Schools administration, and two at-large community representatives.
This time around, however, unlike in 2019, there appears to be no representative from Westwood’s Finance and Warrant Commission on the Long Range Financial Planning Committee.
Also, based on attendance records from past meetings of this committee, additional seats appear to have been created for four more residents. This year, it appears there may be added seats for town staff – Assistant Town Administrator and Human Resources Director, Community and Economic Director, and Town Counsel. Representatives in these positions do not appear in the recorded attendance from previous minutes for the old committee.
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The reconstituted committee's 13 voting members are comprised of 7 elected officials who chair their respective boards or committees, along with 6 residents who serve as at-large representatives. They are:
- Westwood Select Board Chair – Robert Gotti
- School Committee Chair - Charles Donahue
- Tax Collector - Elaine de Reyna
- Treasurer - Phil Shapiro (Interim Treasurer, upon James Gavin's resignation in September 2022)
- Planning Board Chair - Christopher Pfaff
- Board of Assessors Chair - Nancy Hyde
- Audit Committee Chair -
- At-Large Resident Representative - Nancy James
- At-Large Resident Representative - Skip Wells
- At-Large Resident Representative - Joe Privitera
- At-Large Resident Representative - Kyle Jordan
- At-Large Resident Representative - Julianne Bride
- At-Large Resident Representative - Melissa McDonagh
In the event that a chair of an elected body chooses not to serve, the chair will appoint another member from the chair’s organization to serve on the Long Range Financial Planning Committee.
The new committee's 7 ex-officio members, who are from the town’s staff and administration, are as follows:
- Town Administrator – Christopher Coleman
- Superintendent of Schools – Emily Parks
- Town Counsel – Pat Ahearn
- Community and Economic Development Director – Nora Loughnane
- Department of Public Works Director -Todd Korchin
- Assistant Town Administrator and Human Resources Director – Molly Kean
- Assistant Town Administrator and Finance Director – Stephanie McManus
Ms. McManus was named to the Long Range Financial Planning Committee just after Select Board, in the same meeting, approved her hiring. On November 7, 2022, she takes over the position of Assistant Town Administrator and Finance Director which Pam Dukeman left open upon retiring last month.
The the term expiration date is June 30, 2023 for both at-large members and those committee members from town administration and town staff.
The new committee will meet quarterly and notice of its meetings will be publicly posted. Mr. Gotti expressed his determination that the meetings also should be recorded for viewing, due to the nature of the topic and benefit to the community.
