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6-12-2024 11:44pm
Westwood's Finance and Warrant Commission Elects William Bruce as New Leader
Darlene Cancell
Editor
In the June 11th Finance and Warrant Commission (FinCom) meeting which appeared to be marked by sometimes surprisingly direct and frank communication, FinCom has selected its new chair, William (Bill) Bruce, with of vote of 8-6 over the only other nominee, Christopher Poreda.
Town Moderator James (Jim) O’Sullivan, who also attended, offered a few candid comments before the vote. He stated that he had encouraged certain members not to run for the position of FinCom committee chair, after characterizing FinCom’s current relationship with Westwood Select Board as tense. He noted his desire that FinCom be able to work together with both Select Board and Town Administration.
Mr. Poreda bluntly informed his fellow members that he interpreted Mr. O’Sullivan’s remarks to mean himself; however, Mr. Poreda noted he had not been personally approached about declining to run for the position of chair. Mr. Poreda offered that he was aware of positive comments about his candidacy. He commented on the vital importance of FinCom maintaining its status as an independent reviewer of matters that come before the town. He emphasized the need for effective communication and ensuring that the community is invested in issues before they come up for vote at Town Meeting.
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For his part, Mr. Bruce took the opportunity to describe his leadership style as encompassing three traits: meeting with each person to understand who they are and what is important to them; improving process; and making sure that committee members are able to grow and develop. He noted that as FinCom Chair, he would focus on those things. He also stated his interest in improving the distribution of information to FinCom in a timelier manner for decision making.
At different points of FinCom’s June 11th meeting, members raised what appeared to be a widely shared concern over receiving last-minute submissions of information. They expressed frustration over having inadequate time to review materials before their substantive deliberations.
Immediately after the committee officially voted to make Mr. Bruce its new chair, Caitlyn Jurczak jumped on Mr. Bruce’s interest in improving the committee's process. She suggested that materials submitted for FinCom’s review must be received at least 48 hours in advance of FinCom's scheduled deliberations.
Mr. Poreda added that without adequate review time, the public will perceive FinCom as rubber stamping the issues that come before it, rather than providing a thorough review.
Mr. Bruce was receptive to both comments. He was agreeable to pursuing the idea of a 48 hour window of review for FinCom’s members.
Regarding its work in the coming fall, the committee also discussed the pros and cons of in-person versus remote meetings. There was some belief that comments are more substantive when members participate in-person. In contrast, members also noted that remote meetings allow for greater flexibility and more convenient participation from the public.
