Salem Observer : Salem, selectman

Commission considers adding ethics clause to Salem charter

Salem Editor — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:23:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Adding an ethics clause onto the town’s charter was one of several recommendations made by the Salem Charter Reform Committee about eight months before Selectman Patrick Hargreaves came under fire for alleged unethical behavior.

At the Board of Selectmen’s inquiry into the June 13 incident, in which police complained that Hargreaves allegedly tried to use his position as an elected official to exert influence over an officer, Peter Solomon, Hargreaves’ lawyer, challenged the authority of the board to take any punitive action under RSA 49-D:4, noninterference by the elected body. Solomon argued that without a procedure in place within the town charter to investigate and decide issues of interference, any attempt to remove Hargreaves would be illegitimate.

“All town officers act within a certain scope of authority. Your town charter – the entire two pages of it – talks about who the legislative body is in this community ... The form of government is the people. They are the legislative body.

They are the ones who make the important decisions,” Solomon told the board. “What statute authorizes this hearing? What town rule or regulation controls the nature and conduct of the hearing, substantive and procedural?”

Ensuring that the town did have such a process in place was one of the more important recommendations the now defunct charter reform committee made last fall, according to Dan Norris, the former chairman.

“We reviewed the charters of probably 10 or so towns around New Hampshire and almost every one had very detailed conflict of interest provisions,” Norris said. “It was a unanimous decision that it would be important for Salem’s charter to deal with conflicts of interest at much greater detail.”

While the state statutes clearly outline what constitutes a violation of ethics, Norris said the statutes – as well as Salem’s charter – were silent on the procedural aspects of an ethical breach. The committee recommended the town spell out the procedure, which would include an investigation followed by a hearing. At that point the majority of the board could vote to vacate the seat, according to the report.

That recommendation never went before Town Meeting, as the board instead chose to let voters weigh in on whether or not to adopt a charter commission. At the time, it made more sense to create a body to study the possibilities for a new charter rather than to make piecemeal adjustments to the existing charter, according to Selectman Everett McBride.

Robert Campbell, chairman of the town’s recently formed Charter Commission, said any new document to go before voters would likely contain an ethics clause, but discussion on how that clause would read is not imminent.

“We haven’t gotten to the point to working to the details. The first thing we have to do is establish the form of (town) government and that section could go into any of them,” Campbell said. “It’s certainly not on the backburner. It’s just that one has to the plan to the meal first before one starts cooking the vegetables. It’s been on my list of things that we need to put in.”

Fellow commission member Stephen Campbell said that even if the new charter contained an ethics clause, it would not have helped the board avoid what he described as a “trainwreck” of a hearing.

“I think the charter should have something like, if you’re convicted of a crime than the Board of Selectmen can remove you because an independent judge or jury made a decision,” he said. “There is no way a Board of Selectman can be truly independent and honest because when you’re going through a judge, he hasn’t had any dealings with you. They all have relationships. I don’t think any changes we make to the charter would helped (Monday night).”

While the board took no action against Hargreaves, who also holds a seat on the commission, Hargreaves said there needs to be something outlined in the town charter. Though he does not know what that should be, he said he has an open mind.

New chairman of Charter Commission has been there before

Salem Editor — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:15:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Robert Campbell is not new to writing town charters, an experience he believes will come in handy as the community’s Charter Commission moves forward.

Campbell, a former selectman and current member of the Planning Board, chaired the commission in the late ’90s that established the first town charter in Salem. Serving again as chairman of Salem’s newly elected nine-member charter commission, Campbell said the past experience had left him with a strong understanding of the state statutes regulating municipal government and an idea of how to produce a document that voters will accept at next year’s Town Meeting.

“I know what can be done, and one of the things that is important is to communicate what are the options. It isn’t the sort of thing where you can start out with a blank sheet of paper. The state gives us a restricted outline,” he said.

“One needs to have a little bit of discussion to find out what direction we’re going to go. We can’t be flailing around on six different possibilities for four months. We have to develop a consensus or majority of what people are going to support and then start fleshing it out.”

According to Campbell, the commission has a wide latitude on what changes to make in the town charter.

The commission could recommend minor tweaks to the current document or adopt one of six basic forms of municipal government in New Hampshire.

That could mean potentially turning from the town meeting and board of selectmen to a town council or city council.

At the moment, nothing is off the table, according to Campbell. The focus for the next month or so is on developing a majority within the commission on what direction they want to take the town charter, he said.

Campbell anticipates that much of the discussion will revolve around how much power voters should have in the future when it comes to the budget and other spending proposals.

“One of the patterns you’ll see, the people who are in government tend to want to have a council type of government that gives them the power to directly implement their programs. The people who are marginally on the outside want to say, ‘I don’t want to give them that power. I want to keep this to the voters,’” he said. “It’s that tension that is going to cause much of the discussion in the months ahead.”

The commission has roughly six months to review the current charter, study alternatives and take public input before turning out a rough draft of recommendations that will go before voters in March. Residents will have the final say on whether to accept the commission’s findings.

The key to gaining voter approval for any alterations to the town charter is to keep it simple, Campbell said.

“We have had a lot of charter commissions in Salem over the last 30 years or so. The commission about 10 years ago was the first people had approved,” he said.

Earlier proposed charters could run as long as 60 pages and were met with defeat. In the late ’90s, Campbell said his goal was to keep the document small enough to fit on a single sheet of paper. Short and simple is the way to go this time around as well, he said.

“It’s like the Constitution, it’s not every last policy and procedure,” Campbell said. “I’d like to gain enough consensus on the commission and in the community so that it will pass.”

Salem board opposes special election for charter commission

Salem Editor — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:30:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

A proposal that would pave the way for changing town government may not be put before voters as selectmen mull over the cost of holding a special election to form a charter reform commission.

“I wouldn’t call a special town meeting because we don’t have the money,” said Selectmen Everett McBride. “To me its just a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

McBride, along with selectmen Patrick Hargreaves and Arthur Barnes, opposed holding a special election to determine the members of the commission because of what it might cost the town.

The decision to form a commission may be put before voters at Town Meeting in March.

On Monday, Nov. 17, selectmen agreed to hold off on making a decision until Town Manager Jonathan Sistare could determine the price tag of a special election.

Selectmen estimated the cost of holding an election at between $4,000 and $5,000.

The decision to move forward with the commission comes following the recommendations presented by the Charter Reform Committee to the board in September. The subcommittee was formed by selectmen earlier in the year to analyze Salem’s style of governance and look for possible improvements. Chairman Dan Norris told selectmen at the time that the current form of town government had limited the number of solutions his committee could consider.

Sistare expects to have an estimated cost for the special election – to be held about two months after Town Meeting if voters approve – in the coming days. Sistare said paying for election workers would constitute much of the costs, but other miscellaneous expenses like printing ballots and reprograming the voting machines could add up as well.

While selectmen may not be on board, Sistare said periodically reviewing the form of town government, especially in a town that has seen as much recent growth as Salem, is healthy.

“(You want) the type of government that best suits the town’s needs and has the most responsive service. Other towns turn towards town councils, mostly because they can be more reactionary when there is a need to do so,” he said. “They can make changes quicker or just budgetary items in response to floods (for example). If they need to appropriate more money they have a mechanism to do that instead of town meetings, which can be a bit cumbersome.”

Salem is currently the only town with a population over 25,000 in the state that uses the Town Meeting form of government.

Looking forward, Sistare said Salem has the options of retaining the Town Meeting for the budget, but switching from a board of selectmen to a seven or nine-person town council or form a town council that incorporates both governmental and legislative authority.

The town could also form a city council, which would remove the option of holding Town Meetings.

“When you get to a larger town – it seems contradictory perhaps – that by having a town council of seven or nine members, it’s more responsive as opposed to Town Meeting for 30,000 people when only 200 show up,” Sistare said. “Even though you’re having a smaller number of people, I think it may be more representative of the town when they have more authority than a Town Meeting. Those seven or nine people are more involved and know the issues more indepth because they’re meeting regularly.”

In the meantime, selectmen are considering adopting some of the committee’s other recommendations, such as streamlining the budgeting process and including an ethics clause in the town charter.

The board is planning to revisit the possibility of moving forward with the special election at its Nov. 24 meeting.

Old water meters cause some Salem residents to get 'catch-up' bills

Salem Editor — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:35:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

When James McDonough first heard from the utilities department in July that his meter may have been failing to properly register his consumption, he arranged to have the faulty meter repaired.

A few weeks later that month, he got a $3,256.05 bill in the mail from the town for nine years of unpaid and outstanding water bills.

“I was told by the clerk that the bill goes back to 1999,” Mc- Donough said. “She also told me that I was sent numerous letters that there was a problem with my meter. I have never received any letter from the Water Department for nine years.”

McDonough had voluntarily participated in the town’s meter validation program during the summer months by filling out a form that asked residents to compare the reading from the meter inside their house with the meter posted outside of the house.

According to Jane Savastano, Salem’s director of finance, the Water Department had discovered a discrepancy in what the McDonoughs had been paying since 1999 when the water meter had begun to malfunction.

Salem uses a system of remote water-meters, in which an outside remote is mechanically linked to an inside meter that measures the actual water consumption of a household. Over time those outside meters may begin to break down as they age and give false readings, often in favor of the consumer.

“That’s the meter system that we have in Salem,” said Savastano. “When you have a meter that links to a remote, there will be discrepancies.”

Other cases like the Mc- Donough’s have come up, though none have been for that large of a bill, according to Savastano.

“They come up one by one,” she said. “The (McDonoughs) consumption had been dropping for many years. We completely understand that it’s a big bill, but we did make attempts to contact them.”

McDonough said the town told him that they had tried to contact him three times in the nine years his meter had been malfunctioning, though he had not received a notice from anyone in the town that he knew of.

“(Those) people could have sent a notice with the water bill and I would have responded,” he said. “I have no idea how to read a water meter. I don’t know cubic inches or cubic feet. What’s on the bill is what I pay.”

McDonough appealed the Board of Selectmen for an abatement last week and last night he watched them cut the bill down to $1,390.65 – about the cost of three years of water use based on the quarterly average consumption of his family – all that is allowed under the town’s statute of limitations.

For McDonough, approaching retirement, the final bill was just about what he could afford to pay.

“I just gave half that to pre-buy oil – 750 gallons – at $2,099 for the winter. And now these people are looking for a water bill back to ’99,” he said.

The board is planning on revisiting the issue at their Nov. 4 meeting and create a standard policy for evaluating what other residents, who like McDonough have bad or failing meters, should pay in the future.

Collection agency called in for Salem ambulance bills

Salem Editor — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:57:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Fire and finance department officials are making a break with tradition by enlisting the services of a collection agency to help recoup some of the $132,000 owed to the town in outstanding ambulance bills.

In March, Director of Finance Jane Savastano began working with the town’s third-party billing agent Comstar to address what she called “pages and pages” of unpaid ambulance service accounts, some dating back to 2001. She has also put a temporary stop to writing off accounts in an attempt to catch up with large amount of outstanding debt owed to the town.

Coming before the board on Aug. 25, Savastano recommended writing off any account for less than $100 – some of them are for as little as a few cents, she said – and anything prior to 2005.

Unpaid ambulance bills dating from 2005 on would be handed over to a collection agency, in a break from the past. In previous years, those accounts that Comstar had been unable to recoup were presented to the Board of Selectmen to nullify on a monthly basis. Savastano said the write-offs had begun to distort the town’s revenue.

“This is kind of a catch-up time for the last couple of years, trying to write off this old noncollectable debt. Other (boards of selectmen) did not encourage going through collection agencies and with that, (the accounts) just went off on a write-off report,” Savastano said. “Hopefully, we’ll recover some debt. The hope will be to be on top of it once the old billings are cleaned up. It’ll be easier month to month.”

While the board has been supportive of Savastano and Fire Chief Kevin Breen’s move towards using a collection agency to address the loss of those funds, they did express reservations at the just over $76,000 in unpaid invoices the two are asking to be written off before moving forward.

Most of that amount comes from accounts dating back seven or eight years, or from those that only amount to under $100. According to Savastano, collection agencies consider any outstanding bill older than two years not feasible to pursue.

“Only up to two years (serves) as a guideline for the collection agencies,” Savastano said. “That’s really whats feasible and realistic to collect. We can send them everything, but the chances are very slim. As we get caught up, it would be easier, but this is a lot of old garbage sitting out there.”

Salem would continue to work with Comstar in the future – through a process of mailing collection letters to individuals indebted to the town before reporting to the credit companies – to serve as a liaison with a collection agency in the future at no cost to the town.

According to Savastano, for every bill collected by the agency, Salem will see roughly 66 percent of those funds. About 30 percent would remain with the agency as a commission. At the moment, Comstar charges 6.5 percent of the outstanding bill at the time of collection.

On average, use of the town’s ambulance service runs at about $700 a trip, depending on the equipment used and the distance to the hospital, according to Breen. Earlier this week, he stressed to selectmen that the service was not supported by taxes and depended on users to maintain. While some people suffer from financial hardships that might hold them back from reimbursing the town, others chose not to, he said.

“There (is) a large pool of citizens who believe the ambulance services is part of their taxes. We felt it would be appropriate to discuss it publicly before we go forward,” he said on Monday. “Some of the people in Salem get paid (by insurance companies) and chose not to pay their ambulance bill. There’s one thing when there is a hardship, it’s another when you’re receiving the funds and not paying. That’s unacceptable.”

Salem Hedgehog Pond plan doesn't please everyone

Salem Editor — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:51:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

A recently unveiled plan to significantly expand the facilities at Hedgehog Park has evoked mixed reactions from some Salem residents.

“I like it the way it is,” said Kevin McGann, who has been coming to the park for the last three or four months during his lunch breaks.

“I just sneak out for lunch and read my book,” he said, sitting on a fold-out beach chair by the edge of the pond. “It’s close to work and close to home.”

A regular sunbather at the park, Mark Patterson described the current park as “beautiful.”

“When I used to come here, it was called the ‘polio- pit.’ It was dirty,” he said while tanning on the beachfront, which is expected to be expanded to a 100-foot stretch of sand by the time renovations on the park are complete.

“It’s a great thing to have in your backyard,” he said. “I think it’s beautiful. No bugs and the water is all cleaned up.”

While recreation director Chris Dillon has heard from a few residents that the park is fine just the way it is, many more have come to his office to tell him that they love the plan to expand and develop the park.

“Some of the people who use Hedgehog Park and have for years like the park the way it is. Currently, it is that quiet place to get away and go swimming and obviously this will change part of that atmosphere,” he said.

Dillon has proposed a master plan for the park that will include installing the town’s first skate park, renovating the changing and restroom facilities and constructing a pavilion for picnics and parties, enlarging the beach area and putting in basketball and tennis courts.

Existing horseshoe and volleyball facilities are expected to be renovated, as well as the walkway that extends around Hedgehog Pond. Dillon hopes area Boy Scouts or Eagle candidates will be interested in undertaking some of the smaller projects.

“I’m originally from the Midwest,” he said. “I grew up where there are parks and you grew up in communities where you went to these facilities. They had recreational facilities that addressed all sorts of various pursuits and activities.”

A renovated and expanded Hedgehog Park could fulfill that role for Salem, Dillon said.

“What this town could use is a place that is kind of like Griffin Pºark (in Windham). It’s a place people go to because there is so much to do there,” he said. “We have the space at Hedgehog to do something similar.”

The idea to expand the role Hedgehog Park currently plays in Salem came up over the winter when selectmen began looking for a place to put a town skate park. By March, planners had arrived at Hedgehog Park as the best location. A month later, larger scale planning for the park took off.

In the meantime, Dillon said the number of visitors to the park has jumped as well.

“I don’t know if its a combination of gas prices or news attention, but the park has seen a large increase this year over last year,” he said. “More and more people are starting to use it.”

Don Johnson, a lifeguard at the pond for the past two years, has watched the popularity of the park increase.

“It’s a lot more crowded. There are a lot of younger families,” he said. “I think (Hedgehog Park) has been advertised a little more, and people are aware that it’s going to be expanded.”

Last week Dillon began meeting with engineers at the Manchester-based SFC Engineering firm. By the end of the summer and into the early autumn, Dillon hopes to have most of the trees that need to be cleared to complete the renovations out of the park.

He is planning on the skate park opening next year, while plans to construct the new pavilion – currently scheduled for 2014 – may be moved up in the meantime as funds become available.

Plans to build the basketball and tennis courts will be on hold until Dillon can find the money, either through state grants or other avenues, to construct them.

“The basketball and tennis courts would be the largest financial issue, so it depends on if we are accepted by the grants and can come up with matching funds,” he said. “It’s the largest hurdle to overcome, but I definitely believe that we can overcome that.”

First-time park visitor Suzy Rago said the park is very convenient for her family.

“This is nice. The yearly admission is affordable and it’s got the water and the sand,” Rago said. “It’s great for kids. I’d like the beach to be a little bigger, but that’s it.”

Updates proposed for Salem's Hedgehog Pond

Salem Editor — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:53:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

The Salem Board of Selectmen has endorsed a plan unveiled by Recreation Department Director Chris Dillon to significantly expand the beach front at Hedgehog Pond and the park facilities.

“I’m originally from the Midwest and town parks are a big part of town culture. It looks like you’re trying very hard to make (Hedgehog Park) something of a destination,” he said.

At the Monday, July 14 selectmen’s meeting, Dillon presented his master plan for the future of the approximately 28-acre park, which includes expanding the existing beachfront, thinning the tree population, renovating the warming shack – built as a changing room in the summer and a warming area during the winter – with the construction of a pavilion on the site as well as additional parking and a new skate park.

He also outlined a plan to construct additional recreational facilities in the park, including tennis courts, the renovation of a volleyball court and horseshoe pit, and the enlargement of the existing walking trail around the lake.

“The Salem Recreation Department is turning (Hedgehog Park) into a destination location by developing recreation facilities for citizens of all ages,” he told the board. “We are focusing back on establishing a place and destination that people want to go to and a place that attracts people to go to. We want to provide facilities that address needs and wants of people of all ages.”

Dillon said he had already been approached by several Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts to make some renovations within the park – like leveling and expanding the walking trail -– and expressed hopes that some of the other projects would be also undertaken by local Scouts. Offers of additional assistance or services from area residents have already begun coming into the recreation department, according to Dillon.

Town funding for the construction of new tennis courts could be matched by grants from the United States Tennis Association, Dillon said, which is trying to stop a nationwide decline in the sport. He expected additional funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Having already taken a tour of the site with the director of the Department of Public Works to assess the location, Dillon plans to have the park’s tree cover thinned out by the end of the summer. The town has not yet marked which trees will be removed.

With actual work on the project not yet started, Selectman Patrick Hargreaves criticized what he called an already month-long delay in implementing the plan and urged both Dillon and town manager Jonathan Sistare to keep moving ahead with the project.

“This town is known for bureaucracy,” he told the board. “We’ve been working on this plan since February or March. We have $30,000 worth of equipment sitting in a field. We have donations coming in. (Selectman Michael Lyons) wanted a master plan, bingo, we have a master plan. We just need to get this moving. From our plans and my plans, we’re about a month behind schedule because nobody wants to cut a tree down.”

“We don’t want to get so far ahead of ourselves that we regret making an action,” Jonathan Sistare said, after thanking Dillon for taking his time and being deliberative with the project. “We can’t just steamroll ahead on this.”

Selectman Chairman Beth Roth praised Dillon for his plan to expand the park and construct facilities that would make the location an attraction for all residents of Salem.

“I think you’re doing a great job, you and your committee,” said Roth. “I really like your vision for the future. I think that the park has been underutilized by the families of Salem. I think we’re all on the same track in support of that.”

Salem selectman wants skate park

Salem Editor — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:44:00 GMT

BY JIM DEVINE

SALEM – A selectman wants plans for a skate park to get rolling years after residents already paid for the project.

After learning two weeks ago that town-funded materials for a skate park have been in storage for two years, Selectman Patrick Hargreaves said delays have been unacceptable.

“Taxpayers paid for a park; taxpayers don’t have a park. We need to find a place for it,” Hargreaves said. “I’m not letting up on this until we’re getting a skate park.”

In 2004, residents paid for $30,000 worth of skate park equipment to fund a citizen petition put forth by a local teen. When proposed locations fell through, the equipment, consisting of half-pipe ramps and other fixtures, sat in storage.

“We actually purchased the equipment. However, we’re just trying to locate a good place in town that will be ideal for its success,” said Chris Dillon, who was hired last fall as the town’s recreation director.

While the location was first meant to be the Field of Dreams, Hargreaves said proposed locations at the site weren’t viable and that no substitute was found.

“It’s wetlands, so we can’t put it there, and we were originally going to put it there, but it won’t work,” who Hargreaves, who has served as the selectmen’s representative to the Field of Dreams group this past year.

The Field of Dreams, which is a public park on Geremonty Drive, is run by a nonprofit group leasing land from the town. Hargreaves takes issue most with the five-year warranty that was purchased for the equipment that will be more than half expired before anyone even skates on it.

“It’s like buying a car and not driving the car until the warranty expires,” he said. “Does that make sense?”

Selectmen Chairman Everett McBride said he thought the delay was associated with slowing fundraising within the Field of Dreams group, which agreed to pay part of the park’s construction costs.

“They didn’t have the money and now that they do, they’re attempting to get it going,” Mc- Bride said.

This past year, McBride said, the nonprofit group gained the ability to charge parking to high school students with a change to the lease agreement.

“I wish Pat could have brought it up to us sooner,” McBride said. “That’s why selectmen are serving on several committees.”

Hargreaves said his function as a representative to the Field of Dreams group is limited to what the nonprofit group goes over at its monthly meetings. He said only learned of the purchased equipment two weeks ago, when Dillon informed the group that the storage location would be changing.

Dillon said the recreation advisory committee has since been considering locations at local parks that may fit the skate park.

“I do feel that we’re making progress on it. It’s actually one of my number one goals to get it up and running,” Dillon said.

Citizen articles nixed in Salem

Salem Editor — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:58:00 GMT

BY JIM DEVINE

SALEM -- Selectmen have voted against supporting a pair of citizen petition projects to repair a bridge and a road at a price of nearly $600,000.

Residents of Ball Avenue pressed selectmen at their Monday, Feb. 11, meeting to support paving and drainage work on their street, saying the project has been on the town’s road work schedule for many years.

“It’s been quite a while, so it’s due,” said Philip Cammarata of 21 Ball Ave. “Overdue.”

Cammarata, a 13-year-resident of the street, said he was reluctant to petition for the $167,900 project but the road’s “deplorable” shape warranted attention. “It looks like it hasn’t been paved in 40 years,” Cammarata said.

Before unanimously voting not to support the petition, selectmen told Cammarata and other residents that the Ball Avenue work is scheduled for 2009. Cammarata was happy to hear the road had been pushed up in the schedule but said he would still like to see voters approve the petition in March.

“I’d like to see it pass this year, but I’m satisfied they moved it up to 2009,” he said.

Selectmen also voted against recommending a $430,000 petition project presented by Dianne Paquette of 58 Pelham Road to repair the culvert at Pelham Road and Commercial Drive.

The culvert, which was part of a $3.8 million town-wide bridge repair bond article that failed to garner support last year, has contributed to flooding on neighboring properties, Paquette said.

“Our properties, because of the bridge, become catch basins as water sits there for days,” she said. Since the Mother’s Day flood of 2006, Paquette said, the town has been better about clearing debris from the small culvert but a permanent solution is needed.

While selectmen Patrick Hargreaves and Arthur Barnes supported the project, other officials were reluctant to see the culvert expanded, which may cause a rush of water further down the waterways in town. Without a hydrology study of the town’s waterways, Selectman Michael Lyons said he didn’t want to rely on “instinct” while solving the problem.

Paquette, however, said the project’s need was intuitive and that it shouldn’t have to wait since there’s no guarantee of a water study in coming years.

“I just need to know how many floods I need to be prepared for,” Paquette said. “I’m sure you are thinking a year may not be a long time, but we just look at it as three or four more floods we have to endure.”

Though Paquette’s plan would enlarge the culvert to bridge specifications to qualify it for state aid, there was no confirmation that the town would be reimbursed for the project.

“It isn’t a bridge now so it’s not going to qualify,” Selectman Everett McBride said.

Selectmen voted against recommending the article, 3-2, with selectmen Patrick Hargreaves and Arthur Barnes voting in the minority.

New town manager to start job in fall

Salem Editor — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:38:00 GMT

BY MATT HERSH

Salem is ready to hire its next town manager, but it’ll have to wait until he returns from Iraq.

At their Monday, June 25, meeting, selectmen announced that they have offered the job to Jonathan Sistare after months of searching and interviewing.

Selectmen said Sistare has received and accepted a conditional offer for the position. He is set to begin working for the town on Oct. 1 after he returns from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Sistare is the current town manager in Jaffrey and is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Current Town Manager Henry LaBranche said the job offer is still dependent on a background check and contract negotiations, but he hopes to have the process completed within a month.

Sistare was chosen over Salem Community Development Director William Scott, Pelham Town Administrator Thomas Gaydos and Deputy Federal Security Director William Ross.

The selection process took a committee of town employees several months as they narrowed down a pool of candidates to the final four earlier this month. Selectmen interviewed each of the finalists before making their choice.

LaBranche is set to retire in December but said he wants to have Sistare in place beforehand so he can assist the new manager with the town budget process.

Sistare is set to return from Iraq at the end of September. LaBranche said that he and selectmen aren’t too worried that their new manager will be called back to serve again.

“Anything is possible,” LaBranche said. “It doesn’t appear (his unit) is going to be on the extended list.”

LaBranche said he believes Sistare will bring continued stability to the town manager position and is confident he will stay for a long time.

Though some selectmen said they didn’t know if they could comment about why they chose Sistare because the minutes of their nonpublic sessions are still sealed, LaBranche said the board was impressed by his qualifications.

“I think he was attractive to the board because of the experience factor,” he said. “He has a strong commitment for this to be the career and job he’s looking for.”

Sistare holds a law degree and a master’s degree in public administration. He has more than 18 years of experience in municipal work.

He has been the town manager in Jaffrey since 1993. Prior to that, he held the same position in Hopkinton.

Sistare could earn as much as $125,000 per year, but his salary will be decided during contract negotiations.

Salem to decide on manager soon

Salem Editor — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:18:00 GMT

BY MATT HERSH

A week after Salem selectmen met privately to discuss the four finalists for the town manager position, a decision has yet to be made.

The board met during a non-public session on Wednesday, June 13, but were unable to finish their discussion.

Selectman Michael Lyons said he couldn’t discuss the meeting and he would only confirm that the board will meet again on Thursday, June 21, to continue the discussion.

Named as finalists for the position earlier this month were: Thomas Gaydos, the current town administrator in Pelham; William Ross, a deputy federal security director at the Philadelphia, Pa., airport; Jonathan Sistare, the town manager in Jaffrey: and William Scott, Salem’s current community development director.

Current Town Manager Henry LaBranche is set to retire in December, but he said he hopes to find his replacement by the fall. That way, he’ll be able to advise the new manager and help him prepare for Town Meeting season.

The new town manager will earn between $98,000 and $125,000.

LaBranche currently earns $98,000 and turned down a pay raise during his time in the position.

Advertisements for the position drew a total of 41 applicants, only 13 of which were truly qualified, LaBranche said.

Selectmen said they are confident about the final candidates but will miss LaBranche’s influence and stability.