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A group of Pembroke residents wants to bring big changes to Town Hall this spring.
The Town Government Study Committee, which has been meeting since August, is putting together an article for the April 27 Town Meeting that would change Pembroke from a town administrator to a town manager form of government — and possibly replace most elected boards with appointed members. A manager would replace the Board of Selectmen as the town’s chief executive officer in charge of hiring and personnel and the day-to-day operations of Town Hall. Selectmen would hire the manager, who would report to the board. “We feel that it’s time, with a $25 million budget to run the town side of Pembroke [not including the schools], to have a professional manager with qualifications that are set by the Board of Selectmen and to organize a search committee to find the right person to come in here and be responsible for the running of Town Hall,” said Lew Stone, a selectman and chairman of the study committee. The committee has spent the last six months meeting with officials from nearby towns that resemble Pembroke in size, budget and demographics. As a result of those discussions, the committee drafted an act establishing a town manager format. They have been meeting with boards — on Monday talking with the town clerk, Advisory Committee and Conservation Commission — to get feedback on that plan as well as a possible change from elected to appointed positions. The change would affect the Department of Public Works Commissioners, Board of Assessors, Board of Health, Planning Board, Library Trustees and the town clerk. The moderator, School Committee and Board of Selectmen by state law must remain elected. If Town Meeting voters approve the act, the item would then be voted on at the town election the following Saturday, study committee member Tony Marino said. If approved there, it would go before the Massachusetts General Court. Then a search committee would begin its process. “It’s similar to what Hanover did, so we’re assuming we can follow that process,” said Marino, a building inspector in Pembroke and Hanover. Hanover voters approved a change to manager at their 2009 Town Meeting. When meeting with the Conservation Commission Monday night, study committee members were asked if a particular incident or issue had led them to their decision. Pete Isham, a civics teacher, said he joined the group to learn more about town government. “I wasn’t getting on the committee saying we need a change; I just wanted to look and see how it was operating,” he said. Though at first he wasn’t convinced, Isham said he realized the change would make Town Hall more efficient, with departments reporting to one person. “They would have to go the town manager first, but selectmen still have a lot of the final say. They would get to hire and fire the town manager if there was a problem,” he said. Marino said there are some days when Town Hall is open but certain offices are closed without other officials being informed. “We need to streamline that so the staff’s talking to each other, so everybody understands what everybody else’s department is doing,” he said. In Hanover, Marino works in the newly created Department of Municipal Inspections, which combines the Board of Health, conservation, planning and building departments into one office and helps ensure projects and applicants “don’t fall through the cracks.” Bill Buckley, who has lived in Pembroke for 45 years, said he has “watched it grow from a sleepy little town” and that the changing population required qualified board members instead of people who were “submitted to a beauty contest as elected officials are.” Buckley was a member and chairman of the Planning Board for 18 years. “I’ve seen how it works, and I’ve seen how it’s not working as well as it should, given our size and our budget,” he said. George Emanuel, Pembroke Fire Deputy Chief, also has worked for the town for many years. “This government seems to be segmented, a lot of loose ends, and it just seems obvious that they should be tied together,” he said. Conservation Commission member Mark Ames asked how the town would be protected from “cronyism” if all board members were appointed by the manager. Buckley responded, “A good, strong Board of Selectmen who, after a thorough, independent search, find the right guy.” Elected assessor Libby Bates, who sat in on a portion of Conservation’s meeting with the study committee, said she did not think Pembroke was ready for a town manager. “We went down this route about 11 or 12 years ago when we hired Ed Thorne [as town administrator],” she said. “I don’t even think it got that far [to Town Meeting]. It was clear that the town did not want to go to a town manager at that point in time.” Bates said she felt the town was “desperately in need of some structural change” and that they could start by having a clear, accepted job description for every town position. She also did not support making the Board of Assessors and other boards appointed. Town Clerk Mary Ann Smith, who also is elected, supported the idea. ““At one time or another, every department has to go to Ed [Thorne] for something, either his opinion or his permission, and in that aspect nothing will change,” she said.
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