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Date: 7/20/2022
SOUTHWICK — The Select Board interviewed a potential candidate for appointment to the Conservation Commission July 11, which prompted concern from one commission member less than a year after her controversial removal from the commission.
The Select Board heard from Anthony Reardon, a Southwick resident who expressed interest in joining the Conservation Commission and serving in government for the first time. Reardon told the board about growing up near Boston, and watching how that area developed over time. He said Southwick may be on that path.
“Growing up in Eastern Mass., MetroWest and Boston specifically, and watching that area explode, … Southwick is sort of on the cusp of that, being a suburb of Hartford and Springfield,” said Reardon.
He said he does not have a formal education in conservation, but that he has an “informal education” on development and conservation in Southwick through participation in conservation events.
“I would like to see Southwick develop in a way that keeps it a cool place to be,” said Reardon.
Reardon also said he had been asked to serve on the Planning Board in the past, but was reluctant to do so at the time.
Before Reardon’s interview with the Select Board, Conservation Commission member Maryssa Cook-Obregon expressed concern that the board interviewing new candidates for appointment could mean she might be removed from the commission again.
Last fall, Cook-Obregon was one of three people from the Conservation Commission, Agricultural Commission and Community Preservation Committee to suddenly find themselves out of their seats after the Select Board voted not to reappoint them. It was later determined that the move was in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Law, because it was not properly advertised beforehand that the three commission members were not going to be reappointed.
Cook-Obregon, along with Dennis Clark and Chris Pratt, did not find out that they were not reappointed until the day after the Select Board’s Sept. 27 vote. Cook-Obregon and Clark were reinstated to their seats after it was found that they were removed illegally. Pratt later rejoined the Community Preservation Committee in one of its elected seats.
The terms for Cook-Obregon and fellow Conservation Commission member Kevin Solek expired June 30, meaning that if Reardon is ultimately appointed by the Select Board, one of the two will no longer have a seat.
Select Board Chair Russ Fox said that in this current cycle of reappointments the board is going to make sure it is in full compliance with state law. A recall election petition circulated in November in the hopes of unseating Fox in part because of the removals, but it failed to gather enough signatures.
“Because of all the commotion that happened last year, we are trying to make sure we are in full compliance with what the attorney general’s office said,” said Fox.
Cook-Obregon said she is concerned that the Select Board will again choose not to reappoint her. She sits on both the Conservation and Agricultural commissions, and said she submitted applications for reappointment for both back in May. She said she has not received confirmation of receipt of the applications by the Select Board, or notification of when she might be interviewed.
“It strikes me that June 30 has gone by and both positions haven’t been refilled,” said Cook-Obregon.
Fox said before the interview that he had not personally decided who among Reardon, Cook-Obregon and Solek he would vote for an appointment or reappointment to the Conservation Commission.
“We won’t decide anything until everyone else has had an opportunity to be heard,” said Fox.
Fox said he and the rest of the Select Board had no intention of violating the law when they made the dismissals of the commission members last year.
“But now that we have been put on notice, we are going to make sure we are in full compliance,” said Fox.
He urged Southwick residents to apply for positions on other boards and commissions in town that have openings, such as the Historical Commission and Economic Development commission.