Swanson exits with advice for Select Board

Date: 1/9/2012

Jan. 9, 2012

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

LONGMEADOW — Christine Swanson is officially no longer a member of the Select Board.

Swanson announced in 2011 that she planned to resign, explaining that her family was moving to Savannah, Ga. While she passed her title as vice-chair of the Select Board to Paul Santaniello, she said she would continue to serve on the board until her house was sold or until the end of the year.

“I will be resigning from the Longmeadow Select Board effective the evening of Jan. 3, 2012,” she said in a prepared statement to the Select Board. “It has been a pleasure and an honor serving the last six years as a member of the Select Board, School Committee and School Building Committee.”

Swanson also took the opportunity to make suggestions and observations regarding the committee, its duties and its effectiveness.

“For my fellow board members, the past year has served as an opportunity to examine and learn from our mistakes and successes. My observations and participation on the board have provided me with greater clarity on the issues and challenges that continue to prevent the board from moving forward. Here are a few of my suggestions,” she wrote.

“1) No one board member has greater power or influence over any other board member. Without collaboration and greater communication, issues will continue to go unresolved.

“2) Trust is a large issue and continued undermining and backdooring of issues will further exacerbate this issue.

“3) Personal agendas and future political aspirations should be put aside to allow the board to focus on the critical issues of the town as a whole, not one sub set of the population for political or personal gain.

“4) Separation of operations and policy must be adhered to and board members getting involved in the day to day operations of the town is not the board’s charge and damaging to the employed leaders.

“5) Town committees serve as advisory to the Select Board. They do not override the expertise of the town employees but should enhance the information and data. Continued antagonistic relationships between town departments and some town committees needs to be addressed.

“6) The School Building Committee is a great example of how collaboration works when a team is comprised of town employees, vendors, elected board members and residents. It should serve as a model going forward.

“7) Lastly, I do hope that the board takes their time and does the proper due diligence in the hiring of a new Town Manager. Recent hires by ‘hiring committees’ have shown that there is room for improvement in the current process and the hiring committee needs to do the appropriate level of research to learn all they can about a candidate before they are offered a position,” she continued.

According to Select Board Chair Mark Gold, the town is weighing its options in regards to filling Swanson’s seat. He explained to Reminder Publications that the Select Board is researching whether or not it can include a special election in the March 6 presidential primary election. If not, the town faces the possibility of having to pay for five elections in a six-month period.

“The Select Board is currently researching whether or not we can include such a special election in the upcoming presidential primary election in March. Otherwise, the town will be facing the cost for running a special election to fill this seat, and potentially two special elections if there needs to be a preliminary election in the case where more than two candidates file for the position,” he said. “Our regular town election is now set for June 12. If that election needs a preliminary election (because more than two people file for any one seat) then we’re facing still another election this year.”

Gold added that the town is looking at its calendar and costs to find the best possible scenario for the town and until the Select Board receives answers to some scheduling questions, no decisions are likely.