The corporate retreat is an interesting concept. The idea is that a group of colleagues gather, in a setting different from their regular one, in order to step away from the minutiae of the day-to-day and consider the big-picture issues.
And so it was with the selectmen’s retreat on April 15. The meeting took place in the parlor of the Hildreth House, with members huddled around pizza and Cokes purchased by Town Administrator Tim Bragan.
It’s also worth noting that the selectmen renamed the evening a “strategic planning session” with the aim of highlighting the central purpose of the meeting: to identify the key issues facing the town and to begin the discussion about how they might best be addressed.
It was a long night and a meaty agenda. The selectmen discussed basic issues of board structure and town governance. They touched on how to increase volunteer participation on town committees, how to streamline the town’s efforts to address affordable housing, and how to improve energy use in town buildings.
Not surprisingly, they spent a great deal of time considering budget issues and brainstorming ways to make the budget process easier in coming years. They discussed ideas ranging from starting the budget cycle earlier to giving each department a specific target amount when beginning its budget planning. They acknowledged upcoming contract negotiations with town employees and explored ways to make this a positive and productive process.
They also discussed their eagerness to make good use of the financial expertise of town residents. They discussed the charge of the new Fiscal Impact Analysis Team, made up of local residents, and also explored the idea of hiring town-based lobbyists and grant writers who could help the town to generate more revenue.
This reporter left after four hours, with the selectmen still going strong. Assuming they stuck to their agenda, they also discussed issues relating to maintaining and improving town facilities and infrastructure, improving communication via the town website and e-mail, and the disposition of Devens.
It’s important to note that the selectmen did no voting that night. Rather, they stuck to their initial goal of identifying problems and exploring solutions. This was a meeting that was definitely more process- than product-oriented.
But while there were no committees created, no policies agreed upon, and no “action” taken, some very important work was done that night—which leads me back to the initial purpose of a “retreat.”
Here are five people, each with a specific skill set, work experience, life experience, and vision for the town. It’s hard enough as an individual to lay out a plan of action and implement it—and even harder to do so as a team.
This group, like any group, needs to figure out how to make the best use of each team member’s expertise. Its members need to begin to navigate the sometimes tricky waters of communication and compromise—which means that each of them has to take the time to learn how their colleagues operate. Who will be the “talker?” Who does a good job as the “face” of the board? Who sits silently through every meeting, only to come up with a pithy analysis of the situation or a brilliant idea? Think of it this way: every sports team gets at least a few practices before they go out on the court, or the field, to face their opponent. The selectmen don’t have that luxury.
With so many pressing issues facing the town, this is an important year for the selectmen to have had their retreat—to have time to step back and assess the field before they dive in. It can only be to our benefit to have them working together effectively as they move forward with an agenda that is meaty indeed.
Editor’s Note: A Reporter’s Notebook is a reporter’s in-depth analysis of an ongoing area of coverage or a long-term issue.
