Grading the Board of Selectmen

At their first meeting since town elections, Harvard selectmen set a date in May for their annual retreat, an hours-long conclave at which they and Town Administrator Tim Bragan discuss and agree to goals for the coming year. But wait—not so fast. What of the year just past? How well did the Board of Selectmen (BOS) do on their goals for their just-expired term?

Earlier this month, the Press sent all five BOS members a draft “report card” and invited them to comment. All five responded, with assessments that ranged from a mark best described as a “gentleman’s C” to a Prairie Home Companion-like grade, where the results, like the children of Lake Wobegon, were “all above average.”

“While I think we made excellent progress on our goals,” wrote Selectman Ron Ricci, “many of them require continuing effort and (I expect) will be adopted for the coming year.”

Selectman Tim Clark was more pessimistic, describing progress on the goal of improved communication between the BOS and other boards and town departments, for example, as “mediocre.”

A comparison of the more explicit aims listed by the selectmen in their goals document last year (See sidebar, “Board of Selectmen FY 2011 Goals”) with projects and tasks completed in time for the recent Annual Town Meeting (ATM), confirms that many were met, if not by the BOS itself, then by one or more volunteer town committees or boards. For example:

• The Municipal Buildings Committee delivered a plan for Town Hall, Hildreth House and the old library well ahead of its “60 days before Town Meeting” deadline;
• The selectmen assembled an Economic Development Committee (EDC) to accelerate development of the Ayer Road commercial district;
• A home-rule petition to clear the way for Harvard to join the Devens Economic Target Area (ETA) was placed on the ATM warrant and approved by voters;
• Additional catch basins to protect Bare Hill Pond were completed;
• Many (but by no means all) town boards, committees, and department got in step with the selectmen’s call for them to submit five-year capital plans with their annual budgets.

“Softer” objectives, however, proved more troublesome. The “all-boards” meeting held in Volunteers Hall last fall was deemed a success, but later “quad board” meetings of the BOS, Finance, School and Capital committees seemed obsessed by the report of a single committee, the MBC, and its ambitious recommendations for town center buildings, at the expense of the traditional tri-board review of the school and other budgets, or discussion of such matters as the often-voiced fear of a looming structural deficit.

The BOS was not able to persuade any of Harvard’s neighbors “to seek opportunities for shared resources and services.” Maybe that’s because “other towns have different ideas,” noted outgoing BOS Chairman Peter Warren. “Our board continues to work on regional services,” he said.

“We weren’t being coy in choosing the word ‘seek’,” wrote Johnson in his response.

Green Community designation was achieved in spite of the BOS, which voted against it; it took a citizens’ petition to bring the matter before the town at a Special Town Meeting, which approved it.

Most memorably, however, when it came time to recommend next steps for the renovation of town buildings, the selectmen were unable to achieve a consensus among themselves or, crucially, with the Finance and Capital committees, on how to proceed until moments before the start of Town Meeting. And yet, four of the five selectmen did not agree with the Press conclusion that the depth of their disagreement was a sign of poor communication.

“I caution you to differentiate between good communication and unanimity,” wrote Johnson. “The Municipal Buildings project was only one of a significant number of initiatives that the selectmen successfully tackled. It just happened to be the one that we, mirroring the community as a whole [italics are Johnson’s], disagreed most strongly about.”

New BOS Chairman Marie Sobalvarro agreed: “I think to frame a disagreement on approach as a lack of communication,” she wrote, “misses the mark. For example, I am in close communication with many folks who disagree with me; it’s not lack of communication, but a simple disagreement on next steps.”

Although future meetings of the Board of Selectmen will be guided by Sobalvarro, the membership of the board remains the same as it’s been for the past 12 months, with incumbents Ricci and Sobalvarro having been returned for three more years by the voters. Soon they will meet with Bragan to review their 2011 results and plan for 2012.

Meantime, the Press is pleased to present its own highly informal assessment of how well the BOS did in meeting its goals. The results are summarized in the table that accompanies this article (See “2011 BOS Scorecard”). Tell us what you think. How would you assess the work of the BOS as FY2011 draws to a close?