Treasury provides clarity on ARPA
By Jackie Lavender Bird
Since releasing its initial guidance for
the State and Local Fiscal Recovery
Funds included in the American Rescue
Plan Act, the U.S. Department of the
Treasury continues to provide details
that are bringing clarity to the program
and its local uses.
Signed into law on March 10, the $1.9
trillion American Rescue Plan, the latest
round of federal stimulus funds, in-
cludes $360 billion in relief for state and
local governments across the country.
For Massachusetts, the ARPA provides
$2 billion for municipalities and $1.34
billion for counties.
As the agency administering the funds,
the Treasury Department released its
151-page Interim Final Rule on May 10,
identifying eligible expenditures under
the law, and began establishing specic
dollar amounts for local government
allocations.
Allocation amounts
e Treasury initially released alloca-
tion amounts for states, counties and
Metropolitan Cities (of which there
are 38 in Massachusetts). Two weeks
later, on May 24, the Treasury provided
allocation amounts for non-entitlement
communities, of which there are 313 in
Massachusetts.
On June 1, the Executive Oce for
Administration and Finance’s Federal
Funds Oce released a spreadsheet
with total allocation amounts for all
Massachusetts municipalities. Metro-
politan Cities will receive funds based
on the federal Community Develop-
ment Block Grant formula. e direct
ARPA aid amount for non-entitlement
communities (not including county al-
locations) is approximately $104.67 per
capita, based on the 2019 U.S. Census
population estimate, with 50% delivered
June 2021Vol. XLVIII, No. 6 A Publication of the Massachusetts Municipal Association | www.mma.org
Deadline extended for
Coronavirus Relief Fund ......3
Senate approves FY22 state
budget ........................................3
Chapter 90 bill advances in
Legislature ..............................4
Governor files transportation
bills ..............................................5
Around the Commonwealth ........... 16
People ................................................24
Classifieds .........................................27
Calendar ............................................33
Inside
n ARPA continued on 12
MMA supports legislation to extend
certain special allowances
By Brittney Franklin
On May 25, Gov. Charlie Baker led legisla-
tion to extend certain emergency measures
currently in place by executive order that
are set to expire on June 15, when the
state of emergency will be rescinded.
e governor’s legislation (S. 2452)
would extend measures providing for a
temporary suspension of certain open
meeting law requirements, special permits
for expanded outdoor dining, and bill-
ing protections for COVID-19 patients.
Temporarily extending these measures,
the governor said, would give communi-
ties and businesses time to transition, but
extending them requires legislation.
e MMA has been advocating for the
permanent extension of many pandemic
rules.
“e abrupt end of the state of emergency
on June 15 will create a number of major
transition challenges for government and
businesses, which is why swift passage of
n EMERGENCY MEASURES continued on 26
People enjoy expanded outdoor dining in
Lawrence last summer. (Photo courtesy
Esther Encarnacion/City of Lawrence)
Panelists take part in an MMA-hosted
webinar on May 20 covering allowable
uses of American Recovery Plan Act
funds. Pictured are (clockwise from top
left) Irma Esparza Diggs, senior executive
and director of Federal Advocacy for the
National League of Cities, MMA Executive
Director Geo Beckwith, Heath Fahle,
special director for federal funds at the
Executive Oce for Administration and
Finance, and Sean Cronin, senior deputy
commissioner at the Division of Local
Services.
2 • The Beacon • June 2021
Getting to ‘new normal’ is a process, not an
on-o switch
What a dierence a month
makes!
With Massachusetts leading
the nation in vaccinations, and
health indicators all heading in
the right direction, Gov. Charlie
Baker and his team have made
the determination that we can
accelerate our return to a more
normal life. While much of the
country was already headed
there, our state has consistently, and
rightly, been more prudent, basing deci-
sions on science, data and reality.
e abrupt end of the state of emergency
on June 15 will create a number of major
transition challenges for government
and businesses. We’re not going back to
yesterday’s normal. We’re jumping ahead
to a “new normal,” and that won’t be
like ipping an “on” switch — it will be
a process, with phases and stages, starts
and stops, and twists and turns.
e most immediate and urgent issue
that must be addressed is enactment of
a permanent extension of the ability to
conduct public meetings and hearings
remotely.
On March 12, 2020, the governor used
his state-of-emergency powers to issue
an executive order suspending certain
provisions of the open meeting law,
allowing cities and towns to conduct
meetings remotely. is was necessary
because the existing state stat-
ute is woefully inadequate, does
not allow remote participation
in meetings unless a physical
quorum is present, and reduces
the ability of ocials who are
participating virtually to fully
engage. Nearly overnight, cities
and towns adopted new tech-
nology and software platforms
and created a remarkably suc-
cessful all-remote meeting experience
for municipal leaders and the public.
Remote meetings have engaged more
residents than ever before and have
signicantly increased transparency and
insight into government operations and
decision-making. Communities do not
want to snap back to the overly conn-
ing pre-pandemic rules, and most are
not in a position to do so quickly. Many
localities have closed public buildings,
repurposed meeting rooms to provide
safer distancing for municipal employ-
ees, or have longer-term ventilation con-
cerns that have yet to be addressed.
Further, with many residents yet to be
vaccinated, and immuno-compromised
ocials and members of the public
unable to achieve full protection from
the coronavirus, it is imperative that we
continue the remote meeting option for
local government.
Amending state laws, especially those
By Georey
Beckwith
Executive Director’s Report
June 2021 | Volume XLVIII, Number 6
Copyright © 2021, Massachusetts Municipal Association
Manager of
Publications & Digital
Communications
John Ouellette
Associate Editor
Jennifer Kavanaugh
Digital Communications
Coordinator
Meredith Gabrilska
Communications &
Membership Director
Candace Pierce
Publisher
Georey Beckwith
Design
Full Circle Design
Massachusetts Municipal Association
Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association
3 Center Plaza, Suite 610, Boston, MA 02108
617-426-7272 •
www.mma.org
Twitter and Facebook: @massmunicipal
Periodicals Postage Paid at Boston, MA, and
additional mailing oces.
eBeacon (ISSN 0199-235X) is published monthly,
except for a combined July-August issue, by the
Massachusetts Municipal Association, 3 Center
Plaza, Suite 610, Boston, MA 02108. e MMA
is composed of the Massachusetts Selectmen’s
Association, the Massachusetts Mayors’ Association,
the Massachusetts Municipal Management
Association, the Massachusetts Municipal
Councillors’ Association, and the Association of
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fee is included in dues payments for members.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to eBeacon,
3 Center Plaza, Suite 610, Boston, MA 02108.
We encourage readers to send comments, story ideas, news
items, and events notices to [email protected].
2021 MMA
Board of Directors
e MMA Board of Directors holds regular
meetings in Boston, followed by a meeting of
the Local Government Advisory Commission
with the administration. For information on
the board’s activities, call the oce of MMA
Executive Director Geo Beckwith at 617-426-
7272.
Executive Committee
Adam Chapdelaine, MMA President
Town Manager, Arlington
Ruthanne Fuller, MMA Vice President
Mayor, Newton
Cecilia Calabrese, MMA Immediate Past
President
Councillor, Agawam
Michael Bettencourt, MSA President
Select Board Member, Winchester
Lisa Blackmer, MMCA President
Councillor, North Adams
Brian Boyle, ATFC President
Finance Committee, Bolton
George “Bud” Dunham, MMMA First Vice
President
Town Manager, Sandwich
Scott Galvin, MMaA President
Mayor, Woburn
Julie Jacobson, MMMA President
Town Manager, Auburn
Jeovanny Rodriguez, MMCA First Vice
President
Councillor, Lawrence
John Trickey, ATFC First Vice President
Finance Committee, Pelham
Linda Tyer, MMaA First Vice President
Mayor, Pittseld
Michael Walsh, MSA First Vice President
Select Board Member, Westwood
Geo Beckwith (non-voting)
MMA Executive Director
Brian Arrigo, Mayor, Revere
Steve Bartha, Town Manager, Danvers
Lisa Braccio, Selectman, Southborough
Ralph Figy, Councillor, Westeld
Andrew Flanagan, Town Manager, Andover
Claire Freda, Councillor, Leominster
Jill Hai, Select Board, Lexington
Andrew Hogeland, Select Board, Williamstown
Donna Holaday, Mayor, Newburyport
omas Hutcheson, Town Manager, Dalton
Kim Janey, Mayor, Boston
Diane Kennedy, Select Board, Cohasset
Afroz Khan, Councillor, Newburyport
John McLaughlin, Councillor, Waltham
Dan Matthews, Select Board, Needham
David Narkewicz, Mayor, Northampton
Moises Rodrigues, Councillor, Brockton
Alan Slavin, Selectman, Wareham
Peter Spellios, Select Board, Swampscott
Eric Steinhilber, Councillor, Barnstable
Kevin Sweet, Town Administrator, Wrentham
Arthur Vigeant, Mayor, Marlborough
Kristi Williams, Town Manager, Westborough
TheBeacon
n DIRECTOR’S REPORT continued on 26
June 2021 • The Beacon • 3
Senate OK’s FY22 state budget; conference committee up next
By Jackie Lavender Bird
On May 27, the Senate approved a
$47.72 billion state spending plan for
scal 2022 that, for municipal and
school aid accounts, included few chang-
es from the recommendation released by
the Senate Ways and Means Committee
in early May.
On the main local aid accounts, the Sen-
ate budget matches the House-Senate
local aid agreement announced in early
April.
Unrestricted General Government Aid
would increase by 3.5%, or $39.5 mil-
lion, matching the projected growth in
state tax collections and consistent with
the state revenue-sharing practice over
the last several years.
e Senate budget meets the
House-Senate commitment to fund the
Student Opportunity Act at one-sixth
of the implementation schedule rather
than one-seventh, providing a total
of $5.5 billion for Chapter 70 aid. e
joint agreement also would provide $40
million for a one-time, targeted grant
program for school districts adversely
aected by student enrollment decline
during the COVID-19 public health
emergency.
e Division of Local Services will be
posting updated preliminary Cherry
Sheet numbers for cities, towns and re-
gional school districts based on the nal
Senate budget.
e Senate decided against taking
up amendments that would address
extending certain provisions after the
public health emergency, including
remote participation at public meetings,
vote-by-mail, and outdoor dining provi-
sions. Instead, these items will be taken
up through the legislative process.
e House and Senate will quickly ap-
point a six-member conference commit-
tee to work out the dierences between
the House and Senate budget bills,
with the objective of presenting a nal
legislative budget to the governor by the
beginning of the scal year on July 1. ●
State extends deadline for Coronavirus Relief Fund
By Jackie Lavender Bird
State ocials on June 1 announced an
extension of the spending deadline for
the Coronavirus Relief Fund Municipal
Program.
Rather than the previously announced
deadline of June 30, 2021, cities and
towns can now submit applications for
reimbursement for eligible expenses
through Oct. 29, 2021.
e Executive Oce for Administra-
tion and Finance’s Federal Funds Oce
explained the change in a memo to
municipal CEOs. e memo outlines a
pre-approval process that may be used
in certain limited circumstances for
those who anticipate needing access to
their funds between Oct. 29 and Dec.
31, 2021.
e state is required to return any
unused Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars
to the federal government by Dec. 31,
2021. e deadline extension gives
municipalities more time to apply for
remaining eligible expenses, while leav-
ing the state sucient time to reallocate
any remaining funds in order to keep
the money in the Commonwealth.
e memo notes the potential compli-
ance risks involved with the deadline
extension, which will create an overlap
between federal funding from the 2020
CARES Act and new funding from the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Municipal CEOs are reminded to be
cognizant of these potential risks and to
refer to the published guidance.
e Commonwealth created the Corona-
virus Relief Fund – Municipal Program
(CvRF-MP) to make up to $502 million
in federal resources available to munic-
ipalities to respond to the public health
emergency caused by COVID-19. ●
e scal 2022 state budget is moving to a
legislative conference committee.
MMA opposes cannabis bills that would usurp local authority
By Brittney Franklin
e Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy
held a hearing on May 11 on a number
of bills related to host community agree-
ments for adult-use marijuana business-
es and community impact fees.
Some of the bills before the committee
during the hearing would authorize the
Cannabis Control Commission to review,
regulate and enforce all host community
agreements.
In testimony to the committee, the
MMA said the bills “are overreaches that
would usurp local authority.” Roughly
1,100 fully executed host community
agreements could be on the line if the
Legislature decides to move forward
with the bills.
“Retroactively invalidating or altering
1,100 existing contracts, which were
negotiated in good faith on behalf of the
public, would certainly invite challenges
that these bills violate the Contracts
Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” the
MMA wrote.
Several other bills before the committee
would address the community impact
portion of the host community agree-
ment, a portion of state law that has
proven controversial.
In its testimony, the MMA oered to
“work with members of this committee
on alternatives to the bills before you
today to nd a framework that all stake-
holders can support. We believe there
is a solution that would create a much
more predictable process for everyone,
while allowing communities to continue
to serve the public interest.” ●
4 • The Beacon • June 2021
Committee bill would level-fund Ch. 90 road program
By Ariela Lovett
e Joint Committee on Transportation on
June 1 reported out a Chapter 90 bill that
would level-fund the local road funding
program at $200 million for scal 2022
while adding $75 million across three
municipal transportation grant programs
administered by the Department of Trans-
portation.
e new bill (H. 3852) would update the
funding authorization in a transportation
bond bill passed in January to add $75
million, split evenly among the Municipal
Small Bridge Program (increasing it from
$70 million to $95 million); a municipal
bus transit program (increasing it from $25
million to $50 million); and a municipal
program to enhance access to mass transit
and commuter rail stations (increasing it
from $25 million to $50 million).
e additional authorizations proposed in
H. 3852 would be bond-funded.
e bill was sent to the Joint Committee on
Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State
Assets, which is accepting only written
testimony through June 3 at 1 p.m.
At a March 9 Transportation Committee
hearing — and at many previous hearings
— the MMA urged legislators to increase
Chapter 90 funding to at least $300 million
per year, and to support a multiyear bill in
order to provide predictability for cities and
towns. e state has added several target-
ed, competitive road funding opportunities
for municipalities in recent years, but the
MMA argued that “there is no substitute
for the core Chapter 90 program,” which is
“the only non-competitive program that
maintains local control over how to spend
the dollars on local road projects” and the
only one that benets all 351 cities and
towns.
e MMA also emphasized the importance
of nalizing the Chapter 90 bill as quickly
as possible so that cities and towns can
access their allotment and begin the spring
construction season on time. e Trans-
portation Committee, however, held the
bill for nearly two months this spring.
Chapter 90 has been level-funded at $200
million since 2012, with a few one-time
exceptions.
e MMA led a standalone Chapter 90
bill, sponsored by Sen. Adam Hinds, that
would fund the Chapter 90 program at
$300 million per year for two years. e
bill (SB. 2338) has not yet been assigned a
hearing date.
rough the Chapter 90 program, the Mas-
sachusetts Department of Transportation
reimburses cities and towns for costs in-
curred for eligible transportation projects.
Funding is awarded by municipality and is
predetermined by a formula that includes
factors such as population, road miles, and
employment. ●
A Chapter 90 bill making its way through
the legislative process would provide
$200 million for local road work and add
$75 million to three other municipal
transportation grant programs. (Photo
courtesy Christopher Bouchard)
Legislature re-enacts, and governor signs, mandated sick leave plan
By John Robertson
On May 28, Gov. Charlie Baker signed
mandatory COVID-19-related paid sick
leave provisions that were unanimously
re-enacted by the House and Senate earlier
in the month after being previously rejected
by the governor.
e sick leave provisions had been included
in unemployment insurance reform and
tax legislation that the Legislature passed
in March. Baker signed Chapter 9 of the
Acts of 2021 on April 1, but he returned its
sick leave sections with recommendations
to improve and simplify implementation
of the program, including an exemption for
local government. Legislative leaders said
at the time that they intended to stick with
their original plan to include local govern-
ment employers in the mandate.
e MMA opposed including local govern-
ment in the sick leave mandate, noting that
local government employees already receive
strong sick leave benets through collective
bargaining agreements and local policies,
and decisions about whether to use munic-
ipal revenues to oer special supplemental
COVID-19 benets should be made at the
local level.
e paid sick leave sections of the new
law apply to all Massachusetts employers,
including cities and towns. e new rules
took eect immediately and will end on
Sept. 30 of this year unless extended. e
administration issued preliminary guidance
for employers when the governor signed
the bill.
e sick leave provisions require employers
to temporarily provide emergency paid
sick leave to employees who are absent
or unable to work for reasons related
to COVID-19, including employee self-
care and care of a family member with a
COVID-19 diagnosis or symptoms, compli-
ance with an order to quarantine because
of exposure or symptoms, and inability to
telework after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
e new temporary state program is based
on requirements in the federal sick leave
program included in the Families First
Coronavirus Response Act, which expired
at the end of 2020.
An employee who works 40 hours or more
per week is eligible for 40 hours of emer-
gency paid sick time. Leave eligibility for
employees who work less than 40 hours per
week is tied to an average of the number of
hours worked.
Generally, through an amendment to the
federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act that
was part of the American Rescue Plan Act
signed by President Joe Biden on March 11,
cities and towns are eligible to take a federal
tax credit against employment taxes, in-
cluding Medicare, to cover part of the cost
of mandated sick leave.
ere are separate bills in both the House
and Senate that would make emergency
paid sick time during a declared state of
emergency or disaster a permanent state
statute. ●
June 2021 • The Beacon • 5
Governor files road safety, ride-hailing regulation bills
By Ariela Lovett
In late April, Gov. Charlie Baker led two
transportation-related bills intended to
improve roadway safety and better regu-
late transportation network companies
such as Uber and Lyft.
e rst bill (HB. 3706) would require
all vans and trucks of Class 3 and above
and over 10,000 pounds purchased
or leased by the state or contracted or
subcontracted by the state or a Massa-
chusetts municipality to be equipped,
by Jan. 1, 2024, with convex mirrors,
cross-over mirrors and a lateral protec-
tive device in order to reduce the risk of
accidents involving cyclists and pedes-
trians. Side guards protect bicyclists and
pedestrians from being swept under
large vehicles, which can happen, for
example, when vehicles are making tight
turns at intersections, according to the
administration. e law would not apply
to vehicles purchased or leased by a
Massachusetts municipality.
e governor’s bill would also permit,
but not require, municipalities to use
automated road safety cameras along
any portion of a right-of-way to promote
trac safety.
Also known as
red light camer-
as, these devices
could only be
used to enforce
failure to stop at a
signal at an inter-
section or making
a prohibited right
turn on red.
e second bill
(SB. 2436) would increase regulatory
oversight of transportation network
companies, requiring them to submit
specic data to the Department of Pub-
lic Utilities on a monthly basis. e data
would include longitude and latitude
for all pick-up and drop-o locations;
total time and mileage of each ride; and
unique identifying information for each
driver. e law would also require data
broken down by shared ride versus non-
shared ride.
e administration said the data col-
lection requirements would help state
and local ocials gain a better under-
standing of how the services provided
by transportation network companies
t into the broader transportation
system across the Commonwealth, as
well as their impacts on congestion and
emissions.
Under state law, per-ride assessments
on shared and non-shared transpor-
tation network company rides are
deposited into a Transportation Infra-
structure Enhancement Trust Fund for
distribution to municipalities where
the rides originated. Under the gover-
nor’s bill, municipalities receiving less
than $25,000 per year from the fund
would see a reduction in their reporting
requirements to once every ve years,
rather than annually. ose communi-
ties would also be able to make spend-
ing decisions on their relatively small
disbursements without going through a
local appropriation process.
Both bills have been assigned to the
Joint Committee on Transportation, but
hearing dates have not yet been sched-
uled. e MMA will weigh in on both
bills when they come up for hearings.●
Gov. Charlie Baker
MSA to hold annual Leadership Conference as webinar series
For the second year in a row, the Mas-
sachusetts Select Board Association will
hold its annual Leadership Conference
as a webinar series.
e four-session series will be held on
June 16 and 30 and July 14 and 28. All
webinars will run from noon to 1 p.m.
e rst two sessions of the series,
aimed at more experienced select board
members, will focus on municipal polic-
ing. On June 16, retired Arlington Police
Chief Fred Ryan will lead a discussion
covering topics like federal and state
policing policies, best practices for select
boards in recruiting and hiring police
chiefs, and culture change within police
departments.
e June 30 session will focus speci-
cally on mental health policing initia-
tives. Members of the Brookline Police
Department’s Crisis Intervention Team
will discuss how this blended unit of
police and mental health professionals
addresses the needs of those struggling
with mental illness in their community.
Deereld Police
Chief John
Paciorek Jr. and
Sgt. Jennifer
Bartak will also
discuss a newly
developed part-
nership between
Clinical Support
& Options, a
Western Massa-
chusetts-based
behavioral health nonprot, and the po-
lice departments in Deereld, Greeneld
and Montague to respond to mental
health crises in the region.
e July 14 session, aimed at newly
elected select board members, will be an
“ask the experts” session with attorney
Lauren Goldberg, managing partner at
KP Law, and Arlington Deputy Town
Manager Sandy Pooler. e session
will serve as a follow up to the Open
Meeting and Public Records Laws 101
and Municipal Finance 101 sessions
held last summer during the virtual
2020 conference. e recordings of
these two sessions are being sent to all
newly elected select board members this
spring, along with a number of onboard-
ing materials from the MSA.
e nal Leadership Conference session
on July 28 will focus on the future of
public meetings, including a discussion
of best practices for virtual and hybrid
meetings. is session will be aimed at
select board members of all experience
levels.
e Leadership Conference webinar
series is free, but advance registration
is required for each webinar. Zoom
registration information for the June
16 session was sent to all select board
members by email in mid-May. Regis-
tration links for the remaining sessions
will be sent after the conclusion of each
previous session.
Contact: MMA Member Services Coordina-
tor Isabelle Nichols at [email protected]
Fred Ryan
6 • The Beacon • June 2021
State launches employer vaccination program
e Baker-Polito administration on May
12 announced a new Employer Vaccina-
tion Program to give employers options
to easily and conveniently vaccinate their
employees.
ere are two main options for employers:
group appointments at mass vaccination
sites and mobile on-site employer vaccina-
tion clinics.
e program website, www.mass.gov/
EmployerVaccine, includes details on
options and requirements and a link to
a form that employers should submit to
request appointments. ere is no cost to
the employer. Applications opened on May
17 and are accepted on a rolling basis.
Group appointments
Employers can request a block of appoint-
ments at any of the state’s seven mass
vaccination sites. Employers can help
register employees for their appointments,
or the Department of Public Health will
provide links that employers can share
with employees so they can sign up during
the block of appointments.
e minimum number of appointments
required is 10, and there is no maxi-
mum limit. Registration requires simple
demographic information — insurance
and identication are not required at the
time of registration or appointment, if not
available.
Employers can request a block of appoint-
ments for their employees on a specic day
and time. Employers or employees will be
responsible for transportation to and from
the vaccination site. Employers may set up
a table or kiosk to have an onsite presence
for employees; doing so can be coordinated
with the site operator after submitting a
request.
Most appointments at mass vaccination
sites take less than 30 minutes, including
the 15-minute observation period. Sites
are available seven days a week, and hours
vary by site and day. Extensive accessi-
bility accommodations are available, and
additional special accommodations (e.g.,
interpreters) may be made available upon
request.
is option will be available through June
30, with rst-dose appointments available
through June 11.
Mobile on-site clinics
Employers that have conrmed that 35 or
more employees will obtain a vaccination
at an employer pop-up clinic may request a
mobile, on-site clinic. A vaccination provid-
er will come to the employer to vaccinate
individuals and return three to four weeks
later to deliver second doses. Employers
must survey employees and conrm par-
ticipation prior to requesting a clinic.
To schedule an on-site clinic, employers
will need to provide:
• Address of employer and contact
person
• Number of employees who have
conrmed that they will receive the
vaccination
• Space for vaccination clinic (inside,
outside) and any additional details
• Type of appointment registration
(ahead of clinic or day-of — prior is
preferred)
• Requested date and time
Employer clinics will be scheduled and
prioritized based upon the number of indi-
viduals getting vaccinated and location of
the clinic. Employers located in communi-
ties with vaccination rates below the state
average will be prioritized.
e administration encourages all em-
ployers to remind their employees of the
importance of getting vaccinated and of
the availability of more than 900 locations
across the state. For more information,
visit www.mass.gov/covidvaccine.
Stop the Spread testing
e “Stop the Spread” COVID-19 testing
initiative, which provides free testing in 35
locations across the state, has been extend-
ed through Sept. 30, 2021, the adminis-
tration announced. Any Massachusetts
resident may visit any location, even if they
do not reside in the town or city where the
testing is being conducted.
More than 2.3 million tests have been con-
ducted at “Stop the Spread” locations since
the program began last July.
Residents may visit www.mass.gov/
info-details/nd-a-covid-19-test to nd
testing locations and visit www.mass.gov/
GetTested for more testing information. ●
Employers can now help get workers
vaccinated by booking group appointments
at mass vaccination sites or by requesting
mobile on-site vaccination clinics.
State closes vax preregistration, boosts homebound program
e state has closed its preregistration
system for vaccine appointments at 23
mass vaccination and regional collabora-
tive locations, while it has expanded the
Homebound Vaccination Program.
e preregistration form closed to new
submissions on May 25 and the system
was shut down on May 31.
Residents can continue to use COVID-19
Vaccine Finder (vaxnder.mass.gov) for
more than 900 vaccination locations
across the state. Users can also nd
information about no-wait, walk-up
appointments at select locations,
accessibility information, and an MBTA
trip planner tool. Users can also lter by
type of vaccine oered, to ensure that
people under 18 or their parents can
search for locations that only oer the
Pzer vaccine.
Residents can also call 211 to access
the Massachusetts Vaccine Schedul-
ing Resource Line for help booking an
appointment.
e administration had launched the
preregistration system on March 12.
Nearly 2 million people preregistered
through the system and nearly 600,000
appointments were scheduled, according
to the administration. Many residents
preregistered to ensure they would have
access to an appointment, but continued
n VAX PROGRAM continued on 13
June 2021 • The Beacon • 7
Towns hold meetings and elections in COVID Year 2
By Lisa Capone
“Necessity is the mother of invention”
sums up the town government ex-
perience in the COVID-19 era. From
Cape Cod to the Berkshires, municipal
ocials have spent the past 14 months
devising and perfecting creative ways to
meet needs and solve problems. Annual
spring town meetings and elections are
no exception.
At the height of the pandemic last
spring, many towns saw little choice but
to hold their annual meetings outdoors
or online. is year’s easing of public
health restrictions provides more lee-
way, but some towns are holding onto
their newfound formats, at least for
now, while others have latched onto spe-
cic tools they’ll carry forward after the
pandemic is over. Town administrators
and other ocials are expressing con-
dence in both their stas’ and constit-
uents’ ability to keep town government
running and relevant no matter how
many pivots they have to make.
“I think we are prepared to deal with
any situation, like we have for the last
two years,” said Edward Kazonovicz,
the assistant town manager in Auburn,
which held its second COVID-era Town
Meeting on May 4.
Auburn postponed last year’s Town
Meeting and held it outside in June.
is year, the town kept its traditional
May dates for both its meeting and elec-
tion — and both happened indoors.
e Auburn Town Meeting exceeded
pre-COVID attendance levels, and the
town met social distancing protocols
by seating participants in two separate
spaces at Auburn High School. Ocials
also minimized the length of the meet-
ing by pre-recording most presentations
and posting them online for review
beforehand.
Auburn streamed its Town Meeting over
a local radio station for those who were
more comfortable staying in their cars
in the school parking lot. ose partici-
pants were able to vote via remote vot-
ing machines purchased with CARES Act
funding, said Kazonovicz, noting that
the system was “something we looked
at pre-COVID, but it made total sense to
purchase” in time for this year’s socially
distanced meeting.
Lessons learned
In Somerset, Town Administrator
Richard Brown pointed to other pan-
demic-inspired safety features that
will be carried forward to future Town
Meetings.
“We hope to streamline Town Meeting
check-in procedures and employ tech-
nology to assist in resolving controver-
sial votes so that meetings can move
along quickly without limiting substan-
tive discussion,” said Brown, whose
community met at Somerset Berkley
Regional High School earlier this month.
Somerset Town Clerk Dolores Bence
added that the town will “oer masks,
sanitizers and some level of social
distancing at all our elections and Town
Meetings going forward.”
Chatham Town Manager Jill Gold-
smith is expecting high turnout for this
spring’s Town Meeting, which the Select
Board voted to delay from the tradi-
tional May date to Saturday, June 12,
so it could take place outside in warmer
weather at Veterans Field downtown. It
will be Chatham’s third outdoor Town
Meeting during the pandemic, and this
one could draw more than 1,000 people,
Goldsmith said, given that it’s on a Sat-
urday in a central outdoor location that
might attract the attention of passersby.
Chatham’s election was delayed from
May to June 17, and will be held in the
Chatham Community Gym, with early
voting via mail available.
Feedback on Chatham’s 2020 spring
and fall outdoor town meetings was
“fabulous,” Goldsmith said. is year’s,
featuring 63 warrant articles, including
one for construction of a new Council
on Aging facility, could be more of a
challenge. She said she suspects the
town will likely revert to indoor meet-
ings again post-pandemic.
“is one coming up may be the deter-
mination of if we ever go outside again,”
she said, noting that the town plans to
have chairs for 500 voting members,
with an overow area for more people.
At the other end of the state, the towns
of Sunderland and Stockbridge also
picked June 12 for outdoor town meet-
ings. For the second year, both post-
poned their traditional earlier spring
dates, and hope for pleasant weather.
“I know there were a number of people
who enjoyed having it outside,” said
Stockbridge Town Manager Michael Ca-
nales, noting that last spring’s meeting
fell on a beautiful day. “We’ll have to see,
if we have less-than-perfect weather, if
people say the same thing.”
Canales said the town election went for-
ward in-person on the traditional May
18 date with COVID safety protocols in
place.
Is the future remote?
Municipalities can opt to continue
outdoor town meetings post-pandemic,
but those who’ve become accustomed
to conducting town meetings via online
platforms like Zoom will need action by
the Legislature to continue the practice.
Several Boston-area communities with
representative town meetings, including
Lexington, Brookline and Winchester,
broke ground with online Town Meet-
ings in 2020 and chose the same route
this year. Lexington, the Common-
wealth’s online town meeting pioneer
in 2020, held its 2021 meeting in late
March; Winchester’s was in late April;
and Brookline’s took place over several
days in May, concluding on May 27.
Although they don’t believe all meetings
should be held virtually in perpetuity,
Lexington Town Manager James Malloy
and the Select Board support legislation
that would allow remote participation in
public meetings to continue, said Lex-
ington Public Information Ocer Sean
A sign at Easton’s Town Meeting reminds
people to stay distanced. (Photo courtesy
town of Easton)
n SPRING MEETINGS continued on 23
8 • The Beacon • June 2021
MMA cites unfunded mandate concerns in health bills
By Brittney Franklin
In testimony submitted to the Joint
Committee on Public Health on May 10,
the MMA expressed serious concerns
about two bills — H. 2329 and S. 1386
— that would create mandated mini-
mum performance standards for local
boards of health.
e bills were drafted after the Special
Commission on Local and Regional
Public Health issued a report in mid-
2019 that found that most local boards
of health were unable to keep up with
a growing list of duties. In the months
since the report, the addition of pan-
demic-related responsibilities has
greatly exacerbated the demand on local
resources and sta.
In its testimony to the committee,
the MMA stated that, “with no under-
standing of the costs associated with
such mandated minimum performance
standards, and no identied dedicated
state-funding source, the responsibility
to support these mandates would be a
new burden placed on the backs of cities
and towns as a signicant new unfund-
ed mandate.”
While the MMA expressed support
for the vision laid out in the special
commission’s report, the MMA asked
the Joint Committee on Public Health
to “conduct a thorough analysis of the
sweeping unfunded mandates in these
bills, and secure a guaranteed full-fund-
ing source before advancing these mea-
sures out of committee.”
e special commission made six rec-
ommendations and provided a detailed
roadmap for organizing and supporting
local health departments to raise stan-
dards, strengthen collaboration, better
use technology, improve skills, and
stabilize resources.
e bills before the Public Health
Committee are titled “an act relative to
accelerating improvements to the local
and regional public health system to ad-
dress disparities in the delivery of public
health services.” ●
MassDEP oers $2M in grants for public water system PFAS response
Applications are due on July 8 for the
rst round of $2 million in new grant
funding to help public water systems
address elevated levels of per- and poly-
uoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their
drinking water.
e Interim PFAS6 Response Grant
Program, announced in mid-May and
administered by the Massachusetts De-
partment of Environmental Protection,
will provide funding to help oset the
cost of initial responses implemented by
water suppliers when “PFAS6” (the sum
of six per- and polyuoroalkyl substanc-
es) exceeds the state standard of 20
parts-per-trillion (ppt).
“PFAS contamination poses a signicant
risk to public health, so it is imperative
that public water suppliers address ele-
vated PFAS levels in a timely manner,”
said Energy and Environmental Aairs
Secretary Kathleen eoharides.
PFAS compounds are a family of chemi-
cals widely used since the 1950s to man-
ufacture common consumer products
and in some legacy re-ghting foams.
Drinking water may become contami-
nated if PFAS deposited onto the soil
seeps into groundwater or surface water.
Large public water supplies, those
serving a population of 50,000 or more,
were required to begin a PFAS6 testing
program as of Jan. 1, 2021. Public water
supplies serving populations between
10,000 and
50,000 began
initial tests on
April 1, and those
serving a popula-
tion of less than
10,000 will begin
testing on Oct. 1.
e MassDEP an-
ticipates oering
three rounds of
funding through
the program.
Public water supply systems can apply
for funds to purchase and distribute
bottled water, install water vending ma-
chines, purchase water and/or establish
interconnections to alternative water
sources, or take any other immediate
action to provide safe drinking water to
water users aected by PFAS.
To assist communities that have already
expended funds to address elevated
levels of PFAS, reimbursement will be
available for eligible costs.
is funding is in addition to the $28.4
million secured by the administration in
two supplemental budgets for water in-
frastructure and PFAS testing. rough
the supplemental budget, $20 mil-
lion was appropriated to the Common-
wealth’s Clean Water Trust, providing
nancing that can be used by communi-
ties to address contamination issues.
More than $8.4 million of this funding
supports a statewide sampling program
for public water supplies and private
wells, including a grant program to
support design of PFAS treatment.
Statewide testing of drinking water for
PFAS is providing the data to support
the MassDEP’s strategy for treatment
and mitigation of this emerging contam-
inant.
In September 2020, the administration
announced the rst round of grants
to support design of PFAS treatment,
awarding $1.9 million to 10 public water
supply systems. e administration an-
nounced a second round in March 2021,
awarding $3 million to 17 public water
supply systems.
Last October, the administration estab-
lished a protective standard of 20 ppt
for PFAS in drinking water and required
water systems to regularly test for the
contaminants. ere are currently no
federal PFAS standards for drinking
water.
e Water Resources Grants & Finan-
cial Assistance web page has additional
information on the Interim PFAS6
Response Grant Program. ●
Kathleen eoharides
June 2021 • The Beacon • 9
With planning, local leaders can reduce disruptions
By Zack Blake, Jared Curtis and Tara
Lynch
Cities and towns were already con-
tending with pressures on the available
workforce associated with the aging of
the Baby Boomer generation when the
COVID-19 pandemic caused an acceler-
ation in the rate of retirements over the
past year. e lean stang structures of
many municipalities, as well as the older
average age of public employees, raises
the stakes for communities facing these
challenges.
e knowledge and service vacuums that
can occur when key employees leave
local government can pose threats to
operational and scal stability. Vacan-
cies disrupt routines and can potentially
derail important projects. e search
for replacements diverts time and eort
away from other objectives, and, in the
case of a prolonged vacancy, a commu-
nity may need to expend additional, un-
anticipated funds on contract services to
ll the gap. Further, remaining sta are
often called upon to backll roles, train
inexperienced newcomers, or improvise
creative solutions — all of which divert
resources from other vital tasks.
Local leaders are advised to be attentive
to measures that can help manage the
risks associated with employee depar-
tures, whether they can be anticipated
(such as retirements) or not. To mini-
mize the disruptions of employee transi-
tions, municipalities can take proactive,
concrete steps to plan for succession in
key positions.
Communities with dedicated human
resources departments may be better
able to employ systematic approaches,
while small towns that operate with very
few employees in each department often
nd it dicult to groom in-house candi-
dates for critical roles, or to cross-train
sta to hold the line during vacancies at
any level.
Succession planning strategies
While municipalities face varying chal-
lenges, the following are some strate-
gies that leaders can pursue to ensure
smooth personnel transitions:
• Assign succession planning objectives
to the human resources director or to
the town manager, city manager or
similar oceholder as part of annual
goal setting. In smaller communities
without an HR department or
administrator, consider forming an ad
hoc succession committee or include
the objectives in the mission of a
standing personnel committee.
• Within the community’s
organizational structure, identify
operationally crucial positions and
determine those that may be hardest
to replace due to the required skills
and knowledge.
• Provide access to professional
development opportunities for
employees and encourage their use.
Ensure that cross-training is taking
place within departments, and, when
appropriate, among departments.
Develop procedure manuals with
step-by-step instructions for the most
critical tasks, at a minimum.
• Identify employees with the skills,
aptitudes and interest in being
promoted, including those who might
currently work in other departments.
Systematically develop the knowledge
and competencies of those employees
through mentoring, funding training
opportunities, setting up job
shadowing practices, and delegating
increasing responsibilities within their
departments.
• Especially in small municipalities with
limited personnel, department heads
and executive sta should cultivate
professional network relationships to
source for potential recruits.
• Survey compensation in similar,
nearby communities to ensure that
your community is suciently
competitive to quickly rell vacancies
with good replacements.
• When informed of a pending
departure, plan for time overlap,
if possible, so that the departing
employee can help orient and train his
or her replacement.
• If positions are not able to be lled
in a timely manner, use temporary/
interim stang to ensure continuity of
operations.
• Evaluate options for changing or
merging positions or titles, sharing
costs with other towns, or contracting
out for services as alternatives to
lling a vacancy.
Local examples
Southborough Assistant Town Admin-
istrator Vanessa Hale, who handles
human resources duties in her town,
said “ecient and thoughtful succession
planning” is an important tool.
“It provides an opportunity to on-board
much more quickly, decreases the time
spent bringing a manager up to speed,
and provides a quick transition when we
promote from within,” she said. “It’s also
scally prudent, with low recruitment
costs. e icing on the cake is the morale
boost it provides when it is handled
swiftly and soundly.”
Blandford Town Administrator Joshua
Garcia said employee retention and
succession planning “are critical to
avoid gaps in services and mitigate any
potential liability to the business of the
local government and the safety of the
public.”
In his small town (pop. 1,200), he said,
“it’s dicult to compete with large cities
when it comes to attracting strong
qualied candidates to carry out critical
roles in town. erefore, my planning is
target-specic, exible and sometimes
non-traditional.”
Garcia said he tries to target candidates
who are planning to retire, have retired,
or are looking for a part-time role.
“Creative planning and exibility are
important,” he said.
Zack Blake is Chief of the Technical
Assistance Bureau at the Division of Local
Services, and Jared Curtis and Tara Lynch
are members of the bureau’s team. is
article will also be published in the DLS’s
City & Town on June 3.
Vanessa Hale Joshua Garcia
10 • The Beacon • June 2021
Environment Committee chairs meet with MMA
By Ariela Lovett
Rep. Carolyn Dykema and Sen. Becca
Rausch, the new co-chairs of the Joint
Committee on the Environment, Natu-
ral Resources and Agriculture, met with
the MMA Policy Committee on Energy
and the Environment on May 12 to
discuss policy priorities for the current
two-year legislative session.
Dykema said her committee’s top priori-
ties are COVID recovery, climate change
(particularly protecting water resources
and open space, and coastal impacts),
and environmental justice. She said the
committee will hold virtual hearings ap-
proximately every two weeks, and local
ocials are encouraged to sign up to tes-
tify or to submit written comments.
Rausch invited MMA policy committee
members to share their challenges relat-
ed to environmental issues in their com-
munities. Committee members identi-
ed drought conditions in the Ipswich
River watershed, increased recycling
contract costs, and PFAS contamination
in drinking water, among other issues.
Two bills in the MMA’s legislative pack-
age for 2021-2022 have been assigned
to the Committee on the Environment,
Natural Resources and Agriculture: HB.
1000, An Act to assist municipal and
district ratepayers, and HB. 2152, An
Act providing for the establishment of
sustainable water resource funds. Hear-
ings for these bills have not yet been
scheduled.
Policy committee members discussed
other legislative priorities among the
bills that have been assigned to the
Environment, Natural Resources and
Agriculture Committee, including in the
areas of solid waste and recycling and
water resources.
As the former vice chair of the Telecom-
munications, Utilities and Energy Com-
mittee, Dykema led a Green Recovery
Task Force that held hearings on topics
of concern to a variety of stakeholders
related to a sustainable recovery from
the COVID-19 pandemic. e MMA
gave a presentation to the task force in
December. ●
Kennedy Library Foundation recognizes Hanover fire captain
By Jennifer Kavanaugh
Hanover Fire Captain Fred Freeman,
who led a mobile health service to bring
COVID-19 testing and other medical
services to people’s homes, has received
national recognition for his pandemic work
with an honor from the John F. Kennedy
Library Foundation.
On May 26, Freeman was one of seven peo-
ple to receive Proles in COVID Courage
awards for their service, during an online
ceremony, Celebrating Courage, that was
hosted by Jimmy Fallon and featured an
awards presentation by Caroline Kennedy
and her son Jack Schlossberg. He was hon-
ored for “putting the needs of the commu-
nity above his own health and safety” in
his eorts to help vulnerable residents who
needed testing and other health services at
home.
e ceremony featured a brief video about
Freeman and the town of Hanover’s eorts
to serve the public during the pandemic.
Freeman, who is also a registered nurse and
paramedic, led the development of a mobile
integrated health program to bring services
directly to residents. In a partnership with
South Shore Health System, Hanover
paramedics were giving residents COVID
tests in their homes and bringing the swabs
to be analyzed at South Shore Health in
Weymouth.
In a separate eort, the department also
built a COVID testing system for sta and
students in the town’s public schools.
“I feel really proud of what we did here in
Hanover,” Freeman said during the video
presentation. “It wasn’t just the right thing.
It’s our honor and our privilege to serve
them.”
Fire Chief Jerey Blanchard said Freeman
“basically ended up heading a department
that we’d never had before, which is this
mobile integrated health, and we had to
take a number of dierent town depart-
ments and get them to work together in
order to make this happen.”
e Kennedy Library Foundation tradition-
ally gives a Prole in Courage Award each
May to a public ocial who has demon-
strated politically courageous leadership.
is year’s recipient was former Massa-
chusetts governor and current U.S. Sen.
Mitt Romney of Utah, who broke with his
Republican colleagues and voted to convict
then-President Donald Trump during his
2020 impeachment trial.
is year, the foundation decided to also
recognize seven individuals who made sac-
rices and took risks in helping the sick and
vulnerable and providing critical services
during the pandemic. Chosen from thou-
sands of nominations, the group includes
rst responders, private citizens and public
ocials from around the country, including
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
As bad as the worldwide pandemic has
been, Schlossberg said, “We see a silver
lining, and the COVID Courage award cel-
ebrates the heroes of this pandemic whose
compassion and bravery inspire us.”
Hanover Town Manager Joseph Colange-
lo called Freeman a “genuinely nice guy”
whose humble personality made it easy for
people to rally around him and the mobile
integrated health service.
“It’s one thing to dream up and see the vi-
sion of this program,” Colangelo said, “and
it’s another thing to, every day, for over a
year, to carry it out day after day through
some of the most challenging times that
we’ve ever had, and to do it with such grace
and humility and poise.” ●
Carolyn Dykema Becca Rausch
Hanover Fire Captain Fred Freeman
discusses his department’s mobile health
unit during the John F. Kennedy Library
Foundation’s May 26 virtual ceremony,
Celebrating Courage.
June 2021 • The Beacon • 11
Webinar covers code of conduct for municipal boards
By Denise Baker
Codes of conduct for municipal boards
and committees was the subject of a free
webinar hosted on May 12 by the Massa-
chusetts Select Board Association and the
Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Associ-
ation. Featured speakers were attorney and
investigator Regina Ryan and Sandwich
Town Manager Bud Dunham.
A code of conduct should give direction
on board interaction with other board
and committee members, the community,
town sta, and the town administrator,
Ryan said. e code should cover all written
material, including social media posts and
emails.
A sample code of conduct and harrassment
and discrimination policy are available
with the webinar recording on the MMA
website.
When it comes to implementing a code of
conduct, Ryan suggested that one policy
apply to all appointed and elected ocials
acting on behalf of the town. When a new
board or committee member is sworn in,
the town clerk should be responsible for
having him or her sign o on receiving a
copy of the code. is should also be done
upon reappointment or re-election.
Once a code is adopted, it is the role of the
chair of the select board and other boards
and committees to enforce the policies and
monitor as needed. If a member violates
a tenet of the code, he or she can be asked
to attend a training session. Municipalities
can check with their insurer about the avail-
ability of training on this and related topics.
When a complaint is led, Ryan said, it
should be investigated, even if it’s against
a board member who is accountable to the
voters. e town needs to demonstrate
that it took the complaint seriously. In
smaller towns that may not have a town
administrator to manage an investigation,
an outside rm should be engaged to do
the work. Professional liability carriers, like
MIIA, can assist with this service.
Ryan said she has seen an increase in recent
years of harassment and discrimination
claims involving municipal elected and
appointed ocials. ese could involve a
select board member mistreating a depart-
ment head, a planning board member pres-
suring an employee for information outside
the boundaries of their position, or a board
member harassing another volunteer or
town employee.
She said all appointed and elected ocials
need to realize how signicant an impact
their behavior has on sta who work hard
for their communities. She advised elected
ocials to watch their tone, be respectful,
and be consistent.
Ryan said she has also seen an uptick in
conicts between town administrators and
select boards. She recommends that local
ocials work through appropriate channels
and not involve outside parties in disputes.
Another area where conict can arise, Ryan
said, is when individual board members
communicate directly with department
heads. In some cases, they may be given
information or services that aren’t given to
others, which can create hard feelings and
damage the working relationship with the
other members. It also breaks the chain of
command, since most department heads
report directly to the town administrator,
if the town has one. is is another area
where harassment complaints have been
developing, Ryan said, as sta often feel
obliged to eld inquiries from board or
committee members. A clear chain of
command should be in place and observed
by ocials and sta, she said.
In Sandwich, Dunham said, Select Board
members are given town email accounts,
and that is the only communication meth-
od he and other sta use with the board
members. His advice: Never write anything
in an email that you “don’t want a jury of
eight people staring at you and listening to
you read in court.”
In some cases, Ryan said, it is residents
who are harassing sta. is can take the
form of repeated visits to a town oce,
inappropriate behavior and language, or
activity that can be considered threaten-
ing. Dunham suggested asking the police
department for assistance, as they are often
aware of the individual.
Ryan has more than 25 years of experi-
ence in municipal work and specializes in
harassment and discrimination investiga-
tions through her rm, Discrimination and
Harassment Solutions.
More than 400 local ocials attended the
webinar. ●
Attorney and investigator Regina Ryan
discusses municipal codes of conduct
during a May 12 webinar hosted by the
Massachusetts Select Board Association.
MMCA to examine ARPA funding on June 24
e Massachusetts Municipal Council-
lors’ Association will hold a “lunch and
learn” webinar on June 24 covering the
$1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act,
which is beginning to distribute federal
pandemic relief funding to states and
communities across the country.
During a presentation titled “ARPA: In-
frastructure, Timelines and Everything
Else Councillors Need to Know,” MMA
Executive Director Geo Beckwith will
provide an overview of the American
Rescue Plan, including the qualifying
programs and purposes, what they mean
for residents, students, and small busi-
nesses, and the distribution of funds to
non-entitlement communities.
Beckwith will also discuss the role coun-
cillors can play in communicating with
their constituents and working with
state legislators as well as the state’s
congressional delegation as the ARPA
rollout continues.
Barnstable Public Works Director Dan
Santos will discuss the use of ARPA
funds for a water or sewer project. In
late 2020, Barnstable adopted a Com-
prehensive Wastewater Treatment Plan.
Santos will discuss Barnstable’s ap-
proach and oer strategies for council-
lors to take back to their communities as
they consider similar projects.
All city and town councillors are invited
to this free Zoom webinar, which will
run from noon to 1 p.m., and may regis-
ter online.
Contact: MMA Senior Member Services
Coordinator Denise Baker at dbaker@mma.
org
12 • The Beacon • June 2021
in 2021 and 50% in 2022.
Unlike much of the country, Massachu-
setts is unique in that it has only ve
functioning county government struc-
tures among the state’s 14 counties.
Where county government has been
abolished (Berkshire, Essex, Franklin,
Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex,
Nantucket, Suolk and Worcester), the
county’s share of funds will initially be
allocated to the state and then redis-
tributed to the county’s communities
on a per capita basis. ese counties will
receive approximately $945 million of
the county allocations designated for
Massachusetts.
Functioning counties in Massachusetts
(Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Norfolk and
Plymouth) will receive their allocation
directly from the U.S. Treasury, through
the same process used for counties
nationwide. ese counties will receive
approximately $393 million of the coun-
ty allocations for Massachusetts.
Baker-Polito administration ocials
report that they have also applied to the
Treasury on behalf of the communities
in non-functioning counties, and await
further clarication about when to
expect those funds.
How and when municipalities
will receive funds
Payments to states, counties, Metropoli-
tan Cities, and non-entitlement com-
munities will be evenly divided into two
tranches, with the rst being allocated
in the coming weeks and the second
round arriving 12 months after the rst.
States, counties, and Metro Cities have
already started to receive their rst
tranche directly from the Treasury.
Funding to non-entitlement commu-
nities will be distributed rst to the
respective state government for redistri-
bution to communities.
Ocials in the Baker-Polito adminis-
tration report that the Commonwealth
has already applied to the Treasury on
behalf of the non-entitlement communi-
ties, and that those funds will be distrib-
uted through the same pipeline that is
used to distribute the state’s local aid to
municipalities. e ARPA requires states
to allocate the rst tranche of funds to
non-entitlement communities within 30
days of receipt.
Each non-entitlement community must
conrm to state ocials its interest in
receiving funds. If a municipality wishes
to decline federal funding, it must arm
that decision to state nance ocials,
and the money would be returned to the
Treasury.
e state will need to collect certain doc-
umentation from non-entitlement com-
munities as required by the Treasury.
Additional details will be announced
through the Division of Local Services.
On May 19, the Federal Funds Oce
published a memo outlining steps for
Metropolitan Cities to apply for the
Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.
On June 1, the oce issued a memo
on steps required for non-entitlement
units of government to receive CLFRF
allocations.
Eligible expense categories
Treasury guidance provides welcome
exibility for eligible uses among the
four main spending categories identied
in the statute:
• Response to the public health
emergency or its negative economic
consequences
• Provision of premium pay to eligible
workers
• Revenue replacement
• Investments in water, sewer and
broadband infrastructure
In the rst category, the guidance
provides for a wide range of potential
uses, including COVID mitigation and
containment, behavioral health care to
address situations exacerbated by the
pandemic, and public health and safety
employee costs.
e guidance around negative economic
consequences includes rebuilding public
sector capacity, including by rehiring
public sector sta, and replenishing
unemployment insurance trust funds to
pre-pandemic levels. Recipients may also
use funding to build internal capacity to
successfully implement economic relief
programs, with investments in data
analysis, targeted outreach and technol-
ogy infrastructure.
Regarding premium pay for essential
workers, the term “essential worker” is
very broad and is not limited to munici-
pal employees.
For infrastructure, the American Rescue
Plan Act focused on water, sewer and
broadband projects. For water and
sewer, the Treasury has aligned the
types of projects with the wide range
of projects that can be supported by
the Environmental Protection Agency’s
clean water state revolving fund and
drinking water state revolving funds.
Recipients can use this funding to
invest in an array of projects related to
drinking water infrastructure, as well
as wastewater infrastructure, including
managing or treating storm water or
subsurface drainage water. In addition,
the Treasury guidance allows for spend-
ing on cybersecurity aimed at protecting
water and sewer infrastructure; projects
promoting climate change resilience (for
instance reducing energy consumption
on water and sewer facilities); and lead
line service replacement.
Broadband infrastructure eligibility fo-
cuses on households and businesses that
do not have an existing wireline con-
nection capable of reliably delivering 25
Mbps download/3 Mbps upload. Last-
mile connections and aordable service
are key focus areas of the Treasury’s
guidance around broadband infrastruc-
ture eligible uses.
Under the category of revenue replace-
ment, the Treasury has established a
methodology to calculate the reduction
in revenue, and allows recipients to
recalculate revenue loss at several points
throughout the program, supporting
municipalities that experienced a lag-
ging impact of the crisis on revenues.
Once a shortfall has been identied,
municipalities have broad latitude to use
this funding to support government ser-
vices, up to the amount of lost revenue.
Under the Interim Final Rule, govern-
ment services can include, but are not
limited to, maintenance or “pay-go fund-
ed” building of infrastructure, including
roads; modernization of cybersecurity,
including hardware, software and pro-
tection of critical infrastructure; health
services; environmental remediation;
school or educational services; and the
provision of police, re, and other public
safety services.
e MMA hosted a Zoom webinar on
May 20 featuring ocials from the
National League of Cities and the Bak-
er-Polito administration who present-
ARPA
Continued from page 1
Continued on next page
June 2021 • The Beacon • 13
to search elsewhere and in many cases
opted out of the system after they found
an appointment elsewhere.
Homebound Vaccination
Program
e expansion of the Homebound Vacci-
nation Program will support continued
vaccination of hard-to-reach popula-
tions.
e administration launched the pro-
gram on March 29 for individuals who
met specic federal criteria, such as re-
quiring signicant support to leave their
home for a medical appointment. As of
May 24, any individual who has trouble
getting to a vaccine site became eligible
for the homebound program.
Individuals can call 833-983-0485,
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.,
to register for an in-home vaccination.
e phone line has representatives who
speak English and Spanish, and transla-
tion services are available in more than
100 languages.
After registering, individuals will be
called within ve business days by the
state’s homebound vaccine provider,
Commonwealth Care Alliance, to sched-
ule an appointment. e administration
states that it may take some time to get
an appointment, and the quickest way
to get vaccinated remains to schedule an
appointment at a vaccination site.
e Homebound Program is primarily
using the single-dose Johnson & John-
son vaccine, which requires just one visit
to an individual’s home. For individuals
12 to 17 years old who are homebound,
the program is oering Pzer vaccines.
Homebound youth were encouraged to
register for the Homebound Program
by May 28 to ensure that an in-home
vaccination could be scheduled during
the month of June.
e Commonwealth is focusing on a
targeted, community-based approach
to reach residents who have not yet
received a rst vaccine dose. ●
VAX PROGRAM
Continued from page 6
ed information on allowable uses of
American Recovery Plan Act funds for
municipalities.
Ineligible uses of ARPA funds
In general, categories of ineligible ex-
penditures include:
• Using the money for federal matching
funds
• Premium pay for employees who were
able to telework during the public
health emergency
• Funding pension accounts, paying o
outstanding debt, or making deposits
to reserve accounts or rainy day funds
Providing equity-focused
services
e Treasury guidance recognizes that
certain communities were harder hit
by the public health emergency and
allows additional exibility for spending
in areas that were disproportionately
impacted. is expanded eligibility
includes addressing health and educa-
tional disparities, investing in housing
and neighborhoods, and promoting
healthy childhood environments. Areas
that are recognized as Qualied Census
Tracts (low-income areas as designated
by the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development) are presumed to be
eligible for these additional fund uses.
For areas that are not Qualied Census
Tracts, the guidance provides a detailed
explanation for how a municipality may
determine eligibility criteria for similar
funding needs.
Reporting requirements
e covered period for State and Local
Fiscal Recovery Funds runs from March
3, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2024. e
Treasury guidance permits funds that
are obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, to be
expended through Dec. 31, 2026.
For Metropolitan Cities, an interim
report will be required by Aug. 31, 2021,
and expense reports will be led quar-
terly thereafter for the duration of the
covered period.
Metro Cities with a population above
250,000 will have to le an annual
recovery performance report with the
Treasury highlighting the outcomes of
their expenditures, in addition to the
reporting requirements for all Metro
Cities.
Non-entitlement communities will have
to submit annual project and expendi-
ture reports, with the rst being due on
Oct. 31, 2021. ●
ARPA
Continued from previous page
DLS and OIG oer ‘Overview of Municipal Audits’ webinar on June 9
e Division of Local Services and the
Oce of the Inspector General are
jointly hosting the webinar “Overview of
Municipal Audits” on Wednesday, June
9, at 10 a.m.
According to the DLS, external audits
are an important local tool that can as-
sist a community in improving its nan-
cial controls and practices. is helps
with the protection of the community’s
assets, potential upgrades in its bond
rating, and increased public condence
in the local government.
is webinar will answer questions such
as:
• What are the dierent components of
an audit, and what do they cover?
• What are the benets of having an
audit completed in my community?
• What are the best practices for
procuring a local audit?
• How often is my community required
to have an external audit?
DLS and OIG sta will be available to
answer other questions related to this
topic.
Registration is available online, where
registrants may also post any questions
they might have in advance. ●
14 • The Beacon • June 2021
MMHR to discuss ‘costing out’ contracts on June 17
e virtual Annual Meeting of Massa-
chusetts Municipal Human Resources on
June 17 will cover “costing out” con-
tracts.
Decisions that are made during contract
negotiations can have long-term implica-
tions for cities and towns, both intended
and unintended. Costing out the contract
helps ensure that municipal employers
are as prepared as possible when they get
to the negotiation table.
A panel discussion, “Costing Out Con-
tracts: e Key to Successful Negoti-
ations,” will feature Chatham Town
Manager Jill Goldsmith, Arlington
Deputy Town Manager Sandy Pooler, and
Attorney Melissa Murray, a partner at
Norris, Murray, and Peloquin, LLC.
e meeting will include a vote on the s-
cal 2022 budget and MMHR board slate,
presentation of the 2021 Skop Award,
and an MMA legislative update from
Legislative Director John Robertson.
Voting on the scal 2022 MMHR Board
of Directors slate
and budget will be
conducted online.
Additional details
about the voting
process will be
shared with all
MMHR members
in the coming
weeks.
e free Zoom
webinar will be
held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Contact: MMA Member Services Coordina-
tor Isabelle Nichols at [email protected]
Sandy Pooler Jill Goldsmith Melissa Murray
MMHR’s Boot Camp webinars cover range of HR issues
By Isabelle Nichols
e Massachusetts Municipal Human
Resources association held its eighth
annual HR101 Boot Camp virtually this
spring as a ve-session webinar series.
e series kicked o with a discussion
about developing job descriptions, led
by past MMHR Chair Mary Beth Ber-
nard, the human resources director in
Wrentham. e session covered why it is
important to maintain accurate, up-to-
date job descriptions for each position,
the key components of a job description,
and how job descriptions come into play
in the recruitment, hiring and perfor-
mance evaluation processes. Bernard
also provided a helpful list of “do’s and
don’ts” for the classication and com-
pensation process.
e second session focused on workers’
compensation and paid leave under
Chapter 41, Section 111F, in the time
of COVID-19. Lori Burke, director of
absence management and specialty
services with AllOneHealth, gave an
overview of Massachusetts workers’
compensation regulations, Section 111F,
the Family and Medical Leave Act and
the Americans with Disabilities Act
Amendments Act. She discussed the
importance of using a case management
approach when a work-related injury
occurs.
For the third session of the series,
Jean Haertl, CEO of Safety & Respect
at Work, and attorney Jaime Kenny,
a partner with Cliord & Kenny, led a
training on complaint triage and poli-
cies, investigations and discipline. e
session covered how to conduct a proper
investigation, interim measures that can
be put in place while an investigation is
ongoing, and disciplinary and remedial
action.
e theme of the fourth session in the
series was municipal leave laws 101.
Leading the discussion were attorney
Jackie Kugell, a partner with Morgan,
Brown and Joy, and Yetunde Buraimoh,
an associate with Morgan, Brown and
Joy. e session covered the FMLA, the
Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical
Leave Act, the ADAAA, and the Massa-
chusetts Parental Leave Act. Kugell and
Buraimoh also covered the various state
and federal leave laws that apply to sit-
uations of domestic violence, jury duty
and court attendance, Veterans Day and
Memorial Day leave, victim and witness
leave, and military leave.
e webinar series concluded with a
discussion about developing a diversity
hiring policy. MMHR Chair Dolores
Hamilton, the human resources director
in Framingham, and Dr. Martisa Barros,
the chief diversity, equity and inclusion
ocer in Framingham, discussed the
diversity hiring policy developed by the
city of Framingham and how munici-
palities can operationalize such a policy.
Hamilton and Barros also shared their
newly developed diversity hiring guide,
which includes diverse hiring websites
to use for recruitment, a diversity
recruitment checklist, and sample inter-
view questions.
More than 150 human resources pro-
fessionals registered for the Boot Camp
webinar series. ●
Attorney Jaime Kenny (top left) and Jean
Haertl (top right), CEO of Safety & Respect
at Work, speak with Vanessa Hale, vice chair
of the Massachusetts Municipal Human
Resources association, during the third
session of the HR101 Boot Camp series.
June 2021 • The Beacon • 15
With health insurance market in flux, it’s time to plan ahead
By Chris Bailey
As the world emerges from COVID-19
lockdown and we return to more “normal”
operations and matters, health insurance
coverage is among those items seeing new
focus and attention both regionally and
nationally.
While the federal government, through
various programs, made sure COVID
testing, treatment and vaccinations were
covered for most folks, people are now
starting to return to their providers and
seeking elective surgeries and other care
they put o during the pandemic.
Knowing what has changed in the market
since COVID began will undoubtedly help
health care consumers. And as employers
bring people back to work, it is important
to understand what’s taking place in the
health insurance market in order to make
strategic plans for the next contractual
period.
In April, Fallon Health announced that it
would exit most of the commercial health
insurance market and focus predominant-
ly on public plans like MassHealth and
Medicare. While members have 18 months
to transition, Fallon’s decision has left
many Massachusetts communities seeking
a new provider. (Nearly 16,000 people
in the Massachusetts Group Insurance
Commission pool are with Fallon, as are 18
communities in Worcester County.)
Further, the merger of Tufts Health
Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is
creating some questions and tension in
the marketplace, as employers and plan
members question how it might aect
their coverage benets and costs. On the
upside, the two health plans say that over
time, more than $100 million in savings
is anticipated through administrative syn-
ergies, which will go directly to mitigating
premium increases and the out-of-pocket
burden for members.
Some industry insiders warn that there is
always the potential for other shake-ups
as well.
Preparing for next year
While some communities may have fatigue
from just nishing their scal 2022 health
insurance purchasing, given the current
market situation, insurance executives say
it’s best to start planning now for scal
2023. (is is particularly true for those
needing to make a change due to the Fallon
Health exit.)
Communities are advised to seek the fol-
lowing from their health care provider:
1. Security. It’s important to know that
your health plan will be around this year
and next. Get assurances from potential
providers that they don’t plan to exit the
Massachusetts market.
2. Longevity. Most health insurance pro-
viders in Massachusetts have been around
for a long time. While new players may
have arrived, they come with experience
from other areas. Still, it’s good to ask for a
detailed corporate history from all poten-
tial providers. Make sure their experience
in the health insurance market, and that of
their leadership, is top-notch.
3. Stability. e pandemic upended a lot of
things, and the health insurance indus-
try was not spared. According to a Fitch
Ratings report from May, health insurance
providers had a relatively stable end to a
turbulent year (2020), but uncertainty
lies ahead. So it’s important to work with
a provider whose outlook is stable. Check
the insurer’s annual reports and quarterly
statements. Look for those that have a bet-
ter-than-average retention rate, ongoing
Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association
www.emiia.org | 800.374.4405
MIIA welcomes new medical, dental and vision members
MIIA is welcoming the following com-
munities and municipal organizations
as new members to its medical, vision
and dental plans for scal 2022:
Medical: Carlisle, Cherry Valley/Roch-
dale Water, Marion, Nashoba Associat-
ed Boards of Health, Sutton and West
Boylston
Dental: Bristol, Buckland, Carlisle,
Cherry Valley/Rochdale Water, Dan-
vers, Dracut, Essex, Georgetown,
Greater Lawrence School District, Lit-
tleton, Manchester, Marion, Nashoba
Associated Boards of Health, North
Adams, Norwell, Pathnder Tech,
Spencer, Sutton, Topseld, Tyngsboro,
Walpole, Woburn and Worthington
Vision: Amesbury, Barre, Ber-
lin-Boylston Regional School District,
Blackstone-Millville Regional School
District, Bristol, Brookeld, Carlisle,
Chelmsford, Cohasset, Danvers, Essex,
Florida, Freetown, Georgetown, Gran-
ville, Hamilton, Littleton, Lunenburg,
Manchester, Marion, Masconomet
Regional School District, Mendon,
Merrimac, Middleton, Newbury,
North Adams, Norwell, Pathnder
Tech, Princeton, Quaboag Regional
School District, Ralph Mahar Regional
School District, Rutland, Southeastern
Massachusetts Regional Emergency
Communications Center, Southbridge,
Sterling, Southwick-Tolland-Granville
Regional School District, Sturbridge,
Sutton, Swansea, Tolland, Topseld,
Triton Regional School District, Tyngs-
borough, Winchendon, Woburn and
Worthington
MIIA looks forward to helping these
new members manage their health
insurance and workplace wellness
environments while providing access
to an extensive network of hospitals,
physicians, and essential health care
providers.
n MIIA continued on 18
16 • The Beacon • June 2021
Andover
Town launches one-stop online
data shop
Hoping to bolster transparency around
municipal operations and provide one-
stop information for residents, Andover
recently launched an online data portal
detailing everything from historical
property-tax analysis and demographic
data to response times for potholes and
beaver complaints.
In late April, the town unveiled An-
dover Data, which provides statistics
on various aspects of the town’s work,
including its customer-service response
rates, business and industry activity,
community development and planning
projects, public works performance,
demographics, elections and town clerk
data, and streetlight locations.
e town will update the data and add
topics as it receives new information,
said Assistant Town Manager Patrick
Lawlor. He added that the Andover Data
portal provides a digital complement
to Andover’s plans to include a custom-
er-service center in its renovation of
town oces.
“is model has carried through to
every element of government here, from
our physical interactions to our digital
interactions,” Lawlor said. “Ultimately,
our goal is to have a stronger and better
relationship with our community.”
Lawlor said the data portal grew out
of its 311 phone service and Andover
Central, an online customer-service hub,
which the town launched a year-and-a-
half ago. Both services allow residents to
make service requests. e popularity of
Andover Central, which allows residents
to track requests, encouraged ocials
to broaden transparency around town
operations, he said.
According to Lawlor, the town wanted
to display the customer-service data it
was generating from the 311 system,
as well as other useful information for
residents. For instance, Andover was
publishing interesting data in its annual
report, but couldn’t be sure how many
people actually read the 100 page-plus
publication.
“Part of this, too, was this sort of inher-
ent belief that we need to do a better
job of telling our story,” Lawlor said.
“e actual output of the town services
is pretty remarkable, so that’s a story
worth telling.”
anks to the portal, residents can learn
that the town resurfaced 14.5 miles
of road and installed more than 3,500
feet of curbing in 2019, Lawlor said.
ey can also learn how their property
tax bills have changed over time, and
how theirs compare to tax bills in other
communities. Lawlor said he researched
old Finance Committee reports to help
assemble historical tax data.
“ere are a lot of things that we talk
about a lot, and that don’t have a lot
of context, and I think this is a tool to
provide that context,” Lawlor said.
e town soon hopes to include a
real-time, energy-use tracker for public
buildings; a tracker showing which
streets have been plowed or sanded
during winter storms; and information
detailing the eciencies created through
scal management and technology
improvements.
e town also hopes to work with high
school students, Lawlor said, and use
data contributed by residents. He envi-
sions “a cross-pollination of everybody
in town” to keep the project moving
forward.
e data portal took six to seven months
to materialize, Lawlor said. e project
didn’t cost much money, as the work
was largely completed by himself, sta
in the town manager’s oce, and a small
interdepartmental team. Going forward,
he said, the town will expect every de-
partment to contribute relevant data.
“It’s going to be something that we’re
going to really engage every department
and every employee in town to look at
and say, ‘What’s some information that
we can display that will not only build
our trust with the community, but it will
help us work better, too?’” Lawlor said.
– Jennifer Kavanaugh
Chelsea
City pilots debit card-based
guaranteed income program
In response to the eects of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the commu-
nity, Chelsea last fall launched a pilot
guaranteed-income program in the form
of reloadable debit cards, called Chelsea
Eats: Chelsea Food Debit Card Program.
e city initially began a municipal food
distribution eort in April 2020 in order
to assist those facing food insecurity
that deepened during the pandemic.
But running municipal food pantries
took signicant time and eort, and
city funds were being used on non-food
items, like transportation, packing box-
es and unloading trucks, according to
City Manager Tom Ambrosino.
“On a hot summer day, people are
waiting in line for an hour to get a box
of food to have to carry it back to their
home,” Ambrosino said. “A lot of us felt
this was an undignied way for people
to meet their food needs.”
So the city pursued “a better way.”
e program was announced last July,
and recipients were selected by lottery
in September, with the rst distribution
coming right before the anksgiving
holiday. e city received more appli-
cations than it had the funding for. A
total of 3,615 households applied for the
program, and 2,074 were chosen in the
weighted lottery.
e cards were provided in a partnership
with Visa and can be used anywhere
Visa is accepted. e amounts on the
Residents can review town customer-
service statistics and a range of other
information on the new Andover Data
portal.
Around the Commonwealth
June 2021 • The Beacon • 17
Around the Commonwealth
cards vary by household size, with most
receiving $400 per month, with one-per-
son households receiving $200 and
two-person households receiving $300.
Ambrosino said funding for Chelsea Eats
has come from general city funds, the
federal CARES Act, and philanthropic
contributions. e city received signi-
cant support from Shah Family Founda-
tion, as well as United Way, Massachu-
setts General Hospital and Beth Israel.
e cards can be replenished month-
ly for a period of six months, and are
currently due to expire on June 30.
Ambrosino said he anticipates that the
program will be able to run through
Labor Day, but is not a nancially viable
long-term program for the city.
“ese kinds of programs need to be run
at a larger scale, supported by the state
and federal government,” Ambrosino
said.
In partnership with the city, e Rap-
paport Institute for Greater Boston at
the Harvard Kennedy School released
an evaluation on initial card spending
through early March. e evaluation
has information on each purchase made
with a card, including store or ven-
dor name, location, date of purchase,
amount spent, and general description
of what the store or vendor provides
(but not the items purchased). e
evaluation nds that 73.3% of spending
occurred at places where food is the
primary product, with 32% at Market
Basket grocery stores, overwhelmingly
at the Chelsea location. e evaluation
also found that more than half of total
spending occurred in Chelsea.
“We needed to get people through the
pandemic, which we have done, gotten
them through the worst of it,” Ambrosi-
no said. “But we also wanted to prove
that this kind of program can work, and
the funds can be spent responsibly.”
– Meredith Gabrilska
Revere
City launches Fully Vaccinated
Business badges program
e city of Revere on May 20 began
distributing stickers to small businesses
whose employees are fully vaccinated.
e stickers, often displayed at the busi-
ness entrance, are part of a campaign to
raise awareness about the importance of
vaccination across the city, according to
city ocials.
Small businesses can join the program
by applying through the city’s Inspec-
tional Services Department, which then
sends a COVID inspector to the small
business for an attestation and desig-
nates it as a Fully Vaccinated Business.
e city lists Fully Vaccinated Businesses
on its website.
“is program helps provide our res-
idents with another level of comfort
to safely patronize our businesses and
encourages them to shop and dine local-
ly,” said Mayor Brian Arrigo. “Our small
businesses are the backbone of our city,
and once again they are showing their
commitment to a safe full reopening.”
Revere businesses that were approved
for stickers on the rst day include
Cafeteria Las Delicias Colombianas,
Exito Multiservice, Circle Auto Gallery,
the American Legion, Moccia Insurance,
Peter Woo’s, Pine River Fish Market, and
Terri’s Place.
As of mid-May, 41% of Revere residents
were fully vaccinated and 55% had re-
ceived their rst dose. To celebrate and
inspire the rising vaccination numbers,
Arrigo announced that a month of fes-
tivities is being planned for this summer
for fully vaccinated residents. “Revere’s
Rockin’ Rebound” is scheduled to launch
in the rst week of June.
– John Ouellette
Fall River
Fire stations become Safe
Stations for people seeking
addiction treatment
e city of Fall River has opened its six
re stations to people facing addiction,
helping people get treatment and ser-
vices now rather than having to respond
to overdoses later.
e Safe Stations program, possibly
the rst of its kind in the state, allows
people to walk into any city re station
between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. and request
addiction help in a judgment-free en-
vironment. While there, people receive
an initial medical screening, help from
a recovery coach, and, if needed, a
mental health evaluation. e program
has helped 15 people since its March 1
launch.
In the eld, Fire Lt. William Lonardo
said, he can reverse an overdose with the
drug Narcan and take a patient to the
hospital, but he can’t reverse a family’s
heartbreak or help clean up the after-
math. is program allows the depart-
ment to help prevent overdoses, he said.
“It kind of redenes our role,” Lonardo
said. “It’s really neat, actually, in that
we have patients who now come to us,
instead of us having to go to them. …
When you’re looking for dierent ways
to be useful to your community, this is a
big one.”
Initially delayed by the pandemic, the
city took about a year to develop its pro-
gram. It’s modeled after the Providence
Safe Stations program in Rhode Island, a
state that has seen several such pro-
grams materialize in recent years. City
ocials also researched New Hampshire
programs dating back to 2016, and said
they are hearing that interest is starting
to build here in Massachusetts.
“is program is starting to ourish into
other communities, which is a great,
great thing,” said Timothy Oliveira, Fall
River’s director of medical services.
e city is collaborating with nonprof-
its and medical providers to oer the
service. e Fire Department provides
n COMMONWEALTH continued on 18
e city of Revere is distributing stickers
to small businesses whose employees are
fully vaccinated.
18 • The Beacon • June 2021
relationships with health care providers
and facilities, and high satisfaction ratings.
e National Committee for Quality
Assurance keeps ratings of each insurance
provider on its website.
4. Innovation. According to an article in
the May Harvard Business Review, people
no longer accept “one-size-ts-all” solu-
tions, including for health care. “Consumer
needs and perspectives on health insur-
ance coverage vary widely across many
dimensions, including generational dier-
ences,” the article states. “It’s inevitable
that demands for more personalization in
health care will reach a tipping point.” Seek
a provider that will look at your employees’
unique needs and craft plan solutions that
encourage wellness and prevention and
oer new and innovative benets that can
help them have the best quality of life.
MIIA believes in open and honest dialogue
and listens closely to the needs of mem-
bers when helping them craft insurance
coverage for employees. Make sure to ask
the same of your insurer or broker. Doing
so can make the health insurance discus-
sion productive and benecial for you and
your employees.
Chris Bailey is MIIA’s Health Trust Manager.
the stations and transportation. It
works with Steppingstone Inc., which
provides the recovery coaches; Stanley
Street Treatment and Rehabilitation;
St. Anne’s Hospital/Steward Health;
and Boston Medical Center and Bay
Cove Human Services, which partner to
provide mental health services.
Ocials said the program doesn’t cost
the city much to run. Besides provid-
ing transportation and access to the
stations, it has spent money mainly on
COVID tests, yers, and “Safe Station”
building signs. Steppingstone pays for
the recovery coaches.
When a person seeks help at a re sta-
tion, personnel nd a private meeting
spot and request a recovery coach. So
far, only a couple people have needed
urgent medical attention, ocials said.
Typically, recovery coaches have 30-min-
ute response times, and need only an
hour or so to arrange next steps for the
client — possibly longer if Bay Cove
needs to send someone to conduct a
mental health evaluation.
e process cuts bureautic delays that
often confront people seeking help,
particularly those with mental-health
diagnoses, said Stephanie Perry, an
addiction nurse specialist at St. Anne’s
Hospital in Fall River. Otherwise, those
patients can wait days in the emergency
room before getting transferred, she
said. In one case, Perry said, a woman
who spent three days in the ER without
getting a treatment bed went to a re
station a week later. Within an hour,
she met a recovery coach and arrived
at her detox bed almost immediately
afterward.
“at’s an amazing outcome, consider-
ing what it could have been,” Perry said.
e program’s main benet, she said, is
that “those recovery coaches are coming
right to that person at the time of need.”
—Jennifer Kavanaugh
is monthly column features regional and
local news briefs related to local govern-
ment in Massachusetts. To suggest a news
item for this column, email editor@mma.
org.
COMMONWEALTH
Continued from page 17
MIIA
Continued from page 15
Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan (far right)
speaks during an April 28 Safe Stations
press conference.
Let us know about your local news
Every day across the Commonwealth,
municipal leaders are guring out ways
to deliver services more eciently, save
taxpayers money, engage more citizens
in the vital work of local government,
or generally improve the eectiveness
of the layer of government that has the
most direct impact on people’s lives.
Massachusetts town and city halls
regularly serve as laboratories for
creative thinking in an eort to provide
even better services to residents. Local
leaders have repeatedly shown ingenu-
ity through the years — even more so
during the pandemic.
e MMA is proud of the work that our
members do, and whenever possible, we
want to recognize and help spread the
word about the local creative solutions.
If your community has launched a new
program or initiative, or has found a
unique solution for a common problem,
please let us know by lling out our
new Local News Tips form on the MMA
website.
Local ocials often tell the MMA that
they want to know more about what
other communities are doing so they
can learn from each other’s experienc-
es. By letting us know about your new
programs and initiatives, you can help
the MMA foster that mutual learning
through our news coverage and social
media, and contribute to the innova-
tions that are improving local govern-
ment. ●
June 2021 • The Beacon • 19
WEMO discusses encouraging women to run for oce
By Isabelle Nichols
Women Elected Municipal Ocials
held its inaugural spring symposium,
Opening Doors for Women, virtually on
April 30.
e symposium kicked o with a wel-
come from WEMO Chair and Newbury-
port Mayor Donna Holaday, followed by
a presentation by Jarinete Santos, po-
litical pipeline director with She Should
Run, a nonprot that oers a starting
place for women to explore their options
regarding public oce.
Santos discussed some of the barriers
that women face in considering a run
for oce, and provided resources that
women who are in the consideration
phase can turn to for support.
WEMO Committee members each spoke
briey about why they ran for oce, the
challenges they faced when running,
and what they have found rewarding
about running for and holding public
oce.
e symposium concluded with a panel
discussion featuring Sarah Johnson,
executive director of Local Progress,
and Erin Vilardi, founder and CEO of
Vote Run Lead. e panel, moderated by
WEMO First Vice Chair and Methuen
City Councillor Eunice Zeigler, explored
question like:
• How do you know if it’s the right time
to run for oce?
• Why does having women in governing
roles matter?
• What are key resources that can assist
women to prepare to run for oce?
• What are challenges and obstacles
commonly raised by women who are
considering a run for oce?
• What kind of people should women
have on their team when considering a
run for oce?
Panelists responded to a number of
questions about topics like preparing
to move up to a higher level of elected
oce, combatting “imposter syndrome,”
and strategies to increase voter turnout
in local elections. ●
Jarinete Santos, political pipeline di-
rector with She Should Run, shared re-
sources for women who are considering
a run for oce during a Women Elected
Municipal Ocials virtual symposium
on April 30.
Public Health Excellence Grant Program reopens
A Request for Response for the Public
Health Excellence Grant Program for
Shared Services was reopened on May
26. e RFR and other materials can be
found online.
e Massachusetts Department of
Public Health’s Oce of Local and
Regional Health seeks proposals from
qualied vendors to support public
health cross-jurisdictional, shared-ser-
vice arrangements. e DPH received
new funding in scal 2021 for grants to
advance the recommendations of the
Special Commission on Local and Re-
gional Public Health in its nal report of
June 2019: “Blueprint for Public Health
Excellence: Recommendations for Im-
proved Eectiveness and Eciency of
Local Public Health Protections.”
As noted in the Blueprint, Massachu-
setts and national evidence supports
cross-jurisdictional sharing as a means
to improve eectiveness and eciency.
In working together, municipalities are
better able to meet statutory require-
ments, respond to public health emer-
gencies, and plan public health improve-
ments.
e Public Health Excellence Grant Pro-
gram is designed to address the commis-
sion’s recommendations for improved
eectiveness and eciency of local and
regional public health by expanding op-
portunities for sharing of public health
services.
Only municipalities, federally rec-
ognized tribes, or regional planning
agencies/regional government councils
representing local boards of health are
eligible to receive these grant funds.
Applicants may submit proposals that
fall into one of the following three
categories:
1. To expand shared services arrange-
ments to include more municipalities
2. To expand shared services arrange-
ments to provide a more comprehensive
and equitable set of public health ser-
vices and/or sustainable business model
3. To support new cross-jurisdictional
sharing arrangements
e Oce of Local and Regional Health
anticipates awarding approximately ve
contracts with an annualized amount of
up to $300,000 each. ese contracts are
in addition to the 29 contracts awarded
in April 2021.
Applications must be submitted by June
29 at noon via email.
e application form is available online.
Details on how to submit are included in
the RFR at the same link.
e DPH will hold a bidders conference
webinar on ursday, June 3, at 3 p.m.
Click here to participate. ●
20 • The Beacon • June 2021
Ocials asked to update information for Municipal Directory
For the past month, the MMA has been
gathering updates from cities and towns
for its 2021-2022 Massachusetts Munic-
ipal Directory, a comprehensive resource
for connecting with colleagues in local
government.
On May 3, municipalities started receiv-
ing emails with login information and a
link to an online tool that they can use
to update their community’s informa-
tion. Emails have been sent to all cities.
Towns receive the emails on a rolling ba-
sis shortly after their annual elections.
As of May 22, 129 communities had
updated their information using the
convenient online tool. Middleborough
was the rst community to complete its
updates this year, with Town Manager
Robert Nunes submitting them at 11:25
a.m. on May 3.
In most cases, the emails go to the chief
municipal ocial and to a selected des-
ignee in each community. ey are asked
to review and update an online form,
which is pre-populated with personnel
information that the MMA currently
has on le. e form should take only a
few minutes to update and submit.
e MMA is also accepting advertising
orders for the directory. Organizations
that are interested in advertising in the
directory can download and complete
the advertising form. Completed adver-
tising forms should be sent to Karen
LaPointe at [email protected].
e Massachusetts Municipal Directory
includes listings of local ocials and
contact information, as well as demo-
graphic and nancial data, for all of
the state’s 351 cities and towns. ere
are also sections devoted to state and
federal government agencies, relevant
professional organizations, and regional
school districts, as well as a guide to
products and services for municipalities.
e new edition of the directory is ex-
pected to be published in early Septem-
ber.
For more information, contact Directory
Editor Jennifer Kavanaugh or Database
Administrator Ruby Sadoques at direc-
tor[email protected]. ●
Human services group discusses vaccine education and hesitancy
e MMA Human Services Council
hosted a webinar on May 21 covering
COVID-19 vaccine education and strate-
gies to address vaccine hesitancy.
Shazie Senen, Program Coordinator and
COVID-19 Vaccine Ambassador with the
Department of Public Health, provided
an overview of the COVID-19 vaccines,
their development process, and vaccine
safety.
Senen also addressed some frequently
asked questions about the vaccines, in-
cluding how and where to get a vaccine,
side eects, and current vaccination
rates.
Senen shared additional tools and
resources for vaccine information, in-
cluding materials that can be distributed
to community members.
MIIA Wellness Representative Tira
Hanrahan led a
discussion about
vaccine hesitancy.
She discussed
current vaccine
uptake rates in
the United States
and Massachu-
setts, as well as
estimated hesi-
tancy rates.
Hanrahan
discussed the
reasons behind
vaccine hesitancy
and oered tips
for overcoming
it at both the
individual and
community levels.
– Isabelle Nichols
A panel discusses vaccine education and hesitancy during an
MMA Human Services Council webinar on May 21. Pictured are
MIIA Wellness Representative Tira Hanrahan (top left); Shazie
Senen, Program Coordinator and COVID-19 Vaccine Ambas-
sador with the Department of Public Health (top right); and
Laura Ducharme, community services coordinator in Acton and
president of the MMA Human Services Council.
Commercial Driver Licensing requirements are changing
Commercial Driver Licensing require-
ments under federal regulation are
changing, and cities and towns will need
to register with the Federal Motor Car-
rier Safety Administration as a training
provider and be subject to the require-
ments under 49 CFR 380 if they wish to
continue to train CDL drivers.
e new requirements will be applicable
in February 2022, according to the Mo-
tor Carrier Safety Administration, and
may substantially change the model for
how cities and towns generate their pop-
ulation of CDL drivers for both schools
and public works vehicles.
More information is available on the
Entry-Level Driver Training Provider
Registry. e registry will help commer-
cial driver’s license applicants connect
with training providers who are self-cer-
tied to provide required entry-level
driver training. Visitors may sign up
to receive news and updates from the
FMCSA about the registry and the new
requirements for CDL applicants, train-
ing providers, and State Driver Licensing
Agencies.
Under a previously passed regulation,
eective January 2020, CDL drivers are
subject to drug and alcohol testing re-
quirements under 49 CFR 382. For more
information, visit the FMCSA Drug and
Alcohol Clearinghouse. ●
June 2021 • The Beacon • 21
ATFC discusses how FinComs can boost their positive impact
By Denise Baker
Association of Town Finance Com-
mittees President Brian Boyle was the
featured speaker during the association’s
May 19 webinar, “Upping Your Finance
Committee Game: How to Harness and
Develop Volunteer Energy.”
Boyle, who serves as chair of Bolton’s
Advisory Committee, has worked on
two large projects in the past ve years:
developing and implementing nancial
policies for the town and updating its
Master Plan. He used both as examples
during his presentation.
Before tackling a project that is outside
the typical scope of a nance commit-
tee’s responsibilities, Boyle said, it’s
important to get to know fellow commit-
tee members: what are their strengths,
availability, and priorities? When begin-
ning a project, he said, determine what
other committees or town departments
it will aect, and be sure to develop re-
lationships there. It’s important to work
collaboratively, especially in smaller
communities, where volunteers do much
of the work on special projects.
Another important factor is timing.
Summer and early fall are usually the
best times for nance committees to en-
gage in project work, before the budget
season begins.
Once the nance committee decides
on a project, it has to be presented to
everyone involved. is may include
the select board, the professional town
nance sta, and the school committee.
All parties should be on board before the
work begins and a team is assembled.
Boyle emphasized the importance of
using data and resources that are read-
ily available online. In particular, the
Division of Local Services website has a
large volume of data that is searchable,
making it relatively easy to nd compa-
rable communities. e DLS also oers
guidance through its Technical Assis-
tance Bureau.
When Bolton was developing a set of
nancial policies, Boyle said he was able
to use another community’s policies as
a template and adapt them to his town’s
needs, rather than starting from scratch.
(A list of resources can be found on the
last page of Boyle’s Powerpoint presen-
tation.)
Another source of support is the local
regional planning agency, which may
oer grants or funding to assist com-
mittees with special projects, or may be
able to provide sta support to do some
of the needed research or data analysis.
Boyle said Bolton received signicant
assistance from the Metropolitan Area
Planning Commission when updating its
Master Plan.
Boyle encouraged attendees to make
sure to mark and celebrate any success-
ful projects and outcomes involving the
nance committee. ree months after
Bolton adopted its nancial policies,
S&P Global Ratings upgraded the town’s
bond rating to AAA, citing the policies
as a contributing factor. is news was
featured in the local newspaper and
communicated to residents in a variety
of ways. ●
Association of Town Finance Commit-
tees President Brian Boyle discusses
tackling larger projects during a May 19
webinar.
Women Leading Government, WEMO to celebrate 19th amendment
On June 25, Women Leading Govern-
ment and Women Elected Municipal
Ocials will jointly host a webinar to
celebrate the centennial of the 19th
Amendment.
June 25, 2020, marked the 100-year
anniversary of the amendment that
granted women the right to vote in the
United States. is year, on that same
date, WLG and WEMO will celebrate the
historic milestone while also looking
ahead to the work still to be done.
e webinar will begin at 10 a.m. with a
moving and thought-provoking 30-min-
ute movie created by Surage100MA:
“e Fight for Women’s Surage: Look-
ing Back, Marching Forward.”
Following the movie, a panel of speakers
will share their thoughts:
• Surage100MA Executive Director
Fredie Kay
• Winchester Town Manager and former
Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong, who
will discuss how racism, sexism and
discrimination still linger and impact
American politics
e meeting will close with a facilitated
discussion led by Randolph Town Coun-
cillor and Surage100MA Vice President
Katrina Hu-Larmond.
All WLG and WEMO members have
received an invitation to register. ey
may also register online.
Contact: Senior Member Services Coordi-
nator Denise Baker at d[email protected]
Fredie Kay Katrina Hu-Larmond
22 • The Beacon • June 2021
MMA-Suolk programs update
On May 14, the MMA and Suolk University graduated the
15th and 16th classes of the Certicate in Local Govern-
ment Leadership and Management program.
e application period ended April 30 for the certicate
programs scheduled to begin this fall in Barnstable and
Marlborough, which will be the 17th and 18th held by the
MMA and Suolk.
e Certicate in Local Government Leadership and
Management is a ve-course, graduate-level program held
over the course of 25 Fridays. e program is designed for
municipal employees looking to further their careers in
municipal management. Sample classes include budgeting,
human resources management, and strategic leadership.
Information about the 2022-2023 programs will be avail-
able in the fall.
Finance Management Seminar
e application deadline is July 31 for the fall 2021
MMA-Suolk Municipal Finance Management Seminar.
e application is available on the MMA website.
e seminar provides an overview of Massachusetts mu-
nicipal nance, including the operational aspects of nance
structure, systems and processes in Massachusetts cities
and towns. Topics include budgeting, nancial reporting,
treasury functions, property assessment, and costing out
contracts.
e seminar is for municipal ocials interested in further-
ing their careers in municipal nance as well as for employ-
ees who are new to municipal nance. Applicants must be
employed by a city or town, and must have the approval of
their municipal manager, administrator or mayor to apply.
e program will be held virtually on ve Fridays begin-
ning in mid-October. e cost of the seminar is $825.
For more information about the MMA-Suolk programs,
visit www.mma.org/suolk or email Katie McCue at
Students from the 2020-2021 MMA-Suolk Certicate in Local
Government Leadership and Management programs held in
Shrewsbury (top) and Danvers gathered virtually for their grad-
uation ceremonies on May 14. e Shrewsbury program had 24
graduates, and the Danvers program had 21.
MMA’s Handbook for Massachusetts Selectmen now available digitally
e MMA’s Handbook for Massachu-
setts Selectmen, a 250-page compre-
hensive guide to the roles and respon-
sibilities of select board members in
Massachusetts, is available to all select
board members for free in a digital
format.
During the spring town election period,
the searchable PDF is sent by email to all
new select board members, along with
other welcoming materials from the
Massachusetts Select Board Association.
e 11-chapter handbook covers sub-
ject areas such as administrative and
regulatory responsibilities; nancial
management;
human resources,
personnel and
labor relations;
and land use
and community
development. It
covers topics such
as complying
with the open
meeting and eth-
ics laws, making
appointments, holding public meetings
and hearings, town meeting, Proposi-
tion 2½, insurance, tax rates, collective
bargaining, legal representation, public
safety, public works, and the role of a
town manager or administrator.
To order the PDF, send an email to Jessi-
ca Obasohan at the MMA at jobasohan@
mma.org.
e handbook is also available as a hard
copy, at a cost of $25 for MMA member
communities and $49 for nonmembers.
To order a hard copy of the handbook,
visit the publications page of the MMA
website. (ere’s an additional $5 charge
for postage.)
– MMA Member Services Coordinator Isabelle
Nichols
Fourth Edition
Massachusetts Municipal Association
Handbook for
Massachusetts Selectmen
June 2021 • The Beacon • 23
State, locals to step up enforcement of tobacco rules
By D.J. Wilson
In November 2019, the state updated
several laws dealing with tobacco and
vape (e-cigarette) sales, raising mandat-
ed nes for the sale of products to mi-
nors and raising the minimum purchase
age from 18 to 21.
Many of the updates came as a result
of cities and towns enacting the same
policies locally — notably a policy that
limits the sale of avored tobacco and
vape products. As of late 2019, 148
cities and towns had taken advantage
of a federal Court of Appeals decision
that supported a 2012 city ordinance
in Providence, Rhode Island, to extend
the 2009 federal avored cigarette sales
restriction to include all conventional
tobacco and vape products.
Section 6 of Chapter 270, which for
decades has been the state law that
prohibits the sale of tobacco products to
minors, had a minimum graduated n-
ing scheme of $100/$200/$300. Most
municipalities included this law in local
tobacco control measures, often adding
a tobacco sales permit suspension for
repeat oenders and sometimes increas-
ing the ne amounts.
e 2019 law raised the mandated ning
scheme to $1,000/$2,000/$5,000.
A subsequent Department of Public
Health regulation, found at 105 CMR
665, also instituted a 36-month tolling
period and provided for a local tobacco
sales permit suspension where a local
measure is silent on either penalty
condition.
e updated state law raised the mini-
mum legal sales age for tobacco products
from 18 to 21 and followed the 26 cities
and towns that had removed a sales
ban exemption for menthol, mint and
wintergreen avors. (ese avors were
exempted by both the federal govern-
ment and the Providence ordinance.)
Additionally, high-nicotine-content vape
products can only be sold in adult-only
retail tobacco stores and “smoking bars”
(cigar bars, hookah bars, vape bars).
Only “smoking bars” approved by the
Massachusetts Department of Reve-
nue are exempt from the avor sales
restriction and may allow only in-store
consumption of avored tobacco or vape
products.
Tobacco product retailers received a
letter from the DPH in December 2019,
and dozens of local health departments
reached out to tobacco and vape retail-
ers to remind them of the new state
laws, notably the higher nes.
Renewed enforcement eorts
During 2020, COVID-19 restrictions
limited enforcement to answering com-
plaints. But inspectors are now getting
back into stores to conduct retailer
inspections, informational visits and
compliance checks.
Selling to minors under age 21 and sell-
ing prohibited avored products — the
two most frequent violations — will re-
sult in issuance of the mandated higher
state nes. Municipalities deposit these
nes in their general fund, with the
exception of a few cities and towns that
have established revolving funds that
are earmarked for tobacco enforcement.
At the federal level, the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration recently agreed to
revisit its 2009 regulation banning the
sale of avored cigarettes. New pro-
posed rules would remove the exemp-
tion for menthol, mint and wintergreen
avors and extend the regulation to
cigars as well. (Menthol cigarettes ac-
count for one-third of all cigarettes sold
nationally.)
Massachusetts law exceeds the FDA
proposal, as the scope of the state policy
includes all conventional tobacco prod-
ucts and vaping products. ●
Dugan, “given the high levels of public
participation and increased transparen-
cy it has provided over the past year.”
In June 2020, Gov. Charlie Baker signed
legislation allowing representative
town meetings to meet virtually, but
that authorization expires at the end
of this June. e governor on May
25 led legislation that would extend
this practice, and the MMA has urged
legislative leaders to continue several
COVID-era accommodations for cities
and towns, including “that towns have
a permanent option to conduct remote
town meetings, and that this authority
also be extended to open town meeting
communities.” e MMA also urged the
Legislature to extend town election ac-
commodations, including rules govern-
ing voting by mail and other “election
innovations” born of the pandemic.
“We are operating under the assumption
that the state Legislature will expand
voter access via early voting and/or vote
by mail,” said Easton Town Adminis-
trator Connor Read, adding that the
town expanded stang in its scal 2022
budget to facilitate these voting options
and amended bylaws to allow the Select
Board to specify an election date in April
each year. He said the town used its new
bylaw to move the 2021 town election to
a Saturday “to allow for more social dis-
tance at the polls” (located at a school).
As the annual town meeting season
wraps up next month, municipal leaders
across Massachusetts are looking back
with pride in communities that used
their wits to weather a unique storm,
and forward to a future that may be
forever changed by the pandemic.
“It does seem like today is a little bit of
a catharsis,” Yarmouth Town Manager
Kenneth Mudie said at the outset of the
town’s socially distanced outdoor meet-
ing on May 22, as reported in the Cape
Cod Times. “e community has been
through a lot, and today we hopefully
gather as friends and citizens to contin-
ue moving the town forward, which is
what town meeting is really about.” ●
SPRING MEETINGS
Continued from page 7
24 • The Beacon • June 2021
Ari Sky became
the new town
administrator in
Lakeville on May 17.
Sky, a member of
the MMA Fiscal
Policy Committee,
served as New
Bedford’s chief
nancial ocer
for the past eight
years. He previously
spent many years working in Virginia,
including more than four years as the
director of management and budget for
Fauquier County and 11 years as a budget
ocer for Loudoun County. He had also
served as the director of administrative
services for the District of Columbia
Public Schools; borough manager for
Yeadon, Pennsylvania; management
analyst for Arlington County, Virginia;
and legislative assistant for the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Sky has a bachelor’s degree in politics and
history from Brandeis University, and a
master’s degree in public administration
from American University.
In Lakeville, Sky replaces Maureen
Candito, who left the position in
October.
Justin Sultzbach
became the new
town manager in
Winchendon on
May 17.
Sultzbach previously
served as assistant
town administrator
in Tyngsborough
since 2017. He
had also worked
for the town of
Watertown from 2014 to 2017, rst as a
principal account clerk in the treasurer’s
oce and later as an assistant assessor.
Other previous roles include senior
technical clerk for Suolk University and
senior legislative intern for Sen. Mark
Montigny. He also served as a member
of the Lowell Cultural Council from 2017
to 2019.
Sultzbach has a master’s degree in public
policy from Suolk University, and a
bachelor’s degree in political science from
Franklin Pierce University.
In Winchendon, Sultzbach replaces
Keith Hickey, who became town
administrator in Kingston in February.
omas Gregory
will become
Hudson’s new
executive assistant
on June 7.
Gregory has been
town administrator
in Spencer since
2018. Before that,
he served three
years as an assistant
town administrator
in Walpole and four years as the assistant
to the town manager in Shrewsbury. He
was the director of supportive housing
for the city of Worcester from 2009 to
2011, and a sta assistant in that city’s
Oce of Housing and Neighborhood
Development from 2006 to 2009. He
has also worked as a legislative aide and
as a teacher of Latin and history at St.
Sebastian’s School in Needham.
Gregory has a bachelor’s degree in
classics from the College of the Holy
Cross and a master’s degree in public
administration from Clark University.
In Hudson, Gregory
replaces omas
Moses, who retired
on May 7 after
more than seven
years as executive
assistant. Before
arriving in Hudson,
Moses had served
in several nancial
roles, including
seven years as
chief nancial ocer in Lowell and two
separate periods, totaling ve years, as
Gloucester’s CFO. Moses, who served on
the MMA Fiscal Policy Committee, also
served four years as Groveland’s nance
director and ve years as Cambridge’s
assistant nance director, and had spent
several years as an assistant treasurer in
the private sector. He has a bachelor’s
degree in biology from the University of
Pennsylvania, and a master of business
administration degree from San Jose
State University.
Jennifer Wolowicz
became Monson’s
new permanent
town administrator
on April 27, after
having served a
couple of months
as the interim
administrator.
Before coming to
Monson, Wolowicz
spent more than
15 years in South Hadley, where she was
most recently the deputy administrator
for two years, and was the assistant
town administrator for six years before
that. In South Hadley, she had also
served as interim town administrator,
acting town administrator, facilities
manager, personnel manager and chief
procurement ocer.
She has a bachelor’s degree in business
management and marketing from Elms
College, and a master’s degree in public
administration from Westeld State
University.
Wolowicz replaces Evan Brassard, who
left in February to become Grafton’s
town administrator.
Mark Roberts and Emanne Khan are
working with the MMA this summer as
Communications interns.
Originally from Hong Kong, Roberts
just completed his junior year at Tufts
University, where he is majoring in
quantitative economics and minoring in
urban studies.
Khan, who is originally from New
Ari Sky
People
omas Gregory
Justin Sultzbach
omas Moses
Jennifer Wolowicz
Mark Roberts Emanne Khan
June 2021 • The Beacon • 25
People
Hampshire, just nished her sophomore
year at Boston University, where she is a
political science major.
Roberts and Khan will primarily be
working on the Massachusetts Municipal
Directory project.
Bruce Garlow, a
longtime public
servant in local
government, died
on April 23 at age
72.
A native of
Brooklyn, New York,
and a longtime
resident of Becket,
Garlow worked
for the U.S. Postal
Service before moving to Berkshire
County in 1976 and becoming involved
in local government. He served two
decades as administrator for the town of
Richmond, before retiring in 2009. He
had also served as town administrator
in West Stockbridge, and as interim
administrator in Lanesborough, and
consulted with the law rm of Bernstein,
Cushner & Kimmell on municipal aairs.
In the 1980s, he had also served as a
district aide for former Rep. Christopher
Hodgkins, managing his district oce in
Lee.
Garlow had served as chair of Small
Town Administrators of Massachusetts,
and his role as town moderator in
Becket led to his becoming secretary
of the board of the Massachusetts
Moderators Association. He belonged
to the Massachusetts Association of
Conservation Commissions, which
named him conservation administrator
of the year in 2001. He also served
in numerous other local and regional
government committees and
organizations.
Leominster City
Councillor Gail
Feckley died on
May 16 at age 69.
Feckley had served
on the City Council
for six years,
four of which as
the council’s vice
president. She
had also been a
faculty assistant at
Fitchburg State University, with 35 years
of service to the university.
is monthly column highlights transitions,
accomplishments and awards, and life
events of municipal ocials. To submit
information for People, contact MMA
Associate Editor Jennifer Kavanaugh at
800-882-1498 or jkavanaugh@mma.org.
Bruce Garlow
Gail Feckley
New select board members elected
e following are new select board
members elected in annual town
elections from April 16 through May 24.
is listing is meant to highlight
rst-time select board members, but
it’s possible that some listed here are
returning to their board after previous
service. If we are missing a new member,
let us know by emailing newselectmen@
mma.org.
Abington: Alex Hagerty
Adams: Howard Rosenberg
Ashby: Matthew Leonard
Auburn: Sara Rufli
Belchertown: Nick Pucel
Bourne: Mary Jane Mastrangelo
Boxborough: Jennifer Campbell, Diana Lipari
Bridgewater: Eric Moore
Brookfield: Adam Jolicoeur
Brookline: Miriam Aschkenasy
Buckland: Clinton Phillips
Charlton: Barbara Zurawski
Cheshire: Raymond Killeen, Shawn McGrath
Chester: Jason Forgue
Colrain: Thomas Grin
Cummington: Brian Gilman
Danvers: Matthew Duggan
East Brookfield: Robert Button, Braedon Hatt
Easton: Jennifer Stacy, James Stebbins
Falmouth: Onjalé Scott Price
Foxborough: Seth Ferguson
Georgetown: Amy Smith
Gill: Charles Garbiel II
Grafton: Raymond Mead
Granby: Richard Beaulieu
Great Barrington: Eric Gabriel, Garfield Reed
Halifax: Ashley DiSesa
Hampden: Craig Rivest
Hanover: Steve Louko
Hanson: Joseph Weeks III
Harvard: Erin McBee
Harwich: Mary Anderson
Hingham: Elizabeth Klein
Hopedale: Glenda Hazard
Hopkinton: Muriel Kramer
Hudson: Michael Burks, Shawn Sadowski
Ipswich: Sarah Ann Player
Kingston: Kimberley Emberg, Sheila Vaughn
Lee: Robert Jones
Leverett: Melissa Colbert
Lunenburg: Louis Franco
Marshfield: Jim Kilcoyne
Mattapoisett: Jodi Lynn Bauer
Medway: Frank Rossi
Merrimac: Chris Manni
Millis: Craig Schultze
Monterey: Justin Makuc
Mount Washington: Eric Mendelsohn
New Salem: Hugh Mackay
Northborough: Kristen Wixted
Northfield: Bernard Boudreau, Mary Bowen
Norwell: Thomas Reardon, Peter Smellie
Orange: Andrew Smith
Pepperell: Mark Mathews
Petersham: Becky Legare
Plymouth: Harry Helm
Provincetown: Leslie Sandberg
Rutland: Carol Benoit
Sandisfield: Alex Bowman
Savoy: Melanie Glynn
Shrewsbury: Theresa Flynn
Southborough: Andrew Dennington II
Spencer: Jared Grigg
Stow: Zackory Burns
Sunderland: Christyl Drake-Tremblay
Topsfield: Cam Brown
Townsend: Charles Sexton-Diranian
Wakefield: Anne Danehy
Warwick: Alan Genovese
Warren: Richard Eichacker, Derick Veliz
Washington: Kent Lew
Wayland: Adam Gutbezahl, Carol Martin
Wenham: Dianne Bucco, Catherine Harrison
Westford: John Cunningham
West Newbury: Wendy Reed
Westwood: Robert Gotti
Wilbraham: Theresa Goodrich
Williamstown: Wade Hasty, Jerey Johnson
Wilmington: Lilia Maselli
Winchendon: Danielle LaPointe
Yarmouth: Peter Smith
●
26 • The Beacon • June 2021
this extension legislation is essential,” said
MMA Executive Director Geo Beckwith.
“ere are many innovations and opera-
tional improvements that we want to keep
in place, and this bill would give municipal
and state leaders adequate time to enact
permanent provisions.”
e MMA sent a letter to legislative lead-
ership on May 24 requesting that they act
quickly on a number of permanent chang-
es to ensure a seamless transition after the
state of emergency is lifted.
To allow public bodies to safely meet
during the pandemic and ensure public
access to meetings, Gov. Baker issued an
executive order in March 2020 allowing
these bodies to meet quorum require-
ments even if meetings were held remotely
through electronic means, as long as mea-
sures were taken to ensure the public with
electronic access to the proceedings. e
bill led by the governor on May 25 would
extend these provisions through Sept. 1 of
this year. e governor said the extension
would allow additional time to consider
possible permanent changes to the open
meeting law to provide for greater exi-
bility in conducting open meetings using
electronic streaming and similar measures.
e governor’s bill would also give munic-
ipalities the authority to extend special
permits for restaurants oering outdoor
dining, issued under the state of emergen-
cy, through Nov. 29 of this year. Under an
executive order issued in 2020, municipal-
ities were permitted to use an expedited
process to approve temporary permits
for new or expanded outdoor dining and
alcohol service. Without a legislative
extension, special permits granted under
the order will expire 60 days after the end
of the state of emergency.
e legislation would also extend a pro-
tection adopted in an executive order that
prohibits medical providers from billing
patients who have received COVID-relat-
ed emergency and inpatient services for
charges in excess of costs paid by their
insurers.
On June 1, the Senate Committee on Ways
and Means accepted written comments
only on the governor’s bill and a bill led
by Sen. William Brownsberger that would
temporarily extend remote town meetings
and other exibilities until June 30 (S. 27).
e MMA submitted testimony, stating,
“While we support these temporary ex-
tensions, we urge you to consider making
these changes permanent.”
In summary, the MMA wrote, “We would
like to see permanent extensions of the
following: the option for public bodies
to conduct remote or virtual meetings,
allowance for remote Town Meetings that
is also extended to Open Town Meeting
communities, election provisions such as
the option to vote by mail and to move
municipal election and caucus dates during
emergencies, and expedited permitting for
outdoor table service and take-out alcohol-
ic beverages.” ●
EMERGENCY MEASURES
Continued from page 1
that impose conditions and require-
ments on a diverse range of communi-
ties, is always tricky. e more restric-
tive the rules, the worse the t and the
harder it is for everyone to comply.
is issue is a perfect case study. With
multiple councils, boards and commis-
sions in place in each of our 351 cities
and towns, there are thousands of
public bodies that come under the open
meeting law. Even our smallest towns
each have about 20 boards, committees
and commissions. Medium-sized com-
munities have about 35 such entities.
Larger communities have even more.
Simple math brings us close to 10,000
local bodies that must comply with the
open meeting law — just at the munici-
pal level.
Dierent public bodies have dierent
capacity or need for remote and in-per-
son meetings. How one board chooses
or is capable of operating remotely
varies widely from other boards in the
same city or town, and this variation is
even more drastic from municipality to
municipality, especially in those regions
that still lack robust broadband infra-
structure.
at is why we believe maintaining ex-
ibility is important and why we disagree
with pending legislative proposals that
would mandate that each public body
provide a remote video platform for all
meetings and require that every meet-
ing have a physical location available for
public participation.
Mandating all meetings to oer simul-
taneous remote and in-person access
would require expensive hybrid meeting
formats that integrate in-person and
virtual interaction. While that may
be the format of the future, and an
aspirational goal, it is impractical today.
Nearly every city and town hall would be
forced to retrot all meeting spaces with
expensive technology (cameras, micro-
phone systems, multiple large-screen
displays, and more costly platform
licenses). Without these investments, a
hybrid meeting experience would be a
cacophony of iPads, laptops, audio feed-
back, sound echoes and the like.
e best policy is to allow the option
of remote meetings, providing com-
munities with a base upon which they
can build going forward, investing in
technology on an aordable self-funded
timeline, while allowing in-person reen-
gagement and reconnection as commit-
tees wish to do so.
For these reasons, the MMA is asking
the Legislature to grant public bodies a
permanent option to hold remote meet-
ings, and that this action be expedited
as a top legislative priority to avoid
disruption to local deliberations and
decision-making.
Along with the option of permanent
remote meetings of public bodies, the
MMA is also asking lawmakers to ad-
vance permanent legislation to allow for
remote representative and open town
meetings, election provisions such as
the option to vote by mail, the ability
to move municipal election and caucus
dates during future emergencies, and
the continuation of expedited permit-
ting for outdoor table service and take-
out alcoholic beverages.
With the support of our partners in
state government, Massachusetts can
act on the innovations and lessons
learned during the past 14 months,
and use them to improve government
operations, transparency and public
engagement to ensure a swifter recovery
for our communities. is should be
a thoughtful process that ensures the
time, resources and planning necessary
to have a seamless transition to the new
normal. ●
DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Continued from page 2
June 2021 • The Beacon • 27
Classified Advertisements
EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
State Housing Administrator
Winchester Housing Authority
Part-time, 18-hours per week position of State
Housing Administrator to perform administrative
duties in support of state public housing programs.
Experience in public housing, Microsoft Word, Excel
and PHAnetwork software desired. Salary range:
$18-$22 per hour depending on experience. Flexible
work week. e position is open until lled. Qualied
Candidates must submit a resume by email to Susan
Cashell, Executive Director at sdcashell@winchesterha.
org. Winchester Housing Authority is an Armative
Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Human Resources Director
Town of Littleton
e Human Resources Director, working under the
direction of the Town Administrator, is responsible
for developing, managing and enforcing policies and
procedures that will ensure the town is compliant with
local, state and federal laws and serves the employees
and retirees of the town. Minimum Qualications:
Bachelor’s degree; minimum of ve years’ progressively
responsible experience in benets administration,
HR and contract negotiations; or any equivalent
combination of education and experience. Starting pay
range is $87,174-$108,889/year commensurate with
experience. Application Process: Email cover letter,
resume, and employment application materials to:
[email protected]. Application materials must be
received in the Littleton Human Resources Oce by
Monday, June 14, at 4 p.m. Full job description can be
found at www.littletonma.org/human-resources/
pages/employment-opportunities. e town of
Littleton is an EOE.
City Engineer
City of Everett
e City Engineer performs professional civil
engineering work in the eld or oce, supervising the
design, construction, development, and maintenance
of city projects, facilities, and engineering personnel
(including engineering consultants) involved in such
activities. cityofeverett.com/Jobs/CityEngineer.
Town Administrator
Town of Warren
e town of Warren seeks qualied applicants for
the position of Town Administrator. e Town
Administrator is appointed by, and reports to,
the Board of Selectmen. ey act as the agent for
the Board, serving as their initial point of contact,
assisting and advising in discharging their duties of
oce. ey will work with considerable independence
to perform managerial and administrative functions
and coordinate the activities of the various
departments, commissions, boards, committees, and
oces of the town. Applicants should be versed in
municipal operations management, grant writing,
and conict resolution. Salary range is $75,000 to
$90,000 negotiated based on education and relevant
experience. For more information, visit www.
warren-ma.gov. Candidates should submit a cover
letter, resume, college transcripts, and three letters of
reference to Board of Selectmen, 48 High St., Warren,
MA 01083 or via email to selectmen@warren-ma.gov.
Deadline for applications is June 30.
Building Department Assistant
Town of Wayland
High level, responsible and complex administrative
and technical work in assisting the Building
Commissioner to discharge the functions of the
oce; oce management work related to the
administrative, accounting, and supervisory work of
the department; all other related work as required.
May attend bi-monthly or as needed Zoning Board
of Appeals meetings, takes and prepares minutes
via laptop computer, transcribes and distributes
minutes for approval; coordinates all Zoning Board
of Appeals meetings and agendas; prepares all
relevant information packets, as well as preparing,
typing, recording, and posting of all zoning appeal
decisions, minutes, abutters lists and mailings.
Provides technical information to residents and
professionals regarding town of Wayland zoning
bylaws and Building Department policies and
procedures. Recommended Minimum Qualications:
Education: High school diploma; associate’s degree in
a related eld of endeavor preferred. Experience: Over
three years of experience in general administrative
work, building, zoning or other land use functions.
Municipal experience preferred; related experience in
bookkeeping and computers desirable. Date posted:
May 24. Closing date: Open until lled. To apply:
Please submit a resume and cover letter to the Human
Resources Manager, Town of Wayland, 41 Cochituate
Road, Wayland, MA 01778 or [email protected]. e
Town of Wayland is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Council on Aging/Senior Center Director
Town of Spencer
e town of Spencer is seeking a self-motivated,
energetic individual qualied for the position of
Council on Aging/Senior Center Director for 34 hours
a week. A bachelor’s degree in social work, human
services, sociology, psychology, or related eld is
required with three to ve years of Council on Aging
experience, or related programming experience
with senior citizens required, and three to ve years
of employee supervisory experience preferred.
Job description, application, and additional details
available at: www.spencerma.gov/home/pages/
employment-opportunities. Salary range $49,557-
$61,491, DOQ. Submit resume and application to
Town of Spencer, Town Administrator’s Oce, 157
Main St., Spencer, MA 01515. EEO Employer.
Grants Management Specialist
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
e MAPC seeks to hire a Grants Management
Specialist within the agency’s Homeland Security
Division of its Municipal Collaboration Department.
is individual must be a computer savvy, organized
professional with eective communication skills
who has solid grants management experience. e
Specialist will work within the MAPC Municipal
Collaboration Team on the execution of a variety
of federal and state funded public safety grants.
Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of four years of
relevant work experience. Massachusetts Certied
Public Purchasing Ocial (MCPPO) certication
preferred. Interested candidates should submit a cover
letter and resume. Apply online at www.mapc.org/
jobs.
Water and Sewer Superintendent
Town of Ayer
e town of Ayer is seeking a self-motivated, highly
qualied applicant for the new position of Water and
Sewer Superintendent to report to the Director of
Public Works. e Water & Sewer Superintendent
is responsible for the technical, operational and
maintenance work for the town’s water and sewer
systems. Responsibilities include managing and
scheduling 11 sta members, overseeing operations
and capital budgets, capital project planning and
oversight, MassDEP/EPA reporting, and providing
excellent customer service. For qualications and
additional information: www.ayer.ma.us/about-
ayer/pages/employment-opportunities. e
town of Ayer is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Applications must be received by June 18.
Classified advertising rates and information
e Beacon publishes classied ads from units of
government, public agencies, and companies.
Classied advertising categories are: Employment
Opportunities, Requests for Proposals, and
Services. Only one job opening or RFP can be listed
per ad. e MMA cannot assume responsibility for
information or claims made in any advertisement.
Classified advertising rates
Classied ad rates include publication in e
Beacon and on www.mma.org, though a discount is
available for those who request placement of an ad
only in e Beacon or on the website.
Member rates
• $100 for rst 100 words; $100 for each
additional block of up to 100 words
• Rate for one format only (print or website): $75
for rst 100 words, $75 for each additional block
of up to 100 words
Nonmember rates
• $150 for rst 100 words; $150 for each
additional block of up to 100 words
• Rate for one format only (print or website):
$125 for rst 100 words, $125 for each
additional block of up to 100 words
Beacon deadlines and publication dates
e Beacon is published on the rst business day
of each month, except in the summer, when a
combined July-August issue is printed in mid-July.
Summer Beacon
Deadline: July 14
Publication: July 22
September Beacon
Deadline: August 25
Publication: September 1
Placing an ad
You may use our convenient online form at
www.mma.org.
For more information, call Meredith Gabrilska
at the MMA at 617-426-7272.
Missed the Beacon deadline for an
employment ad? You can still get the
word out – right away.
See
www.mma.org for details.
n
CLASSIFIEDS continued on 28
28 • The Beacon • June 2021
Assistant Director
Rockport Public Library
e Rockport Public Library is seeking candidates for
the new position of Assistant Director. Please use the
link below for duties, responsibilities, qualications
and application instructions. rockportlibrary.
org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Assistant-
Director-20210524.pdf.
Administrative Assistant to the Chief of
Police
Town of Townsend
e Townsend Police Department is seeking
applications for a full-time Administrative Assistant.
General duties include but are not limited to
management of personnel les, payroll, bills payable,
tracking expenses, maintaining department records
and applications, data entry/input including
spreadsheets, preparing correspondence, assisting
with department budgets, processing of insurance
claims, as well as other duties assigned. A complete
job description can be obtained upon request. Salary
range is $42,010-$55,415 with a competitive benets
package. Anyone wishing to apply should submit
a resume with a cover letter to: Townsend Police
Department, Attn: Chief James Sartell, 70 Brookline
Road, Townsend, MA 01469 or via email to admin@
townsendpd.org.
Plant Operations Manager
Upper Blackstone Clean Water
Upper Blackstone Clean Water is currently accepting
resumes for a Plant Operations Manager. As one
of New England’s largest clean water treatment
plants, the facility provides biological nutrient
removal treatment for ows originating in the
greater Worcester area while also providing biosolids
management using incineration for numerous
Massachusetts communities. e Plant Operations
Manager directs and supervises a department of
twenty licensed operators who sustain the 24/7
staed operation of the clean water treatment plant.
is manager participates as part of a team who
prioritize and plan facility projects and needs ranging
from hiring and training to routine maintenance
and long-term capital upgrades and improvements.
e work involves signicant technical knowledge
as well as considerable independent judgement in
planning work and making decisions. Responsibilities
include adherence to regulatory requirements
including NPDES permitting, federal and state air
permit compliance, and storm water reporting. Other
responsibilities include annual purchase agreements
for chemicals and energy, including coordination
of solar energy sites. e plant operations manager
coordinates the control and management of hauled
wastes including sludge and septage. Responds to and
participates in emergency calls. Candidates must have
a minimum of a bachelor’s degree with major work in
chemistry, life sciences, environmental engineering,
or a related eld. A minimum of 10 years’ experience
in wastewater treatment, three years in a supervisory
capacity is expected. Candidates must have the ability
to obtain a MA Grade 7C Wastewater Operator’s
License. Competitive benets include MA state
retirement system. Salary based on education and
experience. Send letter of interest and resume to: Liz
Mailhot, Upper Blackstone Clean Water, 50 Route 20,
Millbury, MA 01527, [email protected].
Town Administrator
Town of Jericho, Vermont
e town of Jericho, Vermont, seeks a collaborative
and dynamic full-time Town Administrator. Jericho
(pop. 5,000) has a $4.0 million budget and nine full-
time employees. A detailed job description is available
at jerichovt.org/town-departments/news_feed/
town-administrator-job-posting. Bachelor’s degree
plus four years of related experience or equivalent
combination. Salary range is $65,000 to $85,000,
commensurate with experience and training. Excellent
benets are oered. To apply, please email a cover
letter, resume, and contact information for three
references as PDF le attachments, in condence, to
[email protected] with Jericho as the
subject. Our preferred deadline to receive applications
is Friday, June 4.
Program Coordinator
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
e MAPC, the regional planning agency for Metro
Boston, seeks to hire a Program Coordinator within
the agency’s Homeland Security Division of its
Municipal Collaboration Department. Working closely
with another Program Coordinator that is already on
sta, s/he/they will manage emergency preparedness
grants, specically for the Northeast Homeland
Security Regional Advisory Council (NERAC). Apply
online at www.mapc.org/jobs. e position is open
until lled. Interested candidates should submit a
cover letter and resume. Candidates must have legal
authorization to work in the USA and a valid driver’s
license and/or the ability to arrange transportation to
meetings in dierent parts of the region.
Executive Assistant to the Town
Administrator and Select Board
Town of Westminster
e town of Westminster is seeking qualied
applicants for the position of Executive Assistant
to the Town Administrator and Select Board. is
position provides highly professional and executive
administrative support to the Town Administrator;
performs varied, responsible and condential
functions requiring knowledge of departmental and
municipal operations. Excellent judgment and strong
customer service and interpersonal communication
skills when responding to inquiries and interacting
with the public, boards and committees are necessary.
Assists the Town Administrator with a wide variety of
administrative issues and special projects as directed.
Successful applicants will possess a bachelor’s degree
in public administration, political science, business
administration or related eld; three to ve years
of oce experience; or any equivalent combination
of education, training and experience. Successful
candidate must have strong organizational and
public relations skills, be capable of exercising good
judgment, the ability to manage multiple projects,
with attention to details and the ability to meet
deadlines. Must be highly procient with technology,
have strong administrative skills. Working knowledge
of oce procedures, budget preparations, familiarity
with municipal government, local bylaws and state
regulations. Must be able to obtain Notary Public, and
Massachusetts Certied Public Purchasing Ocial
(MCPPO) designation. Application and job description
is available on the town website at www.westminster-
ma.gov, Human Resources or email schtel@
westminster-ma.gov. e position will remain open
until lled, applications reviewed daily. DOEQ. EOE
Water Worker 3
Town of Wayland
Department: Department of Public Works. Union/
Grade: Teamsters/D-12. Full-time: 40 hours/week.
Salary Range: $30.92/hr-$38.83/hr. Description of
position: Performs technical and skilled manual work
in the operation of a water treatment plant and water
treatment systems; performs skilled manual and
technical work in construction and maintenance of the
water distribution system. Recommended Minimum
Qualications: Education: High school diploma;
additional related education or training is preferred.
Experience: ree years of experience working in
public water systems. Experience in a water treatment
plant is desirable. Licenses/Certicates: Minimum
of a full Grade 2 Treatment (2T) at time of hire; full
Grade 2 Distribution (2D) at time of hire or in training
Grade 2 Distribution (2D) as soon as possible within
DEP regulatory guidelines and applicable laws. Must
have a valid Class B driver’s license. Must have a valid
2B hoisting license, 2A preferred. Date posted: May
18. Closing date: Open until lled. Apply to: Human
Resources Manager, Town of Wayland, 41 Cochituate
Road, Wayland, MA 01778 or [email protected]. e
town of Wayland is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Police Chief
City of Methuen
e city of Methuen is seeking qualied and
experienced candidates for the position of Police
Chief. Under the general direction of the Mayor,
the Police Chief is the chief administrative ocer
of the police department, responsible for planning,
directing, controlling, coordinating, and stang all
activities of the department to preserve the peace,
protect persons and property and enforce the law.
Essential Duties: Organizes, directs, and oversees all
sta resources, e.g., makes assignments, provides
training, evaluates performance, determines
discipline, participates in collective bargaining, handles
grievances, and maintains personnel record system
aligned to existing Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Civil Service guidelines in alignment with Human
Resources; develops and oversees operating policies
and procedures to ensure achievement and retention
of Commonwealth police accreditation; delegates
authority, monitors daily duties and assignments
for ocers; reviews activities and incidents; plans
and executes programs to prevent and repress crime,
apprehend, and prosecute law violators; modies and
adopts new programs and techniques to improve
eectiveness of department; prepares and submits to
appropriate oce/organization various reports, e.g.,
annual report and monthly arrests. Notify appropriate
organization (state or federal) of incidents occurring
within the city involving deaths, injuries, lost persons,
and vehicular accidents; directs, coordinates, and
keeps apprised of all activities of the department. As
necessary and at his own discretion, takes charge at
scenes of emergencies, serious crimes, or accidents,
making nal decisions as to courses of action and
protection of citizens, property, and police personnel.
Cooperates with ocials of other jurisdictions on
investigations and apprehension of suspects; serves
as primary representative of the department with
civic organizations, public interest groups, elected
representatives, schools, etc. by attending meetings
related to public safety problems and/or enforcement;
appears before the State Legislature and City Council
to present testimony on proposed statutes, bills, and
ordinances aecting the Police Department; consults
with the Mayor in the development of overall policies,
Classified Advertisements
CLASSIFIEDS
Continued from page 27
June 2021 • The Beacon • 29
n
CLASSIFIEDS continued on 30
Classified Advertisements
programs, and procedures to govern the activities of
the department; prepares the department budget with
the approval of the Chief Administrative and Financial
Ocer and Mayor and directs the expenditure of
allocated funds; oversees all payroll, requisitions, and
PO’s, makes recommendations to the Mayor regarding
any major purchases. Performs other related duties
as required. For a full job description visit: www.
cityofmethuen.net. Apply: Submit application,
cover letter, and resume to: City of Methuen, Human
Resource Department, Room 206, 41 Pleasant St.,
Methuen, MA 01844 or emailed to HumanResources@
cityofmethuen.net. Please reference “Police Chief” in
the subject line. Hours of work: Full-Time (40-plus
hours)/benetted. Salary ranges up to $220,000
(starting salary commensurate w/qualications.) Non-
civil service position. Position open until lled. e city
of Methuen is an equal opportunity/armative action
employer and service provider.
Principal Assessor
Town of Florida
e town of Florida seeks qualied and experienced
applicants for the Principal Assessor position.
e Principal Assessor is a part time position and
functions as a member of the Senior Management
Team and has direct responsibility for the professional,
administrative and supervisory work related to the
valuation of all residential, industrial, commercial
real estate and personal property within the town,
in accordance with the Department of Revenue
regulations, related Massachusetts General Laws,
and town bylaws. e Principal Assessor provides
time-sensitive nancial information, analysis and
consultation to the Boards of Assessors, Town
Administrator and other town ocials. e successful
candidate will have working knowledge of Mass.
laws relating to municipal property assessment for
tax purposes, computerized appraisal systems, hold
a Massachusetts Accredited Assessor certicate in
municipal assessing, possess a bachelor’s degree with
over ve years of experience, preferably in a municipal
setting, or an equivalent combination of education
and experience. Salary range for FY21 is $12,000
depending on experience. Interested applicants should
send a cover letter and resume on or before June 30
to Christine Dobbert, Town Administrator, Town
of Florida, 379 Mohawk Trail, Drury, MA 01343 via
email to: townhall.oridamass@gmail.
Town Accountant
Town of Norwell
Are you a Town Accountant or a municipal nance
ocer who is driven to succeed, takes great pride in
your work product, who is looking for an employment
opportunity where there is solid scal strategy, stable
leadership, a great nancial team? Due to an upcoming
retirement, the town of Norwell has an outstanding
opportunity for a star player to join our collaborative
and enthusiastic management team – a place where
your knowledge and input will be a valuable asset.
Excellent starting salary of $115K+ to be negotiated
based on nal candidate’s qualications, experience,
education and current certications. Competitive
benets package. Norwell is a beautiful South Shore
town (11,492 pop) known for its North River location,
natural beauty, extensive trail system, annual triple
AAA bond rating, and an annual awardee by the
Government Finance Ocers Association of the
Certicate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial
Reporting (CAFR). e FY22 projected budget for
both the town and the schools is approximately
$59.4M. Reporting to the Town Administrator,
and under the supervisory direction of the Finance
Director, the Town Accountant will perform all
the duties in accordance with the provisions of
Massachusetts General Laws, town bylaws, and the
policies of the town to include performing professional
administrative, supervisory, and technical work in
maintaining comprehensive accounting records.
Work includes maintaining a complete set of nancial
records for all appropriations, expenditures, receipts,
assessments, levies and abatements initiated by town
departments; maintenance of chart of accounts;
approval and auditing of all payrolls, bills, drafts,
orders and other expenditures to ensure accuracy, and
adherence to appropriate procedures and availability
of funds. Associate’s or higher (bachelor’s desired)
degree in accounting, nance, business or related eld;
minimum three-plus years of supervisory experience
in accounting or nancial management; experience
in municipal accounting with a Certied Government
Accountants (CGA) or Certied Government
Financial Manager (CGRM) strongly preferred; or any
equivalent combination of education and experience.
Visit www.townofnorwell.net to view the job
posting. Send resume and town job application to
[email protected] in PDF format. Interested
applicants should apply immediately; position open
until lled. EOE/AA/ADA Employer.
City Clerk
City of Lawrence
Pay: $95,000-$115,000 annual salary (to be paid
bi-weekly.) Union: Exempt non-union, contract.
Duties: e City Clerk shall have the care and custody
of all city records, documents. Vital statistics, bonds
of city oces, contracts, maps, plans and papers,
and shall have such powers and duties with respect
to the regulations and supervision of the elections
and issuance of licenses as are provided by law. As
Clerk to the City Council, the city clerk shall attend
and give notice of all meetings of the city council to
its members and to the public, keep a journal of the
proceedings and perform such other duties as may
be assigned by the charter, by ordinance, or by the
vote of the city council. As the city’s Chief Election
Ocer, the City Clerk is responsible for all aspects
of voter registration, absentee voting and election
administration for all elections and serves as the
Campaign Finance Ocer for local elections. e City
Clerk serves as a member of the Board of Registrars
of Voters and Clerk to the Board of Registrars of
Voters. e City Clerk shall have such additional
powers and duties as the City Council may from
time to time prescribe. Qualications: Bachelor’s
degree in business, government or related eld and
a minimum of ve years’ experience in a managerial
and supervisory role. A combination of education and
experience totaling 10 years of relevant experience
may be substituted. Special Requirement: Certication
from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks
(IIMC) is preferred and must be obtained within four
years of employment if not currently held. For more
information, visit: www.cityoawrence.com/255/
Personnel---Hiring---Jobs.
Interim Transportation Director
Salem Public Schools
Responsible for the organization, administration,
supervision in the area of the school district
transportation system in accordance with state law
and policies along with school district policies. To
apply and review the complete job description, please
click here.
Director of Facilities
Salem Public Schools
is highly visible leader is responsible for ensuring a
safe, healthy, functional, and clean environment for
students, sta and the community and supervising
the maintenance of the physical plant and facilities as
well as the grounds of the Salem Public Schools. is
position is responsible for managing all departmental
employees including custodial, maintenance,
and clerical sta, as well as outside vendors and
contractors. Salary range: $115,000-$125,000. To
apply and review the complete job description, click
here.
Chief Information Ocer
Norfolk County Registry of Deeds
e Chief Information Ocer (CIO) provides
oversight and direct management of the Registry
of Deeds major IT operation and its associated
technologies. Key duties include: Primary support
of online research application, in-house document
management system, and associated IBM server;
oversight of maintenance, support and enhancement
of the Registry’s hardware and software infrastructure,
networks, voice, data, imaging, and internal and
web-based applications; ensuring that cyber security
and disaster recovery best practices are maintained;
customer service to public and end users; supervises
and assists Network Administrator. Minimum seven
years of experience in a similar CIO role. Bachelor’s
degree in computer science, business administration
or a related eld or equivalent experience. Salary
Range: $122,000 to $127,000. Applicants: Letter of
Interest and Resume to Marguerite L. Lee at mlee@
norfolkdeeds.org.
Conservation Agent
Town of Palmer
e town of Palmer seeks a proven conservation
professional with excellent written and oral skills
and thorough working knowledge of the Wetlands/
River Protection Acts and local wetlands bylaws.
Provides environmental/open space planning
support and periodic Title V assistance; reviews
stormwater permit applications; Provides technical
support to the Conservation Commission. Associate’s
degree in environmental science or related eld
and three years of experience in a similar capacity;
or a combination of education and experience.
MACC “Fundamentals” certication required to be
completed within one year of hire. is is a non-union
position with a starting rate of $22.50 per hour. Job
description available at www.townofpalmer.com/
index.asp?SEC=A7CA5C61-9D53-4451-8BB8-
BD5A5572B10F. Submit resume to rmcnutt@
townofpalmer.com or mail/bring to 4417 Main St.,
Palmer, MA 01069.
Human Resources and Talent Acquisition
Specialist
Town of Acton
e town of Acton is accepting applications for a
Human Resources and Talent Acquisition Specialist.
is is a full-time, benetted position. Main duties
include, but not limited to: Sourcing and recruiting
candidates using a variety of outlets, acting as rst
point of contact and develop relationships with
prospective talent, working with Department/
Division Heads on creating interview panels, interview
30 • The Beacon • June 2021
Classified Advertisements
questions and Assessment Centers, assisting HR
Ocer and Assistant Town Accountant with biweekly
payroll processing, working with Payroll Oce to
implement changes in employee pay and benets,
assisting department/division heads in screening and
digitally organizing resumes from various sources
and providing administrative support for the Human
Resources and Payroll Department. Minimum
Entrance Requirements: Associate’s degree in business
management, accounting or related eld plus two
years’ experience; or any equivalent combination of
education and experience. Preferred Qualications:
Excellent computer skills in Word, Excel and Access.
Working knowledge of MUNIS applications. Past
municipal experience. SHRM Certied. For more
information and how to apply visit www.actonma.
gov/jobs.
Elementary School Principal
Chicopee Public Schools
Chicopee Public Schools is looking for a talented and
student-centered Elementary School Principal to be
the educational leader and manager of the school,
and supervise the operation and management of
the school and the school property. is position
is responsible for consistent application of district
policies, budgetary management and hiring
and supervision of all personnel assigned to the
school. e Principal works with the Central Oce
Administration, sta, families and students, to
develop the distinctive educational mission and
instructional leadership of the school, including the
school’s educational organization, stang pattern,
and community involvement. Qualied, interested
candidates should apply through SchoolSpring.com
Job ID 3524141.
Director of Career and Technical
Education
Chicopee Public Schools
Chicopee Public Schools is looking for a dynamic
and engaging Director of Career and Technical
Education. is position is directly responsible to the
Superintendent of Schools for the administration
and supervision of all Career and Technical Education
(CTE), Chapter 74 (Ref: M.G.L. C. 74, Sec. 4.05.2),
and Non-Chapter 74 Career Pathways programs
oered throughout the district. Qualied, interested
candidates should apply through SchoolSpring.com
Job ID 3524117.
Comptroller/Director of Finance
City of Leominster
e city of Leominster is hiring a full-time
Comptroller/Director of Finance. Comptroller
reviews nancial data with city department heads
and recommends strategies to the administration to
eectively manage related scal impact on the city’s
operations. Job description and salary are located
on the city of Leominster website under Career
Opportunities, at www.leominster-ma.gov. For
further information you may also contact Whurley@
leominster-ma.gov.
Town Manager
Town of Eliot, Maine
e town of Eliot, Maine is seeking a dynamic and
successful municipal management professional
to serve as Town Manager. is full-service
community with 28 FT and 20 PT employees and
an operating budget of $7.2 million. Successful
candidates have a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent)
in public administration or related and ve or more
years of progressively responsible experience in
municipal management, including budgeting, policy
administration, personnel, and community relations.
Strong leadership and interpersonal skills are required
Deadline to apply is June 15, send resume and cover
letter to Chairman of the Town Manager Search
Committee at chairsearchcommitt[email protected]. e
town of Eliot is an EOE.
Executive Director
Lexington Housing Assistance Board, Inc.
(“LexHAB”)
Reports to: LexHAB Board of Directors. FLSA Status:
Exempt. General Summary: Under the general
supervision of the LexHAB Board, an independently
chartered not-for-prot corporation, the director will
provide oversight of the day-to-day administration
of LexHAB. is position is expected to be part-time.
e full description is posted on LexHAB’s website:
lexingtonma.gov/lexHAB.
Water Pollution Control Facility
Assistant Chief Operator
Town of Marion
e town of Marion is accepting applications for a
full-time Assistant Chief Operator (ACO) at our SBR
wastewater treatment facility. A MA Grade 5C license
is required. is is a full-time, benet eligible, union
position. Must be available for after hour emergency
calls and weekend duty shifts on a rotating basis. e
ideal candidate must work as a member of a team
to operate and maintain the wastewater collection,
treatment and discharge system in accordance with
the plant NPDES permit and CMOM requirements.
Some experience (wastewater treatment, mechanical,
plumbing, SCADA) is required with ACO experience
preferred. A valid MA Class D driver’s license is
required. Record keeping, troubleshooting, and
communication skills are essential. Please send resume
to: Town of Marion – Sewer Division, 50 Benson
Brook Road, Marion, MA 02738 or email to rtilden@
marionma.gov. No phone calls please. e town of
Marion is an equal opportunity employer.
Civilian Dispatcher
Town of Saugus
Applications are being accepted for a full-time
Civilian Dispatcher at the Public Safety Building.
Responsibilities include receiving calls on E-911
systems, determining appropriate level of response,
and dispatching public safety personnel calmly and
clearly to locations where corrective action is needed.
Responsibilities also include maintaining proper
records of all communications, providing information
and assistance to the general public, as well as various
clerical and computer-related functions. Applicants
must be able to work well under pressure. Please email
applications/resumes to [email protected].
Sewer Division Foreman
Town of Saugus
A Sewer Division Foreman is wanted in our
Department of Public Works Department! e
person in this role repairs, maintains and tests the
sewer lift stations and sewer collection system by
performing the following duties personally or through
subordinates. Must be available for emergency services
24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days of the
year. Qualications: A Grade 2 Wastewater Operator’s
License is required. If you do not possess this license, it
is required within a year of employment. Please email
all cover letters/resumes to the Human Resources
Department at HR@saugus-ma.gov.
Payroll Director
City of Medford
Non-Union CAF 12 - $1,312.57-$1,533.96 (FLSA
Exempt) Implements and maintains city’s payroll
system. Prepares solutions for any potential systems
modications and changes to payroll processing.
Acts as liaison between payroll and audit to ensure
documentation of system functions and capabilities
and to facilitate payroll reporting requests.
Supervises and coordinates all city payroll activities.
Responsibilities include responding to needs of the
systems and departments being supported by the
Treasurer/Collector. To apply and review the complete
job description www.medfordma.org/departments/
personnel/jobs.
Municipal Energy Services
rough the MMA’s MunEnergy program, MMA
members have access to an energy contract designed
exclusively for Massachusetts cities and towns. e
MunEnergy program oers access to energy experts
at Constellation, a vetted municipal energy contract,
and options for sustainability programs. Energy
professionals at Constellation, the MMA-endorsed
supplier for MunEnergy, work with municipalities
to manage electricity costs for the long-term.
Constellation is also on the forefront of sustainability
programs and provides nancial support to the MMA
for its promotional and marketing eorts. To learn
more, visit www.mma.org/about-mma/services/
munenergy. To be notied about MunEnergy events,
send contact information for the person on your team
who handles energy for your city or town to energy@
mma.org.
Leadership Excellence Program
On the heels of our sold-out spring program, the
UMass Donahue Institute, with University Without
Walls (UWW) and UMass Online, is again oering
an online leadership development certicate. e
Leadership Excellence program is for leaders who
want to add new skills and tools for successfully
implementing organizational change and propelling
their careers forward. Five interactive online modules
provide 30 hours of hands-on learning over eight
weeks. Participants also complete two leadership
assessments and receive individualized coaching to
interpret the results. Completion will earn learners
a certicate and is accredited to award three CEUs
through UWW. www.donahue.umass.edu/
leadershipexcellence.
Tax Collection, Tax Foreclosure Services
and Tax Valuation Appeals
Law Oces of Aldo A. Cipriano & Associates,
established in 1979, has been providing tax
collection and foreclosure services in Land Court to
municipalities eectively for over 41 years. Our sta
will provide assistance in positive collection eorts to
reduce tax delinquent accounts. We have experienced
auctioneers available to conduct foreclosure auctions.
We also oer legal services to municipal Boards of
Assessors in defense of Real Estate assessments and
valuation before the Appellate Tax Board. Please
CLASSIFIEDS
Continued from page 29
SERVICES
June 2021 • The Beacon • 31
contact us at 508-485-7245 or [email protected]
for additional information.
Online Only Auction Services
Auctions International, Inc. is an online auction
company specializing in the sale of municipal surplus.
We currently serve dozens of municipal agencies
and school districts throughout the Commonwealth,
including MassDOT, MassOSD, and UMass Amherst.
Give your dedicated Account Manager a call today
and see how our program can turn your agency’s
surplus assets into usable funds. We oer zero seller’s
commission plus the ability to accept/decline high
bid prices, penalty-free. Dave Cazeault, 800-536-
1401 x138, Dav[email protected], www.
auctionsinternational.com.
Public Management Consultants
MMA Consulting Group Inc. provides consulting
services to cities, towns, and other public agencies. We
specialize in public safety/emergency response (police,
re, EMS) issues, the design and administration
of assessment centers, structured oral panels,
and recruitment of police and re executives. For
information, contact Mark Morse, President, MMA
Consulting Group Inc., 101 Court St. #7, Plymouth,
MA 02360; 508-746-3653; mmacginc@gmail.com.
Municipal Accounting Services
Melanson is one of the largest non-national Certied
Public Accounting rms in New England and
has been a leader in the accounting and auditing
profession for over 42 years. Our Governmental
Services Department includes eight principals and 65
professionals who work exclusively on governmental
services. Among them are our outsourcing
professionals, who are here for you and have the
experience and knowledge to help solve your internal
accounting challenges. We provide both long- and
short-term services as well as exible access, either
remotely or on-site without adding to your long-term
employee benet costs. Contact us today! contactus@
melansoncpas.com
Executive Recruiting, Management and
Governance Consulting Services
Community Paradigm Associates provides
comprehensive professional services to public sector,
private sector, and not-for-prot clients, including
organizational and management studies, executive
recruiting, operational analyses, personnel studies,
compensation and classication plans, charter
development, strategic planning, leadership training,
and facilitation services. Community Paradigm
Associates has a team of seasoned associates with
expertise in all aspects of municipal government. For
more information, contact Principal Bernard Lynch at
978-621-6733 or BLynch@CommunityParadigm.com;
www.communityparadigm.com.
Executive Recruiting, Interim Stang,
Human Resources and Management
Consulting
GovHR USA/GovTempsUSA provides executive
recruiting and interim stang solutions, management
and human resource consulting to local government
and nonprot clients across the country. Seasoned
local government professionals provide ve-star
quality services including: Classication and
Compensation Studies; Temporary and Outsourced
stang; Performance Evaluation System and Training.
Visit our website at www.GovHRusa.com or contact
us at 847-380-3240 or [email protected] to discuss
how we may serve your organization. Post to our job
board at www.govhrjobs.com.
Management, Human Resources and
Executive Search
Rutherford Advisors Inc., DBA e Executive Suite,
with more than 40 years’ experience, is an expert
in providing comprehensive, detailed and eective
classication and compensation plans; human
resource, performance evaluation, and management
eciency studies; interim management; and
executive and senior sta recruitment for public,
nonprot and private organizations. We emphasize
innovative solutions to commonly encountered
management challenges. For discussion on your needs,
please contact Warren J. Rutherford at 508-778-
7700 or [email protected], or visit www.
theexecutivesuite.com.
GIS Consulting Services
As a local government, does your community expect
more from you? Geospatial technology is a great tool
to use to meet these expectations and build trust.
Spatial Relationships is a GIS consulting rm in
Boston that specializes in on-demand personalized GIS
services for local government. Need extra GIS support
for an important project, but don’t want to deal with
the overhead of a large rm? Don’t have GIS sta, but
have a one-time need? Indispensable GIS sta going
out on leave? We’re here to help. To learn more about
us, please visit www.spatial-relationships.com.
Town Counsel Services
KP | Law is a municipal law rm. With oces in
Boston, Hyannis, Lenox, Northampton and Worcester,
we serve as town counsel to more than 125 towns
throughout Massachusetts, from Provincetown to
Williamstown, and as special counsel to another 90.
For more than 30 years, we have devoted ourselves
to municipal law and have become experts in the
defense of all areas of municipal trial matters. We have
specialists in all areas of municipal law and maintain
an environmental and land use law department
that is on the cutting edge of planning, zoning and
conservation. KP | Law is highly sensitive to the
limited legal services budgets of Massachusetts
communities and thus has highly competitive billing
rates to give your town the best quality legal counsel
in the most cost-ecient manner. ere is never
a need for special counsel. Our breadth and depth
of experience helps keep our cost per opinion to a
minimum and enables us to service our clients quickly
and eciently, and is consistent with our commitment
to excellence. For additional information on the
legal services that KP | Law provides, please visit
www.k-plaw.com or contact Lauren Goldberg, Esq.,
at 617-556-0007, or toll-free at 800-548-3522, or at
lgoldberg@k-plaw.com.
General Consultant, Recruiting and
Special Studies
Municipal Resources Inc. has been providing
management solutions to New England municipalities
since 1989. MRI is able to provide expertise when
and where it’s needed. Our services include executive
recruitments, assessment centers and promotional
testing; public safety organizational studies; nance
operations; interim stang; internal investigations;
eciency and regionalization studies. MRI has an
extensive group of experienced subject experts that
are able to provide the technical and management
expertise that can help communities deliver quality
services and resolve complex problems with real-world
solutions. Contact us at 866-501-0352 or info@mrigov.
com.
Town Counsel/Legal Services
Brooks & DeRensis, P.C., is available to provide services
to government entities at the state, county, city,
town or regional district level. Legal services available
include procurement law, contracts, eminent domain,
labor relations and civil rights. Contact Jack Dolan for
labor, employment, civil rights and retirement matters
or Paul DeRensis for all other public law issues at 857-
259-5200.
Organizational Development and
Conflict Resolution
e Mediation Group is New England’s one-stop
shopping for conict resolution and organizational
development. With 30-plus years of experience,
our multi-disciplinary team provides individuals
and organizations with support to move forward
constructively and improve functionality. Our
services include: facilitation, mediation, training
and coaching, leadership development, cultural
competency, independent workplace investigations,
stakeholder assessments, public engagement
and process design. For more information, visit
www.themediationgroup.org, email info@
themediationgroup.org or call 617-277-9232.
Town Counsel Services
Miyares and Harrington LLP provides Town and
Special Counsel services to help build and implement
local programs that serve community needs. We
have the expertise you require, based on decades of
real-world experience. We take the time to understand
your situation. We inquire, listen, and respond.
We provide options that will work for you. We are
committed to the values of democracy, to preservation
and enhancement of natural resources and the built
environment, and to excellence and care in support
of municipal objectives. We oer competitive rates,
personal service, diligent attention to our clients’
needs, and good humor. Please contact us at contact@
miyares-harrington.com or 617-489-1600.
Tax Title Legal Services
KP | Law has been providing a full range of legal
services to municipal treasurers and collectors for more
than 30 years. Our experienced tax title attorneys
draft collection letters and payment agreements;
prepare all instruments relative to tax takings and
tax sales; draft pleadings for Land Court foreclosures;
and provide full representation of municipalities in
Land Court actions. We also provide assistance with
disposition or reuse of tax parcels. e breadth of our
experience, volume, use of experienced paralegals,
state-of-the-art computer and informational services,
and close proximity to the Land Court enables us to
provide prompt, cost-eective services. For additional
information, please visit www.k-plaw.com or contact
Lauren Goldberg, Esq. at 617-556-0007, or toll-free at
800-548-3522, or at lgoldberg@k-plaw.com.
Municipal Financial Management
Software: Accounting, Cloud, Utility and
Collections
VADAR Systems provides nancial management
software to more than 100 Massachusetts
municipalities. Our accounting, cloud, utility and
collections applications are designed exclusively for
Massachusetts municipalities by Massachusetts end
Classified Advertisements
32 • The Beacon • June 2021
Classified Advertisements
users. e VADAR Cloud maximizes eciency with
24/7 secure, remote access to all your applications
from any device. Our user support oers unparalleled
expertise. Proudly serving Massachusetts for 20-plus
years. For a free on-site demonstration, please contact
us at 877-823-2700 or [email protected]. Learn
more at www.VADARsystems.com. Locally owned
and operated at 20 Main St., Suite G1, Acton, MA
01701.
Labor Counsel Services/Municipal
Human Resources Specialists
Cliord and Kenny, LLP provides quality
representation to cities, towns and school districts
in the area of labor and employment. Attorneys
John Cliord and Jaime Kenny have many years
of experience in representing clients for collective
bargaining and personnel-related matters including
discipline and discharge of unionized employees. We
have extensive experience in the area of police and re
injured-on-duty cases, and have worked extensively
with municipalities and insurers to resolve costly long-
term claims. We oer training in sexual harassment,
social media and the “just cause analysis” to municipal
managers. We also serve as appointed hearing ocers
on a case-by-case basis. Many of our clients take
advantage of a at monthly rate for unlimited phone
calls and emails, which encourages key managers to
work with counsel prior to making critical personnel
decisions. Check our website at CliordKennyLaw.
com to see a complete list of our satised clients or
call John Cliord or Jaime Kenny at 781-924-5796 for
more information.
Municipal Financial Management
Services
Eric A. Kinsherf, CPA, has been involved in municipal
nance since 1994 in various capacities, ranging from
Finance Director to an auditor of municipalities as
a Certied Public Accountant. Cities and towns in
need of a CPA specializing in municipal auditing and
consulting are oered services such as municipal
audits, assistance in year-end closing, interim
treasurer, collector and town accountant services,
revenue forecasting, and capital nancing plan
assistance. If you are in need of a municipal audit or
a nancial consultant, please contact Eric Kinsherf at
eric@erickinsherfcpa.com or at 508-833-8508. Learn
more at www.erickinsherfcpa.com.
Human Resources Consulting
Human Resources Services Inc. provides a full range
of human resource management consulting services
to Massachusetts’ local governments and other public
agencies. Specialization includes compensation/
classication, performance appraisal, job analysis
and evaluation, job descriptions, salary/benets and
total compensation surveys and analytics, personnel
policies/handbooks, stang and organizational
management studies, HR audits and assessments,
HR training services, recruitment and selection
services, web-based HR services, and special projects.
Please contact Sandy Stapczynski, President, Human
Resources Services Inc., 9 Bartlet St., Suite 186,
Andover, MA 01810; 978-474-0200; hrsconsulting@
comcast.net; or visit www.hrsconsultinginc.com.
WBE certied.
Executive Recruitment and Municipal
Management
Groux-White Consulting, LLC, is a full-service
municipal management consulting rm specializing
in executive recruitment, interim management, form
of government studies, organizational eectiveness
evaluations, strategic and nancial planning and
conict resolution. Tom Groux and Rick White, One
Pelham Road, Lexington, MA 02421; rickwhite58@
verizon.net; 781-572-6332; ●
State agencies, organizations oer help with caregiving stress
By Kathryn Downes
According to the AARP, there are an es-
timated 800,000 family caregivers living
in Massachusetts. e Family Caregiver
Alliance reports that many caregivers
care for both young children and aging
parents, and one in six work full- or
part-time, balancing career responsibili-
ties with their caregiving roles.
In many ways, the pandemic has exac-
erbated the stress of family caregivers,
while also increasing the number of
family caregivers globally. National
research from the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention nds
that, during COVID-19, family caregiv-
ers have experienced increased anxiety,
depression and substance use. is has
been particularly adverse for caregiv-
ers of color, millennial caregivers, and
essential workers.
e Executive Oce of Elder Aairs
oers several resources for family care-
givers who may benet from community
services and support. Individuals can
start by connecting with MassOptions,
a free state-sponsored resource that
facilitates access to community supports
(reachable at 800-243-4636 or www.
massoptions.org). MassOptions is de-
signed for people looking for help with
aging and disability services.
When contacting MassOptions, indi-
viduals may wish to be connected to
their local Aging Services Access Point,
a nonprot aging care agency, to reach a
specialist from the free Family Caregiver
Support Program.
e Family Caregiver Support Program
is for people caring for an older loved
one or an adult living with a disability,
including Alzheimer’s and dementia.
e program provides help to caregiv-
ers in a variety of ways — by sharing
information and tips to help navigate
caregiving, suggesting local resources,
providing respite care for caregivers who
need a break, and lending a listening
ear. Caregiver specialists may also help
with referrals to home care services or
facility-based care.
Caregivers may also reach out to their
local council on aging or senior center to
learn about resources, including support
groups, information sessions, and in
some cases, respite care opportunities in
their community.
In addition to the community supports
oered via the aging services network,
the Executive Oce of Elder Aairs
is a co-founder of the Massachusetts
Caregiver Coalition, which is committed
to increasing support for caregivers in
the workplace. Any employer is welcome
to join this collaboration of employers
from the public, private, and nonprot
sectors. e coalition provides resources,
webinars and a collective learning space
for organizational leadership, human
resources professionals, and passionate
employees. For more information about
the coalition, visit mehi.masstech.org/
massachusetts-caregiver-coalition.
To learn more about the Massachusetts
Caregiver Coalition or any of the pro-
grams and services available to support
family caregivers, visit www.mass.gov/
topics/caregiving or contact MassCare-
Kathryn Downes is Director of Policy at the
Executive Oce of Elder Aairs.
June 2021 • The Beacon • 33
MMA contacts
Denise Baker can be reached at
dbaker@mma.org
Isabelle Nichols can be reached at
Timmery Kuck can be reached at
JUNE
Massachusetts Municipal
Management Association,
Spring Conference, remote meeting
9:15-11:45 a.m. Contact: Senior Member
Services Coordinator Denise Baker
Massachusetts Municipal
Councillors’ Association,
remote board meeting. Contact: MMA
Senior Member Services Coordinator
Denise Baker
MMA Board of Directors,
remote meeting, 10-11 a.m.
Contact: MMA Executive Director’s oce
Massachusetts Select Board
Association, remote board
meeting, 2-3:30 p.m. Contact: MMA
Member Services Coordinator Isabelle
Nichols
Massachusetts Select Board
Association, Leadership
Conference remote meeting 1, 12-1
p.m. Contact: MMA Member Services
Coordinator Isabelle Nichols
Massachusetts Municipal
Human Resources, remote
annual meeting, 10:30 a.m.-12:30
p.m. Contact: MMA Member Services
Coordinator Isabelle Nichols
Massachusetts Mayors’
Association, remote meeting, 10-
11 a.m. Contact: MMA Membership and
Communications Director Candace Pierce
Massachusetts Municipal
Councillors’ Association,
webinar, 12-1 p.m. Contact: MMA Senior
Member Services Coordinator Denise
Baker
Women Leading Government
and Women Elected Municipal
Ocials, joint remote meeting, 10 a.m.-
noon. Contacts: MMA Senior Member
Services Coordinator Denise Baker or
MMA Member Services Coordinator
Isabelle Nichols
TheBeacon
PERIODICALS
If any part of the address on this issue is incorrect, please email the correct information to [email protected].
Massachusetts Municipal Association
3 Center Plaza, Suite 610, Boston, MA 02108
Calendar
To list an event of interest to municipal ocials
in e Beacon, send information about the
event, including date, location, sponsorship,
cost, and whom to call for more information, to
Online registration is available for
most of these events.
Massachusetts Select Board
Association, Leadership
Conference remote meeting 2, 12-1
p.m. Contact: MMA Member Services
Coordinator Isabelle Nichols
JULY
Massachusetts Select Board
Association, Leadership
Conference remote meeting 3, 12-1
p.m. Contact: MMA Member Services
Coordinator Isabelle Nichols
Massachusetts Mayors’
Association, remote monthly
meeting, 10-11 a.m. Contact: MMA
Communications and Membership
Director Candace Pierce
Massachusetts Select Board
Association, Leadership
Conference remote meeting 4, 12-1
p.m. Contact: MMA Member Services
Coordinator Isabelle Nichols
SEPTEMBER
Massachusetts Municipal
Councillors’ Association,
webinar. Contact: MMA Senior Member
Services Coordinator Denise Baker
Massachusetts Select Board
Association, webinar. Contact:
MMA Member Services Coordinator
Isabelle Nichols
Massachusetts Municipal
Councillors’ Association, board
meeting. Contact: MMA Senior Member
Services Coordinator Denise Baker
MMA Board of Directors.
Contact: MMA Executive
Director’s oce
Massachusetts Select Board
Association, board meeting.
Contact: MMA Member Services
Coordinator Isabelle Nichols
Massachusetts Municipal
Management Association,
monthly meeting, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Lake
Pearl, Wrentham. Contact: Senior
Member Services Coordinator Denise
Baker
Massachusetts Mayors’
Association, monthly
meeting, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Contact: MMA
Communications and Membership
Director Candace Pierce
Massachusetts Municipal
Human Resources, Fall
Conference. 2-6 p.m. Contact: MMA
Member Services Coordinator Isabelle
Nichols
3
For more information,
visit www.mma.org.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MMA is hosting meetings
remotely until after Labor Day. Meeting details may be
subject to change.
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