We received the following article from Sandra Coleman.
As a member of the of the Board of Selectmen,February,2011, I made a motion to change
the name of the Highway Department to Public Works Department. At this meeting, no
movement/motion was made to change the title of department head. This title remained
Road Agent, a statutory position.
At the Board of Selectmen meeting on October 17, 2011, the board voted in favor of
changing the title of Road Agent to Director of Publc Works Director. This week,
October 20, 2011, in the Town Bulletin, Paul Branscombe, Town Administrator of
Ashland, states: "during public comments at the Board of Selectmen meeting October
17, 2011, a member of the audience questioned whether in fact the BOS had the right
to change this from Road Agent". Paul Branscombe then states "the legal opinion is
that the Town of Ashland may have a Public Works Director with a broad range of
responsibilities including those of the statutory Road Agent position". Was a legal
opinion needed to have the department head of Public Work name changed to Public
Works Director? Again,waste of tax dollars. The question asked is: "can the Board of
Selectmen eliminate the position of Road Agent in the Town of Ashland, a statuary
position? Not receiving an answer, I asked "has the Road Agent position been
eliminated from the Town? Selectman Jeanette Stewart answered 'yes'. This is the
question needing a legal opinion. Glen Dion states "he will look into it".
Sandra Coleman
It does not seem right that the board can do away with a statutory position, especially one that is an elected position. While it is true that the town voted to give the Select Board the authority to appoint a road agent, the town could vote to take that authority back at any time. Considering the way the board has handled this matter, it might be time for the town to do so.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to mention again that when the board originally adopted the provisions of RSA 231:63 to assign additional duties to the Road Agent, they failed to follow the provisions of the RSA and have the town vote on the assignment.
RSA 231:63 says, Additional Duties. – Any town may vote to require a highway agent, in addition to his usual duties as highway agent, to have charge, under the direction of the selectmen, of the care and maintenance of any one or more of the following: collection of waste, refuse and garbage; care of public dumps; care of public parks and cemeteries; public beaches; public forests; public playgrounds; shade and ornamental trees.