Town of Natick - Board of Selectmen Minutes 9/22/08

Brinley Vickers told the Board that she had been a Natick resident for 9 years and recycling was one of her personal interests. Since 2002 she had been unofficially participating with the Recycling Committee and had been encouraged to make it official.

Mr. Ostroff inquired if Mr. Nidal had been doing business in Natick previously and Mr. Nidal responded that the business was based in East Boston but he wanted to operate between Logan, Wellesley, Newton and Natick. If somebody called from the hotels he would pick them up.

Mr. Nidal responded that the van belonged to King’s Limousine but he leased the van from Boston Best Coach. Mr. Connolly pointed out the certificate of liability insurance listed Airport Downtown Hotel Shuttle and questioned if Mr. Nidal had a document showing King’s Shuttle had insurance. Mr. Nidal advised that he did and provided the Board with a copy.

Ms. Gloff followed up on the inconsistency of addresses noting Mr. Nidal’s drivers license listed an address in Methuen, but exhibit B of the application listed Wilmington. Mr. Nidal responded that he used to live in Wilmington but moved to Methuen.

In response to a several questions from Mr. Ciccariello, Mr. Nidal divulged that he intended to drive other vehicles owned by Boston Best Coach. Mr. Ostroff pointed out the Board wasn’t being asked to approve a license for more than one vehicle and Ms. Gloff added it was a specific vehicle that was inspected. Mr. Nidal noted that he added two vehicles, but Mr. Ciccariello stressed that the only vehicle that could come to Natick was the one inspected and the one for which insurance was submitted. He further stressed that if given this license Mr. Nidal could only drive the one vehicle in Natick.

Ms. Gloff clarified that the vehicle to be licensed was a 2005 Ford E350 van (vin #1FBSS31L95HB36735). She too stressed that was the only vehicle that could drop off and pick up passengers in Natick. Mr. Nidal indicated that he understood. Mr. Ostroff added that if this vehicle (2005 Ford) was out of service, Mr. Nidal couldn’t pick up in Natick.

Mr. Ciccariello then noted that Mr. Nidal was the only person that could drive the vehicle. Mr. Nidal responded that he had other drivers and asked what he had to do. Mr. Ciccariello explained that Lieutenant Lauzon would have to do an inspection and he (Mr. Nidal) would have to come before the Board.

A motion was made by Mr. Connolly, seconded by Mr. Ciccariello, to grant King’s Shuttle & Limousine, Inc. a livery permit for a 2005 Ford E350 with the stipulation Mr. Nidal has the address on his driver’s license corrected within 90 days. Unanimously voted.

Following the vote Mr. Ciccariello stated that he wanted to make it clear the permit was for the vehicle listed in the books and that Mr. Nidal was the only driver of the vehicle in Natick. Asked by Mr. Ostroff if that was clear to him, Mr. Nidal stated it was clear.

A motion was made by Ms. Van Amsterdam, seconded by Ms. Gloff, to accept a donation in the amount of $500 from the Natick Patrol Officers Association to the Senior Center for the purchase of a Nintendo Wii game system. Unanimously voted.

Mr. Ostroff moved approval of the minutes of the March 17, 2008 meeting. Seconded by Ms. Van Amsterdam. The motion passed on a 4-0-1 vote. Mr. Ciccariello, Mr. Ostroff, Ms. Van Amsterdam, Ms. Gloff voted in favor of the motion. Mr. Connolly abstained.

The Board received notification from the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission of a new product being offered to non-pouring agents – KENO To Go. It would be identical to the already existing on-line games such as Megabucks and Mass Cash. A list of qualified agents in Natick was provided and the Board was informed that if they wished to object to these agents selling KENO To Go an objection would have to be filed with the Commission within 21 days of receipt of the notification.

Jeffrey Silverstein stated that he was speaking on behalf of himself and was here to express concern about the process for selecting a new School Committee member. A process had been originally outlined but he believed it hadn’t been followed. He believed some people have already been interviewed, but he didn’t know who or who did the interviewing. There shouldn’t have been any interviews except for the ones described in the public process and he was disappointed that any occurred. He asked that a full public disclosure be made and the people who interviewed them be disclosed along with the questions asked of the applicants.

In his (Mr. Silverstein’s) opinion some applicants may have been disadvantaged by the access to one or more of the people making the decision. Some people may not have been aware of the meetings taking place. He thought it would be worthwhile in the future to make sure there was a process and to make sure it was fair to everyone. He asked that the public be allowed into the process to either ask questions or provide input. To him it was disturbing that the public has been shut out of the process and again asked that the public be involved in the decision.

Mr. Ciccariello responded that the Board of Selectmen had not interviewed any candidates as a Board and to his knowledge the School Committee had not interviewed any of the candidates as a board. Each member of a board was allowed to meet with the various candidates independently. There was nothing to prohibit that, but members were not allowed to send out e-mails or contact each other to seek appointment of a specific person.

Mr. Ciccariello advised that one candidate would be interviewed at a time and the other candidates would not be in the room at the same time. He pointed out this was not an election. The Town Charter requires the Board of Selectmen and School Committee to make the appointment. The individual would be running at the next election and the electorate will have an opportunity to vote.

Mr. Silverstein clarified that he was not challenging the legality. He was asking for maximum visibility and that public access be granted. There was a distinct difference between interviewing an employee and an elected position. He didn’t know if the individuals who applied were aware of the interviews taking place with the other candidates and he thought that should be disclosed regardless whether it was legal or not.

Mr. Ciccariello announced the two boards would be interviewing six candidates: Nanci Farquharson, Erich Thalheimer, Linda Thalheimer, David Margil, Pam Kaufmann, and Christine Mulroney. He explained that for a candidate to be elected he/she must receive six votes to be appointed. In the past the Board has done a ballot vote, but he has been advised that the statutes supersedes the Town so it will be done by a roll call vote although the Charter said otherwise. Each candidate will be interviewed and all the other candidates will be asked to leave the room.

Mr. Ciccariello continued that each candidate would be given an opportunity to make a two minute opening statement followed by a series of questions to be asked by the two chairs and then the candidates will be given an opportunity to make a two minute closing statement.

School Committee Chair Stephen Meyler thanked everyone for coming and commented that it was extraordinary to have six candidates. The two boards had to choose one and he thought it was important the other five don’t get discouraged but remain involved in the community.

Citing the opinion from Town Counsel on filling the School Committee vacancy, Mr. Connolly inquired as to who asked for the opinion. Mr. Ciccariello believed Town Counsel was asked a specific question and he followed up with the letter offering more detail. The question asked had to do with what would happen if there was a tie in the voting. As a result it was found out that it had to be six votes of the entire membership regardless how many were present.

Mr. Connolly then inquired if the six questions were the only questions to be asked. Mr. Ciccariello confirmed they would be the questions asked and if there were follow-up questions to the questions asked, he would allow them, but the same questions had to be asked to all the candidates.

Nanci Farquharson told the boards she was a 30 year Natick resident and a graduate of Natick High School. She was a parent of four children in the Natick school system. With children in all three levels, she has seen the whole range of the public schools. She was always very pleased with what she has seen and would love to become a member so it could continue in that vein.

Ms. Farquharson noted that she was a seventh grade teacher in the Ashland Public Schools and was pursuing her Master’s degree in the administration end. She has been married for almost 20 years and when she got married she went into business and when she was running her own company, she was an office manager consultant and negotiated contracts and worked with numerous accounts and budgets. When her children were younger she had the opportunity of volunteering. In 2001 she returned to college, completed her degree in 2005 and started teaching in Ashland. While finishing her degree she substitute taught in six out of the eight Natick schools.

Ms. Farquharson noted her primary motivation was the children of Natick. She was an advocate for children and as a teacher she found there was a need for more children’s advocates – what was best for them, what challenged them, what kept them safe in the schools. It was important to make sure there was a School Committee that works well with the other Town departments and that everyone worked together as a team.

Ms. Farquharson responded that she saw her role as a team member working together with other people on the Board making sure policies were voted as set by the School Committee, overseeing the administration, and helping to manage the budget. In addition there were some big projects coming up including hopefully a new high school and she would like to be involved.

Ms. Farquharson thought she brought a well rounded set of skills. She had worked in business, understood the School systems from working in them, and understood the needs of the Town. She has been a Town Meeting member for almost 9 years and understood how it all needs to be weighed evenly.

Ms. Farquharson listed the three most important issues facing the Natick School Committee as: 1) the high school – working side-by-side with the state and making sure to dot the I’s and cross the t’s; 2) curriculum – making sure the curriculum was challenging for the students and assisting those with specific needs; 3) budget – keeping the budget consistent with the needs and making sure the teacher contracts were negotiated fairly.

Ms. Farquharson responded that she loved the challenging curriculum her children receive. She could see the progress but would like to see long-range planning improved. Some great ideas have been put out there but you had to look at the affects of those ideas and know where you were headed.

Ms. Farquharson’s reply was, “without a doubt”, and went on to say that this was something she had been thinking about for a long time, but some things got in the way like going back to school. Last year when papers were being filed for election she thought about it and her Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer so her main priority at that time was to take care of him. He passed away in June and this appointment came out almost two months later. To her that was fate. This was something she was very passionate about and would be honored to serve the people of Natick and most especially the children.

Being a teacher in another community, Ms. Gloff inquired as to how Ms. Farquharson would feel about being on the other side when negotiating contracts. Ms. Farquharson responded that her priority was the people of Natick and what the budget constraints could handle. She was not a big union person herself and her career goals were taking her down the path of administration. The contract had to be kept in line with what the budget could handle. Keeping teachers was important and she thought Natick was incredibly lucky and the teachers should feel incredibly lucky with the resources the Town was able to provide.

Mr. Ostroff inquired if Ms. Farquharson had past experience working on other boards and she responded that she was a Town Meeting member and had worked with the Brown School Council and has been on the School Council in Ashland. She also sat on the CPA Study Committee. She came out in the minority and led a campaign against the CPA with an organization called Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. They won that election. In addition she was on the Parents Coordinating Council, participated in the Natick 360 process, and had been attending many ZBA meetings regarding the Chrysler Road apartments.

School Committee member Dirk Coburn asked if any organizations had asked her to communicate with them about possible endorsement. Ms. Farquharson advised that she was asked by Natick Forever, but turned them down because she wanted to stand before the boards on her own. If it came to an election in March, she would be happy to accept any endorsement, but now she would like to be appointed on her own.

In closing Ms. Farquharson stated that she had been interested in the position for quite some time. First she went back to school and she stayed away from the political side because if she ended up teaching in Natick it could be a conflict. Now she was in Ashland. In the past couple of years she came before the School Committee and at times didn’t feel her comments were being heard. Her interest was how to best educate the children on all levels and she did not stand before the boards on one issue or another. She believed she had a lot to offer with her experience in business and education and would always be first and foremost advocating for the children.

Erich Thalheimer stated that he was 46 years old and a life long resident of Natick. He was a 1980 graduate of Natick High School where he had been lucky enough to play football and married his high school sweetheart. He had two children both attending Natick schools and that was his primary reason for being interested in this position. He has worked for engineering firms and independently and had worked on 100’s of projects for the public and private sector. He helped MetroWest MedicalCenter with their expansion on Route 9 and was the technical lead for the Big Dig. Currently he was the preferred consultant to New York City and Boston, but his schedule was such that he could serve and looked forward to doing so not only for the next six months but after the election as well.

With two children currently enrolled in the school system, Mr. Thalheimer noted that he had a vested interest and first hand knowledge of seeing what programs work well and what programs don’t. There were strengths and weaknesses that he thought needed to be addressed.

Mr. Thalheimer responded that first and foremost he wanted to help the committee understand the policy implications and engage in rational discussion in coming to consensus decisions. The School Committee sets policy and decides on financial matters.

As to skills he would bring to the table, Mr. Thalheimer thought they primarily involved engineering. The biggest financial challenge facing the School Committee and the whole Town was what to do about the high school and he would like to offer his knowledge in getting through the maze of deciding whether to renovate, rebuild, or replace. He was open minded and although as an engineer he looked to reduce and recycle, he realized that at times all things had to be replaced. He would be happy to be the liaison to a building committee.

Mr. Thalheimer thought the number 1 issue was what to do about the high school not only because of the significant role it played to students’ education but the dollar value. The second issue was the teacher contract which he understood to be under review. The third was what was being taught in the classroom. He had some concerns with what was being taught in the classroom and how it was being taught. There was a degree of propaganda. Teachers were using their own curriculum and teachers were using their own political bent. It was unfair and an abuse of power for a teacher to engage students in an unacceptable politically motivated issue.

Mr. Thalheimer thought it reflected the character of the times we live in. Growing up it didn’t matter what school system you attended because there was the same consistency which gave students a sense of pride and a sense of belonging in Natick. What he would like to see improved was the facilities at the high school. It needs to be renovated, replaced, rebuilt and he wanted to be very involved in that decision making process. He would like to make sure all the classroom environments were free of biases and students were being taught the traditional fundamentals.

Mr. Ostroff inquired as to whether he had experience on other Town boards that would provide experience on the School Committee, and Mr. Thalheimer responded that he was only elected a director to one board and that was a sportsmen’s club in Hopkinton. In Natick he has done volunteer work but was not appointed to any committee. He volunteered as a coach for the Junior Redmen and worked with the Noise By-Law Committee.

Mr. Thalheimer responded that the traditional fundamentals were reading, writing, arithmetic. In the middle school they had to take their son out and put him into a charter because there was no ability to support advanced students. He thought the town needs to support advanced students as well as all others. There was still a need for the NorthStar and Omega programs but there was a need to be aware that it was the advanced students that had a chance to gain greater heights.

With respect to biases Mr. Thalheimer stated that in a high school gym class all kids were encouraged to go out and register to vote and vote for Obama. That was an abuse of power. If a student didn’t follow that teacher’s wishes, they were in fear of being discriminated against. In one junior high two weeks ago on the most important anniversary date in history, there was no mention of the most important date in history, not even a moment of silence. This was why he was an endorsed candidate by the Natick Forever PAC.

Ms. Gloff inquired as to what perspective and experience Mr. Thalheimer thought he would bring to contract negotiations. Mr. Thalheimer responded that he had quite a bit of experience from the Big Dig. He was involved in change orders as small as a few thousand up to $1/2 million.

In his closing statement, Mr. Thalheimer reiterated the biggest single financial challenge was what to do about the high school. As an engineer with extensive facility design and construction design he offered a reality check on how to proceed and if so appointed he would offer to be the liaison. He offered the School Committee a chance to better connect with the past pride and tradition of the system. He was on a crusade to restore the Redmen name and the intensity and focus he brought to that he now offered to the School Committee for the betterment of the system. He guaranteed commitment to work cooperatively and productively. As an engineer he sought to work logically, rationally, and was always looking to improve things.

Mr. Thalheimer continued that his fellow Natick residents didn’t fear him. They saw him as one of their own. He was the right man at the right time and the right place but only if the boards saw fit to put him in this position. He asked for their vote.

In her opening statement, Linda Thalheimer spoke about her background. She was a long-term resident that went through the school system and had two children one at Wilson Middle School and one at the High School. He had experience as a trustee on a condominium board and professionally had a Masters in Healthcare Administration. Currently she was a licensed, self-employed insurance specialist for life, disability and long-term care insurance.

As an occupational therapist, she spent her career setting long and short term goals. She was a volunteer coordinator for the Family Table food pantry. She felt there was an obligation to maximize the performance of the students. The schools need to do better and she had a commitment to the schools.

Ms. Thalheimer responded that she wanted to optimize the education for the children. She had a specific interest in working with the teacher’s union and hoped to make the system more cost effective. She would like to see more programs for the learners that learn easy and for the special needs population.

Ms. Thalheimer saw the role of a School Committee member working as a team working towards a fiscally sound budget and meeting the needs of the school system – working by line items to direct funds in the area they saw the most effective to providing optimal education.

As an occupational therapist Ms. Thalheimer said she spent her career setting short-term goals and long-term goals and being creative to make outcomes workable. Her management skills and conflict resolution skills were helpful and having children in the school system gave her additional motivation to make everything successful.

Ms. Thalheimer believed the largest issue was the new high school and the challenge would be outlining specifically the benefits of a new high school both from an education and fiscal aspect. When voters were asked to pay more money, if they understand why, they were more likely to agree a high school was necessary. Budget was always an issue. It would be easy to have a perfect system if you could just spend and spend, but the reality was the administration had to be very creative to keep as close to a budget as possible and still have optimal education for students in special needs and those who may be brought in the classroom.

The third is providing education at all levels of learning so the special needs kids can develop and have the brightest kids in the school system be challenged and look forward for additional learning. The school did not have an AP biology course. It was offered but there wasn’t enough interest which made her question whether the children were allowed to get by in the lower levels. There were 21 students at Wilson that were identified for an honors program but there weren’t the teachers.

On the other side she would like more attention to academic success. She had a son in the 8th grade who said he wished to be a C student which would be more popular. She would like a school system where people felt it was cool to be smart.

Ms. Thalheimer’s reply was, “yes”, adding that she thought this was a tremendous opportunity for her to be on the School Committee to see what progress she could make and her hopes and expectations would be that the progress would be something not only the School Committee would feel positive about but the citizens would also feel positive about.

Ms. Gloff inquired as to what perspectives and experience Ms. Thalheimer would bring to contract negotiations and Ms. Thalheimer responded that she was a trustee for a condo and had to learn about roofing, burners, etc. She would learn the specific aspects of that contract and was comfortable working with contracts.

Mr. Ostroff asked Ms. Thalheimer to describe other committees or boards on which she had served that would provide experience on the School Committee. Ms. Thalheimer noted that she was on the committee of the Department of Public Health for restraint reduction and was able to bring some reality and change laws. She had also been the president of a BNI Networking group. In many groups she always ended up going from a participant to a leader.

Ms. Thalheimer believed that unfortunately some of the teachers have directed strong opinions towards the students. She knew of a teacher who guided students to vote for a particular candidate and those things were unacceptable. It was important for a teacher to make sure both sides were presented and allow for open debate, but make sure two sides were always offered when bringing up political views.

David Margil thanked the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen for the opportunity. He was born and grew up in Natick. Attended Natick Schools, went to UMass, and moved back to raise his family in 2000. Currently he was a Town Meeting member with one child in the school system and another not yet there. He had about 15 more years in the system and had an interest.

Mr. Margil continued that he thought Natick had a very good system and he thought it had a chance to be great and would like to continue moving forward to enhance the system. He worked in Framingham but interacted with people all over the world and that told him you could be born in a town, grow up in the town, but still be part of the global economy and our kids need to be prepared to be part of the global economy. He felt his education prepared him well and he would like the Town to continue to mount a system that prepares our kids to do that whether they live in Natick or stay here they all deserve that preparation. The Town just went through a very challenging year and he thought the School Committee did an excellent job and the Town stepped up and made some choices. In his opinion the Town made the right value judgment. He was quite involved in the override campaign and pleased the voters passed it, but it was not an experience any of them want to go through again. He would hate to see the Town do another override any time in the near future and he felt a responsibility that those dollars people grant go as far as they can and were spent wisely.

Mr. Margil responded that the primary motivation was that he saw so many important issues facing the system and the override would only go so far. The system had to keep moving forward. There were important things facing the School Committee in the next 2-3 years and doing those in a way that was sustainable and not break the bank was a large challenge. He wanted to see the Committee doing what needed to be done to get a new high school, keep the classroom size reasonable, and recruit the best teachers and do it within our means.

Mr. Margil stated that he had a lot of experience. He had served as a member of a board and was a consultant to groups. He felt he had a lot of ability to facilitate conversations and reach decisions in conjunction with his colleagues. He had been in a lot of situations where budget was an issue. As a founding member of a company where money was very tight, a lot of value judgments had to be made on how to spend the money. It affected people’s lives and everything had to be taken care of within the bounds of a very restricted budget. It gave him the experience of working in a group figuring out the priorities and getting to the value judgments.

Mr. Margil responded that he had a background as a consultant. He was in the high tech industry and was primarily interested in how the Schools deployed technology both administratively and in the classroom. He had questions about the ability (of high tech) educating the kids. It had to be deployed property and he thought his background in IT would be favorable.

He had experience with business. In his current role he helped different business divisions understand the options available and within restricted budgets. On the volunteer side he had a lot of experience. He was a member of the override committee and didn’t want to stress that he tried to solve every problem with money, but he got a lot of experience and got a good grounding in the budgeting process for how to deploy the resources in the School system.

Mr. Margil believed the most important issue was the budget. The override helped but didn’t solve every problem. The second was the high school and making sure the right decision was made. The high school will be critical to the next several decades - the challenge with class size which was related to teacher recruitment and the teachers’ contract negotiation.

The third most important was the capacity with the elementary schools and what was the best thing to do for the students. One thing short of building a new elementary school was to attack it through recruitment. Excellent teachers could partially address classes that were larger than they used to be. He witnessed what an excellent teacher could do and that a large classroom could function well and all kids get the attention they need. Recruiting the best teachers possible meant developing a good work development.

Referring back to the issue of the new high school, Mr. Margil noted that it had to work within the restrictions of the MSBA and he felt the School Committee and current Superintendent were doing an excellent job. To him the best thing to do would be to communicate clearly and effectively that a high school was going to be built that would not break the bank to get the school that was needed.

Mr. Margil responded that he had a child in elementary and he went through the school system. One thing he was keyed into now was that the elementary experience if done well could build a lifelong desire for education and he was seeing that happen now. When the right thing was done in the school system, it can get the kids excited about learning for their entire career. Again Mr. Margil stressed the need to recruit teachers with the ability to connect to kids and teach kids how to learn. Steps had to be taken to see the teacher gets the professional development needed.

Ms. Gloff inquired as to what perspective and experience he would bring to contract negotiations and Mr. Margil responded that when he worked at his start up they were a small firm. None of them was a lawyer but got into negotiations with some pretty heavy hitting companies. They had the assistance of a lawyer but because they were a small firm, he (Mr. Margil) was very involved in the contract negotiation and that meant reading through thick contracts and having to understand them. He would flag things of concern and spent hours understanding what the contract meant. It was an eye opening experience and he thought he made out pretty well.

Mr. Ostroff asked that Mr. Margil describe what other public or private boards he served on and how that experience would benefit him on the School Committee. In response Mr. Margil noted that he was the Chair of the MA Chapter of the Sierra club for three years. During that time his approach was to make sure everyone got their voice heard and when it got into debate, the focus would be not on the people but on the argument itself. He felt he did a good job keeping everyone one on good terms and the focus on the issues.

Mr. Margil noted that one issue facing many towns was the idea of an achievement gap and some concern that may be due to biases toward a minority student. When a student, whether intentionally or not, was treated differently it can be damaging to a student. One way to address it was through sensitivity training to make sure the issue was recognized. The open circle curriculum was a way to address student-to-study biases making sure there was support in place for the kid that gets ganged up on. The Schools had to make sure to train teachers to recognize when that was happening.

In his closing statement, Mr. Margil again thanked both boards and noted that he thought the School Committee would face a lot of difficult decisions particularly around the budget in the next couple of months and years. The override was to last a couple of years and it will be a challenge to make it last and he wanted to do everything he could to make it last as long as it could. As someone who asked people to pay more, he felt he had a responsibility to make sure the money was spent wisely.

Mr. Margil said he thought the Town had a very good School system and had a chance to make it a great system, but they had to keep moving forward. His background in Natick, his volunteer work, his reconnection with the School system would well position him to address the challenges going forward.

Pam Kaufmann began by stating that it was a pleasure to have the opportunity although it was a bit of a different process (from being elected). She noted that she had been on the School Committee awhile ago and it was one of the best opportunities she ever had. One thing she learned was the importance of consensus building and the importance of working as a team. When she served there were seven very diverse members with varying views of what a school system should and should not look like. She was very proud of what they did and saw this as an opportunity to recapture the opportunity of building and working with consensus. People take the time to serve on a School Committee because they had an interest in building a great system.

Ms. Kaufmann highlighted her background noting that she lived in Natick for 41 years and had served on the School Committee for two terms and then chose not to run again because her career was taking off and she had two adolescent children. Her children were no longer adolescents and her career was winding down and she felt this was an opportunity to give something back. She had over 33 years of experience with public education and a passionate belief in public education. She felt the School Department in Natick has always demonstrated high quality and although not particularly involved over the past few years, she kept a good watch in terms of what was happening, looking at the MCAS scores, the mission statements, and she thought she would bring something in terms of maintaining the momentum. There were a lot of issues in terms of the high school, contracts, MCAS and maximizing collaboration.

Ms. Kaufmann felt she had a lot to offer when she first ran and felt she had a different perspective now and could provide an offer to the School Committee of 33 years of experience with public education at the state, federal, and local level. She started out as a teacher at the middle school. Given this was an interim position, she felt she could bring a lot to the position and hit the ground running.

Ms. Kaufmann responded that she knew state and local budgets. With the new superintendent she thought it was important to maintain the momentum the School Department had and she would not have to go through a learning curve. The budget was incredibly important and with the state her job was to oversee all state and federal legislation as well as the budgets that were funding certain aspects of special education. Currently she was responsible for a budget not including staff of about $16 million.

Had she been asked that question last week Ms. Kaufmann thought her answer would have been different. Given the events of the last few days and the impact on the economy, she felt the Town would have to be very vigilant of watching the impact on Question 1 (on the state ballot) and the decreased revenues of sales taxes hitting the state. She listed the most important as being vigilant in terms of the budget and the second was moving forward with the new high school. Tied into the high school was to look into the space needs. Her top three were the budget, high school development, and space/enrollment issues.

Ms. Kaufmann responded that she had two children that graduated from Natick High School and experience with two very different children. One couldn’t give a darn and the other went through on straight scholarship, but both were extraordinarily successful. She continued to see that in her neighbors’ children and her friends’ children and felt Natick always offered a very solid education. To see it improved she might want to look at the challenges MCAS was bringing. She thought it was important to maintain the continued increase. When she looked at the reports from the DOE, Natick should be very proud. She couldn’t say it was an improvement but it was a challenge the profession would have to continue to monitor.

Ms. Kaufman stated that she was leaning towards doing that. When she started to consider submitting a letter of interest she thought she could bring something to the School Board for the next few months and view that time as politically neutral and keep momentum going with no agenda. She would make a final decision by mid December and she was leaning toward it.

Ms. Gloff inquired as to what perspectives she would bring toward contract negotiation, and Ms. Kaufmann responded that she was a member of a previous School Committee and given her field of special education, there was a constant negotiation package whether negotiating for a budget, negotiating with parents, or program development and she believed she would bring some strong skills around negotiations.

Mr. Ostroff asked Ms. Kaufmann to describe her past experience on public and private boards and how that would be of value. Ms. Kaufmann responded that she was a Town Meeting member for many years, on the School Committee for six years, Department of Social Services Area Board, and other professional experience on the State Association of Administrators of Special Education.

Ms. Van Amsterdam inquired as to how Ms. Kaufmann would free classroom of biases while still encouraging students to craft arguments. Ms. Kaufmann cited activities taking place in Natick such as peer mediation. Plus she felt the dialog among classroom teachers was essential on an ongoing basis in terms of the diversity not only in the classroom but in the Commonwealth and in the country. Natick may not be as diverse as other communities but there was a professional obligation on the part of the School Committee to address issues of bias, tolerance, moral values of human beings.

In her closing statement Ms. Kaufmann said she came from a family that settled in Vermont in the early 1800’s. She was an only child but her grandmother had 10 brothers and sisters all of whom went into public service. They were her role models growing up. She felt she could bring a lot to the School Committee as it deliberates over the next several months with 33 years of experience at the state, federal, and local level. She thought she had a good understanding of the Natick schools and a willingness to work hard.

Christinie Mulroney stated that she was a mother of two girls, one a graduate and the second a freshman at Natick High School. She was a middle school math teacher in Waltham. She was interested in a community that valued its schools and wanted to contribute to its continuing growth and success.

Ms. Mulroney stated that she had worked on the School Council at Kennedy Middle School and the PTSO at the high school. Plus she had been on screening committees for principals, a curriculum review committee, and negotiating committee in Waltham and currently served on a committee to review middle school schedules. She worked on different committees at different levels.

Ms. Mulroney responded that parents were concerned about MCAS scores and that might be the number 1 issue. One of her issues was safety in the schools and making sure the schools have adequate lock down plans and evacuation plans and they were practiced. The third would be making sure the staff had adequate staff development.

Ms. Mulroney responded that she had great experience in the Natick Public Schools. In the elementary the students were just beginning and in the middle school the school got them involved and at the high school it was overwhelming in what was available. It would be nice to have more sports at the high school.

Ms. Gloff inquired as to what perspectives she would bring toward contract negotiations, and Ms. Mulroney responded that she had been in contract negotiations on the side of the teacher and knew the teacher concerns. The primary issues have been health care and pay. While she could understand and hear their concerns, as a Natick resident she would be concerned with the impact on the budget.

Mr. Ostroff asked Ms. Mulroney to describe her past experience on public and private boards and how that would be of value. Ms. Mulroney responded that as far as education was concerned she had been on a curriculum review and piloting committee and the screening committee for principals. The negotiating committee was a good venture for her this past year. She was on the MCAS Analysis Committee which was ongoing every year. In Natick she served on the Natick Travel Basketball Board.

In response to Ms. Van Amsterdam’s inquiry as to how Ms. Mulroney would free classrooms of bias while still encouraging students to craft arguments, Ms. Mulroney responded that as a female she tried to be aware of gender bias and encouraged girls to seek help in math as needed.

Mr. Ciccariello thanked each and every one of the candidates for applying and showing a willingness to volunteer their service for the Natick School system. This was a wonderful group of candidates and he urged each of them, even if not selected, to continue to participate. Each candidate had great talent to offer the Town and the School system and he again expressed his thanks to everyone for taking their time.

Mr. Margil received 9 votes and was appointed to the School Committee. Town Clerk Judith A. Kuhn was on hand to swear Mr. Margil in as a School Committee member. Upon being sworn in Mr. Margil joined the School Committee at the table.

The new School Superintendent, Dr. Peter Sanchioni, expressed his pleasure to meet all of the Board and noted that he had been meeting as many people as possible and what was clear was that the town supports education. He also observed that the agencies in Town work extremely well together and he appreciated being part of that and appreciated the opportunity to work with the Board. He guaranteed that Natick Public Schools would continue to move forward and do its best for the children.

Mr. Ostroff asked Dr. Sanchioni to talk about the high school process, where it was at, and if there was anything he would ask of the Board. Dr. Sanchioni responded that the Building Committee was very talented and would do great things for the Town. The Building Committee and School Committee submitted to the SBA a candidate for the project manager and expected to hear shortly that it had been approved. The next step leads to an architect which leads to a discussion of whether to build or renovate. He expected that to happen in the next 2-3 months.

Noting there was a lot of discussion about enrollment, Mr. Ostroff asked if the Schools were at capacity now. Dr. Sanchioni advised that enrollment was up and capacity was high. Currently most of the classrooms were used. The elementary schools were at capacity or more. They were looking at the population at every school and how to best deploy the staff. That was the work they would be doing through the first part of the year.

Ms. White recalled that the Chief met with the Board a month and a half ago to review his vision for the department. From that some ideas were culled for consideration for funding at this Town Meeting. It was still a work in progress. The Chief and she were not in agreement of every item. Initially the Chief’s funding request was put under Article 8, but now they were being split into other articles. If the training were to be funded, it would be under Article 1 and if equipment were to be funded it would be under Article 4 and Article 8 would be no action.

In a memo to the Board, Ms. White explained that funding for all of the Chief’s requests were proposed to be from Mall Mitigation funds and the resulting impact on mitigation funds warrants discussion by the Board of Selectmen as it involves a policy issue regarding plans for reconstructing Fire Station 4 since, in order to fully fund the requested items, a portion of the funds earmarked for Station 4 will need to be utilized.

Under Article 1 the Chief has requested and she supported an appropriation of $24,000 for firefighter training in the use of thermal imaging cameras, large area searches and high rise operations. The funds were to be used to pay for instructors; no overtime was to be incurred to facilitate this training.

In her memo, Ms. White continued that the Natick Mall provided a total of $120,000 for Fire Technical Instruction. To date $119,000 has been appropriated and expended on training programs. She and the Chief would propose appropriating the remaining $1,000 in this category and put it towards the current training funding request. In addition the mitigation funding for Public Safety/Increased Foam Capability has been characterized by the Chief as available for more pressing needs such as training. This account has $30,000 available and the proposal was to utilize $23,000 which combined with the $1,000 previously mentioned, would fully fund the requested firefighter training.

Under Article 4 two items were requested. First, various safety equipment totaling $81,500 including 5 thermal imaging cameras ($60,000), 5 combustible gas meters ($6,000), 2 carboxy hemoglobin analyzers ($8,000) and 5 large area search kits ($7,500). The Fire Chief along with the Police Chief was also requesting $30,300 for upgrade kits for the 3 digitizer decoders in the dispatch area; these decoders were part of the system that receives signals from the municipal fire alarm system, including street boxes and master boxes located throughout the town, primarily in businesses. One decoder was no longer operative; none can be repaired as the model was obsolete. While the hope was that one day the system may be wireless, such technological reconfiguration was years away and the system must be maintained.

The Chief’s request includes the purchase of 9 laptop computers to be installed in department apparatus and while Ms. White said she supported that goal, she believed significant additional work needs to be done to ensure that the specific proposed equipment and software would best accomplish the goal, and that the associated direct, indirect and recurring costs were accurately estimated. EMS reports were required to be submitted electronically by September 2009 and an assessment would have to be made on how best to comply with that requirement. It was very likely some funding would be requested for some numbers of computers in apparatus in the future and this request may be made in phases.

Ms. White continued that the total commitment by the Natick Mall towards Fire Station 4 was $1.5 million of which $600,000 was to be received through betterment payments and $900,000 was to be in the form of cash payments; $300,000 has been received. From this $300,000 an appropriation of $65,000 has been made towards improvements to and/or the development of Station 4 leaving a balance of $235,000 on hand.

Estimated construction costs for a new Fire Station 4 as presently envisioned total approximately $6.7 million. The West Natick Fire Station Study Committee Report completed just six months ago concluded that the current station 4 cannot accommodate the growing medical, rescue and fire response demands resulting from recent and anticipated growth within the West Natick area. The committee recommended that a new Station 4 should be built, acknowledging that addressing this need was a long-term issue for the Town.

Ms. White noted that it was essential that we not lose sight of this goal and that we not chip away at funds that have been procured for this important purpose. On the other hand, proper training and equipment for fire personnel was essential.

While the data belies the Fire Chief’s recent statements suggesting that the Natick Fire Department does not have the resources necessary to adequately meet the public safety demands of the community or to provide a reasonably safe response capability for its firefighters, it certainly was the case that recent and anticipated development of underground parking structures and high-rise construction present specific challenges with respect to fire, rescue and medical assistance scenarios. She supported the Chief’s efforts to provide appropriate training and equipment to meet these challenges.

In conclusion, Ms. White said she supported the one-time funding intended for Station 4 for the purposes outlined. She did not envision supporting future requests to utilize this funding source for any purpose unrelated to Station 4 reconstruction. The Chief and she would consult with the Planning Board to determine if any review by them was necessary in terms of utilizing these funds, stipulated by Special Permit, for a purpose unrelated to that for which they were specified.

Ms. White further noted that there was further money lining up for the new Station 4 which she believed would be $1 million through a 40B project, and again emphasized that the goal remained maximizing mitigation funds and minimizing tax money for this purchase.

Chief James Sheridan echoed Ms. White’s comments, noting that Ms. White put a lot of hours into this which he appreciated. He felt the computers in the apparatus was an important component and while his lack of technology sophistication may be the road block, it was important to get that information out in the field.

Mr. Connolly congratulated both Chief Sheridan and Ms. White and asked if what was being talked about was tapping into the money for the West Natick Station to fund some of the other stuff. Chief Sheridan responded that his responsibility as a department head was to look at the needs of the community as a whole and it was difficult to ask taxpayers to pay for this when all this money was in hand.

Ms. White responded that she would recommend the safety equipment and training she named and while she agreed with the computers as a goal, she just didn’t know if it had been vetted as it should be. Chief Sheridan stated that he believed that was a problem on his end.

Ms. Van Amsterdam advised that she met with the Chief last week and had the opportunity to go through his vision, the strategy for the future and a specific discussion on the equipment requested. He came up with a follow-up on the mobile data terminals.

Chief Sheridan advised that he had been approached by a billing company that would provide the Department with three units, but they wanted to take over the billing. He told them they would have to make a presentation to the Board and convince everyone this would be the best thing to do. As requested by Ms. Van Amsterdam, Chief Sheridan indicated that he contacted the existing billing company and they can’t do that (provide the units).

Given that there was some time to meet the state requirement, Ms. Van Amsterdam inquired if the feeling that two initiatives would take place – one was the work of the Town Administrator in looking at regionalization and the second as part of the Chief’s goals and objectives to look at a cost benefit and analysis of privatizing the ambulance before committing the $24,000. She would like to have those initiatives well under way and get some results to discuss before committing any more money to the ambulance since the Town didn’t have to meet that commitment until September 2009.

Ms. Van Amsterdam continued that the West Natick Study Committee was still in place. She knew the Chief and Town Administrator were focused on the building being a priority whether it be the Maguire recommendation of 15,000 square feet or a smaller size, and she would be remiss as the Chair of the Study Committee if she wasn’t reluctant to spend any of those monies. She read the recommendation page of the Committee’s report. It was going to be difficult moving forward balancing the priority of the training against the priority from the Chief and the Town Administrator to make either the existing facility much more habitable or build a new facility. To look favorably at the $98,227 and to fund that shortfall via mitigation from the station, she would do it very reluctantly and would want a very firm commitment from the Chief and the Town Administrator that a request would never come to the Board again to take money out of the fund.

Mr. Ostroff stated that he personally believed never say never. He too was reluctant to take money out but you couldn’t look at the Fire Department that may have needs and say those needs were a lower priority. If there was a critical need, it had to be addressed which didn’t take anything away from the need of a Station 4. He was in support of it at this time, but didn’t know if he would support it in the future although if there was a critical situation, it would have to be dealt with the best way possible.

With respect to the digitizer, Mr. Ostroff noted the IS Board had been looking at the possibility of wireless communication. That was looking like a long-term solution and it was not the panacea hoped for. The Town needed to maintain the system we have now.

With respect to the computers, Mr. Ostroff thought it was easy to see why, but not easy to see how. It was something that would have to be figured with the IT Department. It was easier said than done. A lot of due diligence had to be done before it was brought to the Finance Committee and Town Meeting.

Mr. Ciccariello pointed out that $120,000 had been set aside for training specifically at the Mall. Looking at additional instruction for high rise and large search, Mr. Ciccariello questioned if he was correct in assuming none of this training occurred with the past administration. Chief Sheridan advised that was correct.

Mr. Ciccariello inquired as to what training was done, and Chief Sheridan responded that a 16 member rescue team was established and compensation was paid for a team of 3 instructors to come in. The members that took that training weren’t compensated by overtime but a onetime compensation of $3,000 upon completion. They were released from duty to attend and those that covered were compensated in overtime.

When asked how many of these 16 members were participating in this training, Chief Sheridan advised that it would be 100% of the department. They will not be compensated. It would be done on duty. Mr. Ciccariello asked if he was correct that members got training but it was not up to par with what the Chief felt was necessary with the high rise and garage.

Chief Sheridan replied that was correct. When this was coming on board he (Chief Sheridan) was the training Captain and he outlined five specific trainings. The construction phase was completed but no training on high rise was received.

Mr. Ciccariello then inquired if the Chief would get competitive pricing before purchasing the digitzer. Ms. White advised that it would be competitive, but that number was used because they knew they could get it for that amount. That amount would be under the Police Chief and the Police Chief was in agreement that it was essential.

Mr. Ciccariello recalled that at some point there had been a discussion about getting rid of the master boxes. Obviously that wasn’t being considered at this point. Chief Sheridan responded that he didn’t think it was a good idea. Currently the Department collected $47,000 a year charging $300 per year per master box. Mr. Ciccariello noted there had been some discussion about taking the boxes off the streets, but Chief Sheridan said he wasn’t a proponent of that either.

Mr. Ciccariello then asked about the thermal imaging cameras – 5 at $12,000 each – and what was the life expectancy. Chief Sheridan advised that it was upwards of 10 years with zero annual maintenance. The Department had two first generation thermal imaging cameras, but today’s were much better and smaller.

Mr. Ciccariello understood there was some discussion about buying two this year and two next year and asked if that had been discussed with the Finance Committee. Chief Sheridan said he had been asked if the cameras could be leased, bought used, or if two could be bought and he had responded that perhaps 3 would work for the out stations and keep the first generation.

Mr. Ciccariello stated that his view on the Mall mitigation specifically toward Station #4 was that it was like taking from Peter to pay Paul. A lot of mitigation money was committed to the Town and most was committed to the residents of West Natick. He didn’t want to take mitigation set aside for the construction of a new facility. It has allowed the Town to build up an amount so if Station 4 was built in 4-5 years the Town won’t have to ask the taxpayers for the entire amount. A private developer was being asked to fund the West Natick fire station to help solve one of the problems and he thought it was important for those funds to be committed to that project.

Mr. Ciccariello was of the opinion there was a lot of planning needed in other areas of capital that weren’t in the capital plan because the prior chief had a different perspective. It was important for the new Chief’s goals to get incorporated but he felt they should be built in over time. Although he wasn’t opposed to doing it one time, he thought it was imperative that the money committed for Station 4 remain intact. Other ways had to be found to fund other improvements the Chief felt were part of his goals and objectives. Again Mr. Ciccariello stated that he was willing to go along with the administration and the Fire Chief on the items making up the $98,227, but some of the other things need to be incorporated into long-range planning.

Ms. Gloff was happy to hear the Chief and the Town Administrator had been working closely to pare down the list for what could be modified or wait. She was concerned that the $1.5 million which she thought would turn into $2.5 million could potentially be burning a hole in our pocket and she didn’t want that to happen. That money was set aside for a particular purpose. She may be willing to go along with the $98,000 but the Chief and the Town Administrator need to reach agreement before she would agree to anything.

Ms. White advised that she was appearing before the Finance Committee tomorrow night and wondered if it was appropriate to say that she walked away from the discussion (with the Board) with some consensus. The Fire Chief identified priorities and albeit reluctantly the Board would support dipping into the fund somewhere in the range she identified with the components she listed.

To Ms. Gloff’s query as to the timing of Ms. White’s memo and an e-mail received, Ms. White explained that she and the Chief planned to meet tomorrow. The memo was based on last Wednesday’s information. The Capital Subcommittee asked the Chief to prioritize the items and that was the list that emerged (in the e-mail). Her expectation was that some of the items in her memo may fall off. Subsequent to her memo the Finance Committee asked the chief to prepare a priority list.

Mr. Ciccariello envisioned that what was in the Selectmen’s books was what the Board was going to support and nothing else. They weren’t purchasing other equipment or computers at this time. They were looking at additional training. Safety equipment totals $81,500, a digitizer decoder was $30,000 came to $111,000 and that was what the Board was giving consensus on tonight and nothing else.

Mr. Ciccariello emphasized that he was willing to dip into it only for those items mentioned. Asked if he was uncomfortable with the computers, Mr. Ciccariello’s reply was, “yes”, adding that a lot more work needed to be done on it. He noted that she (Ms. White) and the Chief met, agreed on these specifics, and the consensus was the Board was willing to go along with what was presented.

Ms. White commented that she couldn’t say she and the Chief were in agreement because subsequent to the memo the Chief identified a priority list that was different. She noted that she was not convinced about the computers. She supported the goal, but wasn’t sure it had been studied enough. She was looking to give the Chief the time he was looking for to convince her and if he could do that, the first one would be in car 2.

Mr. Ostroff thought if the Chief and the Town Administrator came to a consensus the Board of Selectmen would stand behind that consensus. No one was advocating spending more than $100,000 out of the mitigation account. Maybe the list could be tweaked but he didn’t want the Chief and the Town Administrator to feel they don’t have the Board of Selectmen’s backing.

Ms. Gloff stated that she was probably closer to Mr. Ostroff’s perspective. The Board had a memo that discussed items that had been agreed to but now there was a new priority list from the Chief. There was an opportunity to discuss and be convinced these were needed. At this point she (Ms. Gloff) felt strongly that no more than $100,000 should be taken out of Station 4. Somebody would have to do a lot of fancy talking to convince her to take more than the $100,000 and it was unlikely she would buy it.

Ms. Van Amsterdam stated that she too would not be in favor of going beyond the $100,000 from the Station 4 mitigation money and she would argue against the $29,000 for the ambulance. There was a year for the ambulance mobile data and she felt the Chief should make certain the requests get on the capital list, work with the two groups, and the case would be made for Spring Town Meeting.

Mr. Ciccariello stated that he was willing to go along with the equipment costs and the training. To him those seemed to be more priority than putting lap top computers in a vehicle. When looking at the priorities if all the equipment proposed were bought, did it benefit one person or the members of the Fire Department and he saw this benefitting the entire department. The same thing with the training. Everybody would get the training. He didn’t see how a computer was more important, but he wasn’t setting the priorities and the Chief had to understand he wasn’t going to get everything. That was what the Chief would need to decide but in prior discussions the items mentioned were always critical to the Chief. He (Mr. Ciccariello) thought a lot of work needed to be done on the computer system.

Noting that Chief Sheridan sent him an e-mail and asked that he share it with the Board and Town Administrator, Mr. Ostroff asked that the Chief just go through the Town Administrator to get things to the Board. Otherwise he (Mr. Ostroff) may send it to a couple of members but if they weren’t viewing their e-mails they may not get it.

Chief Sheridan agreed (with a onetime expenditure)adding that he appreciated the work the Station 4 Committee had done. The Fire Department saw this new development (Natick Collection) as an opportunity to square away the Natick Fire Department and was disappointed when that didn’t happen.

Mr. Ciccariello noted receipt of a letter from an attorney, Rita Danielle Steele, concerning an incident with a dog on September 11, 2008 at Elm Bank. Ms. Steele requested a dangerous dog hearing for the dog owned by Lisa Kimler of Algonquin Drive. The dog was currently quarantined, but the dog officer could not continue to quarantine it. Included in the packet was correspondence from Town Counsel saying the Board could call for a hearing.

Ms. White told the Board that the Animal Inspector was going to see the dog today, but she hadn’t been able to get in touch with the Inspector to see if that happened and the result. The reckless behavior was not under the Animal Inspector but the Animal Control Officer. In the past the Board has designated the Town Administrator as the hearing officer. If the Board wanted to expedite the situation she could schedule a hearing before the next meeting and report to the Board regarding the disposition of the matter.

Noting that the quarantine was up as of September 22, Mr. Ciccariello asked if the Town could notify the owner to keep the dog leashed. Ms. White responded that the owner was supposed to keep the dog leashed and purportedly was not adhering to that. If either the Board or she were going to hold a hearing the correspondence to them would be as strongly worded as possible in terms of the importance of responsible dog ownership and the safety of others.

Ms. White noted there were two articles in Special Town Meeting #3 - #1 was to ratify the votes taken at the Spring Town Meeting. #2 was for additional funds to implement the feasibility study for the Natick High School. She believed the amount was $30,000.

Ms. White advised there was a letter from the auditors with respect to problems they have had in attempting to audit the retirement system. A response had been received from Michael Sacco, the attorney for the Retirement Board, saying they provided a number of items requested but suggested the Town had no authority to audit as part of the audit of the Town. Mr. Sacco said the Retirement Board would provide any public documents but would not extend to allowing the auditor to speak with investment counsel. The Finance Director and she didn’t understand why the Town didn’t have the authority to audit given the taxpayer money. They would follow up on that.

Ms. White noted that a similar event was held last December, but it was probably held too close to the holiday and not well attended. This year it was being coordinated with an effort put on by Arts Bridge. The hope was to have a nice crowd.

Ms. White advised that herself, the Deputy Town Administrator, Finance Director, and Comptroller will be working on a financial summit. They were looking for a date in mid October, probably held in the library meeting room. This would be an opportunity to explain to the board and the public the state of the finances of the Town.

Mr. Ostroff noted that he spoke to the Chair of the Conservation Commission and they may want to schedule an agenda item to discuss how certain mitigation money under their control can be spent. He (Mr. Ostroff) would like to have that as a public meeting sometime in the coming months.

As Question 1 on the State ballot was a potential issue that could put a hole in the budget, Mr. Ostroff inquired if the Board wanted to schedule a discussion or take a position prior to the election. He had a strong concern of what it could do to Town services and maintaining services.

Ms. Van Amsterdam asked if it would be possible for the Board to talk about the goals of the contract negotiations and the broad changes that could possibly take place. She clarified that she was talking about a high level discussion about strategy.

Ms. White advised that none of the staff had any recollection of having received Mr. Brown’s first request. The Community Development Director had estimated the amount of time it would take to gather the information and wrote to Mr. Brown about the potential cost.

In follow-up Mr. Connolly asked if there was still an issue with the certificate of occupancy. Ms. White responded that in her view there was not. The CO had been issued, but the intent was to pursue an audit to make sure the fees were the right amount based on the cost of construction.