Assessor, Youth Director And Planning Board Secretary Appointed
Votes Do Not Come Without Controversy
By Doug La Rocque
Residents wanted to know why two regular meetings of the Grafton Town Board a month are necessary and why the Board is voting on appointments without having interviewed all the candidates. The Monday, February 24 meeting of the Board ended with residents asking for all the bickering between board members to stop and asking them to just communicate with each other. Business was accomplished at the meeting, but not everyone felt the Board went about it the right way.
During the public comment at the start of the meeting the first question was, “why are two meetings a month necessary?” Should the Board not get back to regular workshop meetings where no votes were taken, except perhaps in an emergency situation. To that, Councilman Frank Lewandusky III answered he felt the business at hand needed to be acted on sooner or later, but that he did not envision these second meetings of the month continuing in their present form and hoped they could get back to being a time for discussion and information sharing. The sentiment was echoed by Councilman Steve Beaudry, who indicated he was of the belief the matters dealt with in January and at this meeting had a sense of urgency about them.
Next came several questions from the floor as to whether all board members had interviewed all the candidates for Youth Director and Assessor. Only Councilman Lewandusky said he had, and that was by phone. Councilman Beaudry said he did not feel the need to interview everyone, saying candidates can be screened by their resumes, interviewing only the top candidates. He indicated he had looked over the applicant’s submissions and was comfortable with his choices. The three other board members admitted, for whatever reason, they had not yet done so. Supervisor Ingrid Gundrum and Councilman Jeff Wagar said that in the case of the Assessor, interviews were set for Wednesday, and Thursday, February 26 and 27. After some more rancor between board members, Councilman Beaudry claimed the interviews were set up a day after the resolution to appoint an assessor was filed.
He also claimed that these interviews and appointments should have been done in the closing months of 2019, so the appointments could have been made at the beginning of this year, or in the case of the Assessor, last October.
After 45 minutes of public discussion, including a comment the Town should look into other options than continuing the youth program as it is currently structured, the Board decided to vote on the resolutions in front of them. The first set the yearly salary for the Youth Director at $5,500, with part time counselors being paid $11.80 an hour. One counselor, with CPR certification, would be paid $13 per hour. The vote was three in favor with two abstentions, those being Supervisor Gundrum and Councilman Wagar. The next vote, to appoint Noelle Goyer to the Youth Director’s position, passed with the same three yes votes and two abstentions. Votes to allow changes to the Town Hall, including keys and locks, only when authorized by the Town Board, and a resolution setting the 4th Monday of the month at 6:30 pm as the date and time for a second meeting, passed unanimously. There will be no second meeting in May or December.
Next came the appointment of the Town Assessor. The term of the current assessor, David Galarneau, expired back in October of 2019, but since the Board did not re-appoint him or a successor at that time, that term was extended for six months. According to Councilwoman Jodie Deschaine, if the Board did not act before March 19, his term would again be extended. When the votes were taken, it was once again three votes to hire former Town Assessor Craig Surprise, with two abstentions. After the meeting, Supervisor Gundrum and Councilman Wagar said they abstained because they had not had the chance to interview the candidates. At one point during the debate about the assessor, Supervisor Gundrum indicated a filled out employment package for Craig Surprise was dropped off on her secretary’s desk six hours before that night’s meeting, and said “there is something dirty here.” Following the meeting, it came to light the “package” concerned Planning Board member Art Surprise, not the pending assessor’s appointment.
Ms. Gundrum called The Eastwick Press later that evening, explaining the mixup on her part, and offering her apologies to all involved.
Following the vote, several residents in attendance again expressed their dismay with the three board members, Lewandusky, Beaudry and Deschaine, for voting before the scheduled interviews could take place.
There was one other appointment made, that of Planning Board secretary. Mr. Lewandusky offered a resolution appointing former Planning Board Member Linda Laveway, to which Supervisor Gundrum expressed surprise, saying that evening was the first she had heard about it. Ms. Gundrum was not opposed to the appointment, in fact she seconded the resolution, and the vote was unanimous. The remainder of the business was simply routine.
Just prior to adjournment, one resident stood up to ask how long were the remaining terms of the board members, and many others stated that as residents, they wanted to see the Board bickering stop, and again urged all the members to start communicating.