TOWN HALL CLOSED FRIDAY FOR ELECTRICAL WORK
Abington Town Hall will be closed Friday, June 21, as electricians connect a new emergency generator. All town department phone lines will also be down for the day, except for the Abington Police Department. Town Meeting approved $150,000 for the work back at the 2021 Annual Town Meeting.
SELECTMEN ADOPT NEW POLICIES SEEKING MORE UPDATES FROM TOWN MANAGER
Saying they want to impose a more appropriate level of checks and balances, the Select Board has adopted a new set of policies that will require Town Manager Scott Lambiase to share a wider range of operational updates regularly.
Specifically, the Board wants from Lambiase a list of all personnel moves and invitations to public events on a weekly basis, as well as an analysis of outdated departmental policies, and an immediate review of departmental policies regarding take-home vehicles.
Select Board Chairman Kevin Donovan said he felt over the past 20 years the board has slowly dropped its oversight role and overly relied on town managers for regular updates.
“This has started to happen over time, the board has started to get detached from what the charter says,” said Donovan, who worked for years as town administrator in Rockland and Kingston. “It’s nobody’s fault…Selectmen really were’t acting, in my opinion, as they should have been as a check and a balance.”
Under the voter-approved Town Charter, Abington has a “strong” town manager, meaning the position is given broad leeway to manage the day-to-day operations of the town. For example, the town manager serves as the town’s personnel director, with the power to hire and fire non-school department employees, and is also in charge of the town’s budget and capital programs, handles town legal actions, and oversees purchasing and contracts.
The Town Charter says the Select Board serves as the “chief policy making agency…responsible for the formulation and promulgation of policy directives and guidelines” to ensure town boards, committees and departments work in “harmony.” It also says “nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any member of the Board of Selectmen, nor a majority of such members, to become involved in the day-to-day administration of any Town agency. It is the intention of this provision that the Board of Selectmen shall act only through the adoption of broad policy guidelines, which are to be implemented by officers and employees serving under it.”
Two of the Select Board’s new directives specifically target town department policies.
Board members revealed during the discussion that the Abington Police Department’s effort to renew its accreditation is on hold after it was discovered many departmental policies haven’t been updated within the last three years — a requisite for reaccreditation. As a result, the Select Board has asked Lambiase to review all town department policies, identify which ones are no longer being carried out or outdated, and issue a report to the Board at its Sept. 9 meeting.
In addition, the Board asked Lambiase to meet with department heads and identify which town employees are allowed to take home town-owned vehicles. Donovan said the Board learned recently that a town employee was driving to and from work on a town-owned motorcycle. The employee, who Donovan says lives 20 miles away from Abington, was not identified. Only the Police Department fleet includes motorcycles, however.
Select Board member Roger Woods, who also served on the Board of Selectmen in the ’90s, said this was a long-standing issue.
“I think this is a good one. This has been going on for years,” he said. “It certainly predates the Town Manager…We were here 30 years ago and cars were going out left and right.”
Three other policies adopted by the Select Board focus more on receiving updates more often. For example, they want Lambiase to submit on a weekly basis a list of everyone who has been hired, promoted, or “separated” — a term that includes those who resign, are terminated, sign a seperation agreement, or are laid off.
“I’ll second this, this is a great policy,” said Select Board member Suzanne Djusberg, who served as senior center director until 2022.
The Board also is requiring Lambiase to have town department heads notify him about any public events or functions coordinated by the department, as well as any “immediate and important activities or emergencies” that required a town response.
“This is just making sure the information flows up to us,” said Donovan. “There’s nothing worse than going downtown and having someone say, ‘Gee, what happened the other day?’ and saying “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Each policy was adopted unanimously with a 4-0 vote.
SELECT BOARD ALSO SITTING IN ON POLICE CHIEF INTERVIEWS
The search for a new police chief is underway, with Town Manager Scott Lambiase saying he hopes to have a final candidate in place shortly after Labor Day.
The Abington Town Charter gives the town manager hiring power over most town department heads, including the police and fire chiefs. (The School Committee hires the Superintendent, under state law. Library Trustees also appoint the Library Director “in consultation with” the town manager. Water Commissioners hire the Joint Water Works Superintendent) As a check and balance, the Select Board has veto power over department head hires made by the town manager through a supermajority vote.
Select Board members, however, said they need an insider’s view into the process to know whether to exercise their veto power. They voted unanimously to have Select Board Chairman Kevin Donovan and Board Vice-Chair Suzanne Djusberg monitor the chief hiring process and sit in during the final interviews.
“Its important we’re involved in the process so that we’re confident in whom he chooses,” Donovan said.
The town parted ways with Police Chief David Del Papa in April, nearly six months before his first three-year contract expired. Former Abington Police Chief David Majenski is currently serving as Acting Chief. Lambiase has said that Majenski will not be a candidate for the permanent role.
According to the charter, the town manager “shall use an assessment process using not less than three police professionals, not employed by the Town of Abington, to evaluate candidates for the position of Chief of Police.”
Lambiase said he is once again vetting candidates through Public Safety Consultants , a Cape Cod-based company managed by a pair of retired police chiefs. Unlike last time, he is not using a citizen advisory panel to inform his decision.
Around a dozen candidates applied for the Abington chief’s job, including a couple current members of Abington Police brass. Lambiase said. He did not disclose who the internal candidates are. The applicants will be whittled down to four or five who will then take part in a thorough assessment panel. The top couple candidates will then undergo final in-person interviews.
Select Board members said they won’t ask questions during the interview process but want to observe that phase.
In explaining their intent, Donovan paraphrased a line from Godfather 3 that he wants to make sure all ships are sailing in the same direction.
JUST TWO CANDIDATES INTERESTED IN SELECT BOARD SPECIAL ELECTION
Although there’s still weeks to go before nomination papers must be turned in, only two candidates have so far taken out papers. Amanda Zompetti of Pikgrim Street, and Matthew Lynch of Orange Street, are collecting signatures, according to the Town Clerk’s Office. The Special Election will be held on Sept. 21, with voting taking place between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Nomination papers must be returned to the Town Clerk’s Office by Monday, August 5 at 5 p.m.
8th GRADER PART OF AHS STATE HOUSE CEREMONY
Jameson Gagnon, an incoming Abington High freshman, was part of a recent State House ceremony celebrating the 100th anniversary of the American Heart Association. Gagnon is a Youth Heart Ambassador with the association, and recently has been helping lobby for a bill that would require high school students to receive CPR training before graduating. “This is really important because we would be putting thousands of qualified life savers in Massachusetts communities every year,” Gagnon told those gathered for the ceremony. Gagnon’s involvement drew praise from Sen. John Keenan. “I was so incredibly impressed by Jameson during his recent visit to the State House,” he said in a statement to Abington News. “Few individuals, especially as young as Jameson, take the time to get involved in an issue and advocate on its behalf. Fewer still are so effective in communicating their stances in such a public fashion. It was a pleasure being able to meet with and learn from him.”
ABINGTON’s FULTON NAMED EVP OF RIVERSIDE COMMUNITY CARE
Abington resident Paulo Fulton is the new executive vice president of Riverside Community Care, a nonprofit organization focused on behavioral healthcare and human services. Fulton is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) with many years of counseling and clinical management in mental health, addiction treatment, and human service organizations, according to a release. In his new role, Fulton will help oversee the delivery of Riverside’s broad array of services and supervise the Vice Presidents of four divisions – Behavioral Health, Child and Family, Community Living, and Developmental and Cognitive Services. He has an MBA from Suffolk University, a master’s in clinical social work from Boston College, and received his BA in psychology from Stonehill College. (He is also a member of the same Brockton High graduating class as Abington News founder Rick Collins, School Committee member Pam Neely, and Green Wave Boosters member Erin O’Brien.)
SELECTMEN MAKE BOARD/COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
The Select Board approved the following appointments to town boards and committees. The vote was 4-0, except for the Conservation Commission appointments, which was 3-0. Woods said he currently has a project before the commission for review and had to abstain from the vote.
In addition, to the list below, the Select Board appointed Andrew Burbine to serve as the town’s representative on the Southfield Redevelopment Authority Board of Directors. Burbine, a past member of the Abington School Committee and Board of Selectmen, currently serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals. He also was the town’s representative on the Southfield Zoning Board of Appeals.
ABINGTON CULTURAL COUNCIL
Fran Cronin
Beth Anderson Godfrey
Elaine Nero
Carolyn Bates
Lucy Furlong
ABINGTON SUMMER CONCERTS
Michael Rule
AMES NOWELL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Rick Collins, Planning Bd.
Rachel Collins, Park & Rec.
Chris Schultz
Carl Djusberg
Plus 1 vacancy
CABLE ADVISORY
Lisa Bezanson
Peter Walters
Plus 2 vacancies
COMMUNITY PRESERVATION
Amanda Zompetti
Plus 1 vacancy
CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Alex Bezanson
Justin VanNest (July 1st)
Joshua Swasey (filling unexpired term to 6/30/25)
COUNCIL ON AGING
Larry Keough
Mary Lou Graham
Plus 2 vacancies
HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Aaron Christian
Plus 1 vacancy
OPEN SPACE & RECREATION
Roberta Delaney
Aaron Parsons
Niccole Emery
OPIOID SETTLEMENT FUND ALLOCATION COMMITTEE
Lindsay Wright
Rick Collins
Peter Walters
Nora Acevedo
Amy Barrett
Brian Feely
Plus 1 vacancy
PARK & REC
Katie Comis
Samantha Hall Linnehan
STRAWBERRY VALLEY GOLF COURSE COMMITTEE
Frank Lane
Steve Wakelin
VETERANS MEMORIAL TRUSTEES
Kristy Coburn
VETERANS ADVISORY COUNCIL
Justin Simmons
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
Richard Peterson
Robert Manning
Plus 1 vacancy for Alternate