Published: 10/5/2020 2:48:10 PM
HADLEY — Members of the town’s Board of Health, who have taken a lead role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through contact tracing efforts and issuing a face-covering order in the commercial district along Route 9, could be appointed rather than elected in the future.
The Select Board recently agreed to put an article on the warrant for the fall special Town Meeting, scheduled for Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. at the Hopkins Academy gymnasium, that would begin the transition from an elected to an appointed panel.
“This is about a long-term solution,” said Select Board Chairman David J. Fill II, as the board voted 4-1 to endorse the article. Board member Jane Nevinsmith cast the dissenting vote.
Fill said if voters agree with the article, it wouldn’t change the Board of Health immediately as the town would need special legislation. He said it would set the stage for accountability and oversight of the board, which doesn’t currently exist. He added that the article is not directed at any person on the health board.
Putting the topic on the warrant comes after the Select Board rejected an appeal from the Board of Health to hire a COVID-19 ambassador, using mostly federal CARES Act money, issued instructions not allowing police officers and other public safety officials to enforce the mask order, and asking the health board to tweak the order after it initially was publicized.
If voters agree to the change, it wouldn’t automatically lead to new people on the board, Fill said, pointing to the process that began in 2018 for making both town treasurer and town collector appointed positions. Linda Sanderson, the elected treasurer, has since remained in the appointed position, and a similar decision will be made next spring by the Select Board when collector Susan Glowatsky’s three-year elected term is up.
The Board of Health is chaired by Emma Dragon, a registered nurse who has been hired to be the health director for the town of Amherst, Susan Mosler, a practicing physician for more than 35 years, and Gregory Mish, a longtime member of the panel.
Select Board member Joyce Chunglo said she is in favor of making sure people on the Board of Health are qualified and understand the work that needs to be done, including the current focus on COVID-19.
Residents should be allowed to decide what happens, said Select Board member John Waskiewicz II.
Though Christian Stanley voted in favor of the article and agrees with the sentiment of having appointed people who understand duties, he said he was having a hard time due to the idea coming at an odd juncture.
“I just really feel the people that are on the board were elected, and having to go through that process makes them committed to the position,” Stanley said.
Nevinsmith said her board shouldn’t be singling out another board for such a change, and that there may be an appearance that the health board members are being attacked.
In fact, a letter from Mosler to the community, which Fill posted to his Select Board Facebook page, shares this concern about taking authority from residents. “This is hard to interpret as anything but a spiteful power play,” Mosler wrote.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com
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