KENT—The Park and Recreation Commission voted Monday, Oct. 21, to remove the portion of its bylaws that requires the third selectman to be a member of the commission.
The suggestion came from a bylaws revision subcommittee ironically chaired by Third Selectman Lynn Mellis Worthington, who also served as chairman of the recreation director search committee last winter.
No one could quite recall why it had been stipulated in 1999 that the third selectman be a voting member of Park and Recreation, but Worthington speculated that it was because a full-time recreation director was hired at that time, making the department one of the costliest in the municipal government.
No other commission has a selectman among its voting members, but the first selectman is an ex-officio non-voting member of every commission and board.
Worthington said she had not tried to sway the subcommittee in its deliberations on the subject but said she was not in favor of having a selectman sitting at board meetings as an ex-official non-voting member.
“I’m not even sure a selectman needs to be on the commission,” she said. “I don’t think you will get a very robust participation from an ex-officio member who can’t comment or vote.”
Park and Recreation Chairman Rufus P. de Rham, who was previously the Board of Selectmen’s liaison, said it would be frustrating. He noted that in the commission’s constitution it specifies that no member can be a paid member of any other board. Worthington said the selectmen receive a stipend, not a salary.
Commission members batted around the pros and cons of having a selectman as a “silent witness” who would act as a conduit to the selectmen, but de Rham said, “I don’t think I would have participated as much if I felt like a conduit.”
Others observed that Recreation Director Matt Busse works in town hall and can transmit information to the selectmen.
Member Kate Symonds worried, as has Busse, that a selectman, as a voting member of Park and Recreation, has two chances to vote on issues, giving that member undue influence.
But de Rham said, “Having someone involved at the commission level is probably advantageous when it gets to selectman level. They have more knowledge of the detailed conversation.”
Six members of the commission voted to eliminate the third selectman’s position on the commission. Worthington did not vote.
Some other considerations taken up in the bylaw changes were who authorizes time off for the director (only the first selectman need sign off); who should set policies for day-to-day administration (the commission will determine policies that affect the public and the director day-to-day staff expectations), and changing the name of the commission from Park and Recreation to Parks and Recreation (when the commission was formed, there was only one park in town and now there are two).
The revised bylaws will now be sent to the selectmen and the town attorney for review before a revised ordinance is presented at a town meeting.
