SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen continued discussions this week about board policies and standards of conduct.
The board has been reviewing policies of other towns in order to create its own manual. This week the board tackled several topics, including the role of the town administrator, or in Southwick’s case, the chief administrative officer (CAO).
Selectman Chairman Arthur Pinell and Selectwoman Tracy Cesan clashed when it came to anything beyond the TA/CAO job description, particularly wording that prevented the board to get involved in internal issues.
“Many years ago we had a Board of Selectmen that had a member deeply involved in issues in Town Hall and would intercept himself, circumventing the chain of command and responsibility of the CAO,” said Pinell.
Cesan said she was fine with that “as long as the CAO doesn’t supercede our decisions.”
Pinell said the selectmen are guided by collective bargaining, the employee handbook and labor laws when dealing with town employees.
Another section discussed was the task of selectmen to uphold the privacy of executive sessions.
Cesan said she supported that but wanted to take it further.
“I want to go a step forward and remind others that what happens in executive sessions stays in executive sessions,” she said.
Pinell said every employee must take an online ethics test every two years and is told not to discuss executive session conversations outside the session.
Department of Public Works Director Jeffrey Neece, who attended the meeting, suggested that a reminder could be stated at the start of every executive session.
The last discussion centered around the board treating all members with respect despite their differences.
“We can probably all work on that,” said Pinell.
