Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
MMA Vice President and Sharon Select Board Member Kiana Baskin, center, shares her experiences serving on a select board as part of a panel on navigating first select board terms during the Massachusetts Selectboard Association’s Newly Elected Training on June 12 in Devens. Leicester Select Board Member Peter Cusolito, left, and Natick Select Board Chair Kathryn Coughling, right, also participated in the panel discussion, which was moderated by MSA President and Stoughton Select Board Member Debra Roberts.
Newly elected select board members from around the Commonwealth gathered in Devens on June 12 for the Massachusetts Select Board Association’s annual training workshop.
The day opened with a welcome from MMA Executive Director and CEO Adam Chapdelaine and Debra Roberts, MSA president and Stoughton Select Board member. MMA Member Program Coordinator Martin Davis gave an overview of the MMA’s divisions.
MMA Vice President and Sharon Select Board Member Kiana Baskin, Leicester Select Board Member Peter Cusolito, and Natick Select Board Chair Kathryn Coughlin then discussed their initial experiences with town hall and joining a select board. Panelists stressed the importance of acting as a single board and uniting behind board decisions.
“You’re one of a group,” Cusolito said. “If [a vote] passed, it is now time to implement it.”
Baskin encouraged attendees to work to understand what a select board can and cannot do.
“A lot of people come to us about school committee business,” she said. “That’s not our purview.”
Panelists recommended acting as a buffer between town employees and upset residents.
“Where a new select board member can make a difference is by standing between your DPW, your town administrator, and people who are complaining when it’s just not appropriate,” Coughlin said.
The panel concluded with questions from the audience about social media, transparent communications, navigating complex issues, and organizing select board materials.
Newly elected Select Board members participate in regional networking activities during the Massachusetts Selectboard Association’s Newly Elected Training on June 12 in Devens.
Attorney Karis North from Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane provided an overview of the open meeting and public records laws.
“Accessibility, transparency, and openness are all really important policy goals for how government should run in the Commonwealth,” North said. “Government really does run best in the open. … When people don’t have information, they get scared, they get paranoid, they get upset.”
Attendees participated in regional networking before an afternoon presentation on municipal finance from Jamie Farnum and Jessica Ferry, project managers at the Division of Local Services’ Financial Management Resource Bureau.
Farnum and Ferry discussed key municipal finance terms, functions, and analytical tools, and focused on the importance of consistent, thorough financial planning and policies as a best practice.
“These policies can help provide guidance on how you’re going to make your budget decisions,” Ferry said. “And it’s really important that there’s buy-in on these policies.”
A critical role for select board members in the budget process, she said, is “making sure that you’re giving feedback and working through challenges.”
“It is about working with people you disagree with, working with people you agree with, and, at the end of the day, making sure that everybody has their eyes on the goal of making progress for your community,” Ferry said.
Attorneys Jaime Kenny and Caitlin Morey of Clifford & Kenny gave the final presentation of the day, covering municipal labor and employment law.
Kenny and Morey urged attendees to use data to make informed decisions and to follow existing, set procedures when navigating employee disputes.
“The best and smartest advice is to point folks back to the paths that have already been articulated,” Kenny said. “Those are the paths that have been negotiated; those are the paths that have been identified.”