NewsINK Issue 5

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Photo by Morgan Forester

NewsINK is a publication of the Vermont Center for Community Journalism at Lyndon State College. Find us online at Issuu.com/newsink.Address queries to: NewsINK, Department of Electronic Journalism Arts, Lyndon State College, P.O. Box 919, Lyndonville, Vt. 05849.

Front Cover:South Congregational Churchand St. Johnsbury Academy’sFuller Hall.Back Cover:Eastern Avenue, St. Johnsbury,looking west

NewsINK Staff: Eric Blaisdell

Morgan ForesterErin Milne

Samantha KnightSamantha VanSchoickAdviser: Dan Williams

4...Where Do We Go From Here?A look at where St. Johnsbury is headed

Old Anthenaeum, New Horizons...12

Upgrades to St. Johnsbury’s historic library

14...King of HaverhillHaverhill votes on whether it will keep its Town Manager

MEET THE CANDIDATES

Kevin Oddy...68...Ray LaBounty

Mike Fortier...1011...Bernie Timson

INSIDE

Story by Samantha VanSchoickAfter serving the community for a

quarter of a century, Sandy Grenierabruptly retired as town clerk andtreasurer in January, followedpromptly by one of her assistants,Larry Sharer. And Bryon Quatrini sur-prised many by announcing he wouldnot run for re-election to the Select-board after 15 years. Many residentswere left wondering what was goingon with their townʼs government.

Grenier blamed a hectic personal

life and changing retirement benefitsfor her departure. Assistant TownClerk Larry Sharer cast doubt on thatin his own resignation letter, which hedelivered to selectmen on the day theytried to appoint him as Grenierʼs re-placement.

According to an article in the Cale-donian-Record, Sharer accused theSelectboard of pressuring Grenier toleave. And he wrote that he could notand would not “work for people whohave ambitions that exceed what is

good for the people who live in St.Johnsbury. The individuals who are re-sponsible know who they are and Ihope they know what they are doing isethically wrong. I know some peoplewill think this is a cop-out, but anyonewho has worked under the conditionswe have for the past year would do thesame thing.”

Two people are campaigning to fillthe town clerkʼs position: StacyPerkins Jewell, who unsuccessfullyran against Grenier last year, and

Photo by Morgan ForesterThe historic Pomerleau Building in St. Johnsbury serves as the Welcome Center. Once renovations are complete, it could also housemunicipal offices.

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A HURTING ECONOMY AND ABRUPT RESIGNATIONS HAVE MADE 2012A YEAR OF CONFUSION IN ST. JOHNSBURY. AMID THE TURMOIL, THE

QUESTION ON MANY RESIDENTS’ TONGUES IS,

‘WHERE DO WE GO FROM

HERE?’

John “Chris” Brimmer. Both say the re-cent upheaval doesnʼt intimidate them.

“I donʼt know exactly the reasonsSandy left or Larry Sharer left, whetherit was personal reasons or not, but Ihave no concerns,” says Perkins, whoworks as the store manager at Mau-rices in Derby.

Brimmer is a former zoning ad-ministrator in Derby and now runs abarbecue catering and sauce-makingbusiness out of his home in St. Johns-bury. “If I have a flaw, itʼs that Iʼm fear-less. I just want to get in there and seewhat I can do with it.”

A high level of distrust in towngovernment emerged from an informalsurvey of 15 St. Johnsbury residentsrunning errands or walking dogs onRailroad Street recently. Only one per-

son claimed to be “satisfied” with cur-rent town government.

Sisters Michelle and WhitneyLeBlanc of St. Johnsbury Center saythat their faith in town government isnot strong.

“It seems like every time I pick upthe paper, something is wrong,” saidMichelle.

“It would be nice to see some sta-bility and economic growth in thearea,” added Whitney.

Brimmer says long-term membersof town government are the source ofthe mistrust.

“There has been kind of a cliquerunning town for a very long time. Any-time youʼve got one set of people run-ning something, relationships build upand conflicts of interest build up, cre-ating issues,” says Brimmer.

Perkins disagrees.“The people that are in town gov-

ernment are there, and have been

there, because the voters voted forthem,” Perkins says. “If the residentshad such mistrust, they would nothave voted them in.”

After Grenierʼs resignation, St.Johnsbury selectmen voted to havethe town auditor conduct an expandedaudit. The expanded audit tests 50percent of municipal transactionswhereas a normal audit tests 10 per-cent.

“I think the town will be in a muchbetter place now,” Perkins says.“These new auditors are willing towork with the town, the manager, thetreasurer, and the select board mem-bers to get us where we need to be asfar as internal controls and recordkeeping.”

Brimmer hopes to restore faith inthe town clerkʼs office by separatingthe town clerk and treasurer positions.Grenier served as both town clerk andtreasurer.

“There has been a lot of distrust intown government. I think the voterswant another set of eyes watchingwhat is going on,” Brimmer says.

Story continueson Page 9

Photos by Morgan ForesterRailroad Street is home to many St.Johnsbury busi-nesses. 14 St.Johnsbury residents interviewed onRailroad Street said they did not trust town govern-ment. One resident claimed to be “satisfied.”

“I hope they knowwhat they are doing is

ethically wrong.”-Larry Sharer, former

Assistant Town Clerk, in hisresignation letter.

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The Race is OnThree seats on the Selectboard

are up for grabs at the March 6 TownMeeting.

Alan Ruggles is giving up his one-year position and aiming instead atthe three-year seat being vacated byBryon Quatrini, who surprised manyby announcing he would not run againafter 15 years on the board. Rugglesfaces Tim Persons, who ran unsuc-cessfully for selectman last year.

Another selectman leaving theboard is Bill Merrow, who won a one-year term last year but declined to runfor re-election.

Five men are vying for the one-year seats vacated by Merrow andRuggles: Mike Fortier, Ray LaBounty,Kevin Oddy, Bernie Timson and ScottLowrey.

KEVIN ODDY“People Are Ready For A Change”

Kevin Oddy, running for a one-year Selectboard seat, stands outside the St. Johnsbury Pizza Hut. He hopes to attract more businesses like this to St. Johnsbury. Photo by Eric Blaisdell

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Story by Eric BlaisdellOver a plate of cheesy breadsticks at Pizza Hut,

Kevin Oddy discusses what St. Johnsbury needs andwhy he is the right man for the job.

Oddy, 57, is running for a one-year seat on the St.Johnsbury Selectboard and says it is time to do some-thing about the town he loves. He has seen the waythings have been going on the current board.

“People are ready for a change,” he said. “It hasnʼtbeen any secret that there has been a fracture in theboard for the last couple of years and I think that peopleare looking for a different way.”

That “different way” is getting away from what Oddydescribes as a power struggle betweentwo different groups on the Selectboardthat are trying to take the town wherethey want instead of working together.

“One thing that I will guarantee youis that I am my own man,” he said. “Idonʼt align with groups. I think for myself.I act in what I believe to be the best inter-est of the people and of the town.”

Oddy is from upstate New York, buthas lived in St. Johnsbury for the last 18years. He currently serves on the Devel-opment Review Board. He works as aparalegal and an investigator for the Ver-mont Agency of Transportation andhelped start the Kingdom Animal Shelter.

The recent departures of administrators in the town,such as Town Clerk Sandy Grenier, do not sit well withOddy.

“One of the things in particular that concerns me isthat weʼve lost about 80 yearsʼ worth of institutionalknowledge and experience with the separation of a num-ber of employees in the town,” he said. “I donʼt thinkweʼve done a good job at succession planning. Wehavenʼt done a great job at building bench strength. Wehave a bunch of new employees that, although they aredoing a great job, donʼt have that institutional experienceor knowledge.”

Oddy said he also wants to bring more businesses toSt. Johnsbury.

“One of the quickest things that we could do wouldbe to look at something along the lines of tax stabilizationfor business,” he said, referring to an incentive programthat would set a fixed level of taxes for businesses thatmeet certain criteria. “It has to be responsible tax stabi-lization. If you have a multimillion dollar company thathas unlimited funds, do you stabilize their taxes or not?Probably not.”

He would focus on startup companies and smallermom and pop businesses “to be able to stabilize theirtaxes for a period of time until they get on their feet.”

Oddy wants to bring people, not just businesses, toSt. Johnsbury, as well as keep people from leaving.

“What do we have to offer here? Youʼve got otherareas that are offering more jobs,” he said, citing Lyn-donville and Littleton, N.H., as well as other surroundingtowns. “We need to create some jobs here that are wellpaying jobs where you can make a living and you canstay here. We need to look at the town as a whole andmake it an inviting place to stay.”

Oddy sees himself as the guy who can get thesethings done. He sees his past mana-gerial experience, as well as his pastexperience on other boards, helpinghim to be a good selectman.

“Over the years Iʼve honed myskills in being able to listen to folks,understand their points, understand allsides of an issue and then make deci-sions based on that,” he said. “I knowhow to work with people. I know howto encourage people, to help them turntheir weaknesses into strengths andhow to use their strengths to their bestadvantage. I have the ability to listento all sides of an issue impartially.”

Oddy is not looking to keep thingsstatus quo.

“One of the biggest things that bothers me is whenpeople say, ʻWell, we have to do it this way becausethatʼs the way weʼve always done it.ʼ If thatʼs the wayweʼve always done it, what got us to where we are? Itʼstime to start thinking of different ways of doing things,thinking outside the box, thinking of ways that we didnʼtdo it before if we are going to change anything,” he said.

Change is always hard, but Oddy has a plan to makethe progression smoother. The first thing he says hewould do in order to facilitate change would be to buildtrust and show people that he is capable of doing the job.Then he would do his research in order to show the ad-vantage of changing and he would be up front with peo-ple.

“We shouldnʼt be making decisions in a vacuum,” hesaid.

Oddy sees himself in public service for the long-haul. “Iʼve done similar things all my life and I donʼt see

myself stopping,” he said. “Iʼll be involved in the town oneway or another for the rest of my life.”

“One thing that Iwill guarantee youis that I am my own

man.”-Kevin Oddy,

running for a one-year term on the

St. JohnsburySelectboard



Ray LaBounty is staking his run for aone-year St. Johnsbury Selectboard seaton his commitment to the town.

“One reason why Iʼm running is be-cause Iʼm fully vested in the town of St.Johnsbury,” LaBounty said. “Itʼs a place Icall home and will call home for the rest ofmy life.”

LaBounty said he and two of his adultsons work in St. Johnsbury; his childrenand step-children also go to St. Johnsburyschools, and he volunteers in the commu-nity. He added that he feels St. Johnsburyhas an excellent school system and manycultural venues such as the FairbanksMuseum and St. Johnsbury Athenaeum,calling the town a wonderful place to liveand saying he would be honored to serveit on the Board of Selectmen.

LaBounty graduated from DanvilleHigh School and attended college in Con-necticut and at Lyndon State. He hasserved on the St. Johnsbury DevelopmentReview Board for four years and ran un-sucessfully for Selectboard two years ago.He has worked 23 years as a productionmanager at Weidmann Electrical Technol-ogy, where he said he has dealt with bothlarge budgets and everyday expenses. Hesaid he would bring his approach to budg-ets to the Selectboard.

“If you need it, get it. If you want it, itneeds to be evaluated,” LaBounty said.

If elected, LaBounty said he would like to bring more clarity tothe Selectboard—clarity both in what the board oversees and in thejob descriptions of the town manager and other board members. Healso cited the importance of being able to compromise and supportthings that he may not completely agree with in order to serve thegreater good. He said that his recent marriage to a woman he hasbeen with for 13 years, which resulted in a blended family, hastaught him this.

LaBounty also said he has a level-headed approach that canhelp negate the turbulence in the townʼs government. St. Johnsburywas rocked by the resignations of Town Clerk Sandra Grenier andAssistant Town Clerk Larry Sharer last month.

“I feel that I can bring some serenity to the St. Johnsbury Se-lectboard,” LaBounty said.

LaBountyʼs petition to get on the ballot was one of many thatwere found to be invalid earlier this month. The problems arose be-cause the petition heading, which includes the words “State of Ver-mont” and “Caledonia County” as well as information about thecandidate, was not on every page of the petitions, said AssistantTown Clerk Patty Wakeham. The Town Clerkʼs office notified all ofthe affected candidates, and the problem was corrected, with all ofthe signatures on LaBountyʼs petition and all of the others found tobe legal, Wakeham said.

LaBounty called the problem “an honest mistake.”

LaBounty’s

Serenity

Pledge Story by Erin Milne

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Photo by Morgan ForesterRay LaBounty is running for a one-year Selectboard seat in St. Johnsbury.


Photo Courtesy of Stacy Perkins JewellStacy Perkins Jewell, candidate for town clerk and treas-urer, believes updating the technology in the townclerk’s office is important for the future.

Photo by Samantha VanSchoick Chris Brimmer, candidate for town clerk, is relying on registering new vot-ers for his campaign. “I can’t think of a better place to find them,” Brimmersaid of the attendees at Union Church’s Community Lunch.

Perkins says Brimmer is wrong.“Honestly thatʼs not how it works,” says Perkins, who is

seeking both positions. “If you are going to have two positions,the clerk will be doing the clerkʼs duties and the treasurer willbe doing the treasurer duties.”

She adds that most small towns in Vermont combine theclerk and treasurer positions. ʻTypically there isnʼt that muchstuff to do to have two positions.” She also says separating thepositions would complicate things leading to possible commu-nication problems.

Brimmer says this is a good time to separate the positionsbecause St. Johnsbury wants to move the municipal officesdown Eastern Avenue to the historic Pomerleau Building. “Thehardest thing you can ask a town clerkʼs office to do is move,”Brimmer says. “Itʼs a big job. Letʼs get the offices moved downthe hill and set up, and then we will see if itʼs time to make itone position again.”

The Pomerleau Building was recently granted $200,000 forroof repairs through Gov. Peter Shumlinʼs Community Develop-

ment Program. It houses the Welcome Center.Perkins says a lot of work remains to be done.

“Until the renovations are complete there willbe no moving,” Perkins says. “The last I heardthey were still working with construction to seehow they would move the vault down there. If thevault canʼt move, the town clerkʼs office will not bemoving.”

WHERE TO, ST. J?Continued from Page 5


Mike Fortier is running for a one- year seat on the Selectboard in St. Johnsbury. The election is on Town Meeting day, March 6.

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Mike FortierMike FortierStories by Samantha Knight

Mike Fortier says he is running forthe St. Johnsbury Selectboard so hecan use his business expertise to im-prove the townʼs fortunes.

“Weʼve got right now a very highpoverty rate that everyone is not awareof,” Fortier said. “It has a very seriouscash flow impact on the town and itʼs adrain on the community.”

As an example, Fortier points to thedecline of businesses along RailroadStreet.

“Itʼs kind of a tough sell to convincecompanies to locate and invest in Rail-road Street. We canʼt even get a newMcDonaldʼs or modern drive-throughDunkinʼ Donuts.”

Fortier is one of five men runningfor two one-year seats on the Select-board on Town Meeting Day. He grewup in St. Johnsbury and served on thetownʼs Planning Commission in the1980s, but he spent much of his careeras a business software consultant, trav-eling around the country and living infour New England states. He recentlymoved back to St. Johnsbury to “winddown and retire” but got involved againin town politics three years ago.

“St. Johnsbury is my hometownand I have seen it decline substantiallyover time,” he says. “I hope I can makea difference, and I think itʼs going totake a lot of work to try and turn thetown around. St. Johnsbury is facing alot of substantial business problems,and I can contribute. I am not politicallyorientated. I think St. Johnsbury needs

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more of a busi-ness climate interms of the waythe town operates.”

Fortier says thetown governmentʼsfirst priority is to re-define its roles andprocedures. “Rightnow a chain ofcommand doesnʼtreally exist. Thereis very little under-standing betweenthe town man-agerʼs role, the Se-lectboardʼs, andthe department headsʼ role, and the citizensʼ role in run-ning this community and improving this town. I think thatif you can get the board to recognize its role as policymakers and not day-to-day operational managers thenwe stand a chance in moving forward.”

He also says Selectboard members need to share “avery clear vision of what the problems are and where thetown should go.”

Fortier says his 35 years in business make him anideal candidate to help solve the townʼs problems. And asa retiree, he says, he has the time to spare.

“I have been in a lot of businesses, large and small. Ihave experience with financials and with personal man-agement. I have experience running my own business,Iʼve worked for some pretty large consulting companies.I think that I have a very diverse background that theother candidates canʼt really claim to have.”

BB ee rr nn ii ee TT ii mm ss oo nnBernie Timson lost a bid for re-election to the Select-

board one year ago, but heʼs back and says his experi-ence in town government makes him a good candidate.

“I have been at the front role before,” Timson said.“In the last four years I have been to most of the meet-ings. If you want this you have to know what is going onand most of the men running do not.”

Timson said he would save taxpayer money by tight-ening financial controls. He would also push to increasethe townʼs deductibles to save on insurance. Another pri-

ority would be to turn the one-year seats on the Select-board into two-year seats.If he had been on theboard over the past year,he said, “a lot more wouldhave been done.”

Timson said he caresabout the welfare of townworkers and thinks every-one should have a say inhow they are treated. “Ithink we have to make ouremployees happy everyday. If you find that youremployees are happy they will work better. Also, if an em-ployee has issues they should be able to bring it forthwithout getting in trouble like it has been in previousyears.”

Timson said the town doesnʼt maintain sufficientspending oversight. “Anything the town does should betracked and so far it hasnʼt been,” he said. “I would wantto maintain a schedule on all equipment and vehicles andeverything should be tracked by fuel and mileage.”

“I am not politicallyorientated. I think

St. Johnsbury needsmore of a businessclimate in terms ofthe way the town

operates.”-Mike Fortier,

running for one-yearSelectboard seat

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“If you wantthis, you have to

know what isgoing on and

most of the menrunning do not.”-Bernie Timson,

running for one-year

Selectboard seat

File Photo Bernie Timson is running for one of two one-year seats on the Selectboard in St. Johnsbury.

OOLLDD AATTHHEENNAAEEUUMM,, NNEEWW HHOORRIIZZOONNSS

The Athenaeum is hoping to seethe funding it gets from the town ofSt. Johnsbury increased to its 2008level this Town Meeting Day, saidMatthew Powers, the Athenaeumʼsexecutive director. In 2008, theAthenaeum received $115,000 fromthe town. This amounted to approxi-mately 20% of the Athenaeumʼs op-erating budget, with its remainingfunding coming from donations, visi-tor fees, endowment income, and theAthenaeumʼs own annual fund. In2009, the Athenaeum accepted theSelectboardʼs request to reduce theappropriation by 10%. According tothe St. Johnsbury Town Clerkʼs Of-fice, all organizations receiving spe-cial appropriations were asked toaccept this cut.

“It presents a big hardship for us,in the services we provide for thecommunity,” Powers said of the cut.

In response, the Athenaeum hascirculated a petition to restore the2008 funding level, Powers said. Thepetition garnered 238 signatures,enough to be warned on the TownMeeting Day ballot. The funding in-crease will face a vote on March 6.

The Athenaeum is also movingforward with a variety of new pro-grams. On Saturday, January 28, itheld a public reopening of its artgallery. The event, which was heldfrom 10 to 3 and was free for St.

Johnsbury residents, attracted 80 to100 people, Powers said.

The gallery, which was createdin 1873 and is the oldest art gallerythat is still in its original form in theUnited States, had been closedmuch of last year so that its historicskylights could be replaced. Thegalleryʼs large skylight was reframedwith UV-blocking glass that will helpkeep the galleryʼs paintings from fad-ing, while the two smaller skylights

were remounted with their originalglass, although a special layer wasadded to them to block solar radia-tion.

“We were looking at trying to pre-serve the collection and possibly try-ing to put in some screens or blinds,and when we looked at what sort ofcondition the skylightsʼ frames werein, it looked like we actually had tocompletely replace them. So that es-tablished that we had to make this a

The Athenaeum Library. Photo by Morgan Forester


Story by Erin MilneThe St. Johnsbury Athenaeum is

looking toward the future—and look-ing for more money.

larger project,” Powerssaid in a News7 interviewin December.

The project cost about$754,000 and was fundedwith a grant from the Na-tional Endowment for theHumanities. The GladysBrooks Foundation, theVermont Division of His-toric Preservation, USDARural Development, andseveral local businessesalso provided support.

Prior to the public re-opening, the Athenaeumheld a smaller opening fordonors, contractors, andothers directly involvedwith the project on January21. At that event, theAthenaeum also hostedthe launch of Sugar HouseBakery, a new local confectionarybusiness, Powers said, highlightingthe Athenaeumʼs desire to partnerwith community businesses.

Also new for the Athenaeum isthe Art and Culture Series, a seriesof lectures that will begin on Febru-ary 27 with “A Survey of AmericanGenre Painting.” The Athenaeum isalso implementing new software in itslibrary that will make it easier for pa-trons to use the online card catalog.

These new programs will joinother services that the Athenaeum al-ready offers, such as poetry read-ings, musical performances, and artand history exhibits. It also runs aweekly story-time program in its chil-drenʼs library and uses its Acorn Clubprogram to “bring the library” to pre-school children in day care centers.

More information about theAthenaeumʼs services can be foundon its website, stjathenaeum.org.

Catherine Vitale contributed to thisstory.


Photos by Morgan Forester

Top: A newly renovated skylight in thegallery.Bottom: Natural light pours through theskylight into the Art Gallery.

THE KING OF HAVERHILLHAVERHILL TOWN MANAGER GLENN ENGLISH HAS A JOB FOR

LIFE, MUCH LIKE THE POPE AND SUPREME COURT JUSTICES. BUT NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY ABOUT IT.

Story by Eric BlaisdellNorth Haverhill, N.H. – An article onthe warrant for Town Meeting onMarch 13 would remove the positionof town manager completely. Theman behind the move is HowardHatch, owner of Hatchland Farms.

“It was the only way of getting ridof the town manager,” said Hatch in aphone interview. He was one of the25 signatures needed to submit thepetition.

Hatch is frustrated with how Eng-lish handles his job, where he fo-cuses his attention, and his contract.

He feels that English is concernedmore with the recreation departmentand less with the diminishing busi-ness in the area, such as dairyfarms.

Hatch sees getting rid of the po-sition entirely as his way of fixing theproblem. He has had conversationswith members of the Selectboardwho he says agree with him privately,but does not think they will take astand on the matter. That does notstop him from putting this forward.

“So what do I do? No onewanted to sign the petition up front,”

said Hatch, a war veteran. “What arethey going to do to me? Are theygoing to send me back to Vietnam?What are they going to do to me?”

He does not find English helpfulwith things that English does nothave direct control over.

“When you go into the town man-agerʼs office, a lot of times itʼs notwhat he says, it is how he says it,”said Hatch. He goes on to say that ifsomeone brings an issue to Englishthat is not under his direct controlthen he does not want to hear it. Hemakes a comparison with English

Haverhill Town Manager Glenn English at a recent Selectboard meeting. Photo by Eric Blaisdell


and his interactions with sometownspeople: “Itʼs like gasoline andwater.”

This is not the first time a votelike this has been put up to removethe town manager position. It was putup in 2003, but was voted down bymore than 100 votes.

English, whose salary in 2011was $63,424, has told the Select-board that he will retire on April 1,2013, but was more vague about hisretirement when asked, saying thathe was a short-term employee andretirement is in the near future.

English took the job in 1995 andsaid that he has heard mainly sup-port from the people he communi-cates with on a daily basis. He wouldnot go into Hatchʼs allegations, onlyto say that they are his opinion.

“I have an open-ended contract,”said English. “There is no terminationdate. I donʼt have to be reappointed. Iserve in the position indefinitely un-less the selectmen have grounds toterminate me for cause.”

Even though the Selectboard isnot looking to replace English, re-moving him is easier said than done.To say that the town manager servesat the pleasure of the Selectboard isnot totally accurate.

“Right now, short of grossmalfeasance, we could never termi-nate Mr. English,” said WayneFortier, chair of the Selectboard. “He

would have to screw up in a signifi-cant way in order for the board to ter-minate his employment. If we evergot in a position to do that I think itwould be through court action.”

Having an open-ended contractis something the Selectboard wouldavoid when and if the next town man-ager takes over. The whole pointmay be moot if the town decides toremove the position.

“An open-ended contract is not agood thing. It just canʼt be indefinitelike that,” said Fortier, who went on totalk about setting a timeframe for thecontract of the next town manager.“At the termination of that contractthen the board decides whether theperformance by the employee is suf-ficient enough to rehire and negotiatea new contract. To just have it open,we should not get involved with thatagain.”

Members of the town Select-board have heard about issues withthe office.

“Iʼve heard some complaints and

I think most of those complaints arepersonality type issues,” said Fortier.“It appears that with some people hehas been very abrupt when they hada question. I donʼt think he took a lotof time to explain what the rule of thelaw was to them. Itʼs his abruptness.”

He went on to say that it wasnʼtall bad.

“However, Iʼve had other peopletell me that theyʼve had absolutely noproblem with him and that he wentout of his way to assist them. To befair to Glenn, I get more positive thanI do negative.”

Getting rid of the town managerposition because the town is un-happy with the person in that positionmay actually end up hurting the townmore than it helps.

“My biggest concern is peoplevoting against the town manager andnot the position,” said Selectboardmember David Joslin. “I think itʼs anecessary position. When you haveover a $3 million budget you reallyneed to have somebody that canoversee that and the personnel. Mosteverybody works on the Selectboardso we canʼt be there eight or tenhours a day like we used to be ableto. I am hoping that the petition doesnot pass. I hope that we keep thetown manager position.”

Photos by Eric BlaisdellWayne Fortier (L), chair of the Haverhill Selectboard, says that, if the board wanted to, it would be difficult to cut ties with its townmanager. David Joslin (R), a member of the Haverhill Selectboard, hopes the town does not get rid of the positon of town manager.

“Right now, short of grossmalfeasance, we could

never terminate Mr. English.”

-Wayne Fortier, chair of theHaverhill Selectboard



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NewsINK Issue 5