Such is life. You lose one town official, you gain two more.
Glenn Cannon attended his first Select Board meeting officially in his new role as town administrator on Monday night and announced a new building commissioner has been hired to replace veteran Building Department head James Buckles.
Buckles is retiring on April 15 after working 38 years in the Rochester Building Department, 10 of those years as commissioner. Cannon reported that Buckles is being replaced by Carl Bizarro, an Acushnet resident who is currently the building commissioner in Somerset.
Cannon, 58, became the town administrator on March 28. “The first week has gone great,” he reported. “I am just looking forward to get out more and meet more of the town.”
Cannon is a resident of South Middleboro. He previously worked as the assistant town administrator in Bourne. The previous holder of his job, Suzanne Szyndlar, who is also the town accountant, will be assistant town administrator until her current contract expires on July 1. She will then assume the new position of Finance Director.
Of the change in the Building Department, Cannon said a town committee that included Cannon, Town Counsel Blair S. Bailey and Szyndlar interviewed three applicants for the position and unanimously selected Bizarro “because of his experience and demeanor and his knowledge of the subject matter,” Cannon said. “He lives in Acushnet and knows our town well.”
The Select Board approved the choice and to enter into contract negotiations with Bizarro, and it authorized Cannon and Bailey to negotiate terms with Buckles for him to stay on until Bizarro begins in the job. That start date has yet to be determined.
In other business, the board approved a new three-year contract for Fire Chief Scott Weigel and Jordan Latham as a new member of the Registrar of Voters.
The Select Board’s next meeting, in joint session with the Finance Committee, is scheduled for Monday, April 25, at 6:00 pm.
Rochester Select Board
By Michael J. DeCicco