Support Mounts to Defund Town Clerk Salary

            There is an apparent movement to decrease the town clerk’s salary from $19,493 to $1 for fiscal year 2020 via a motion on the floor of the Annual Town Meeting.

            Marion Selectman John Waterman told the Marion Finance Committee on April 17 that the “buzz” among some residents on the street and on social media is to defund Town Clerk Ray Pickles’ salary in light of his recent felony charges of Larceny over $250 pertaining to his former position as executive director of the Carver, Marion, Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District.

            Pickles is accused of stealing over $600,000 from 2012 to 2018.

            The Town of Marion has no legal recall option for the elected position, and Pickles has shown no sign of resigning as town clerk, despite an official request from the Board of Selectmen.

            As the Finance Committee made their recommendations on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant articles, the topic was raised as the committee reviewed Article 2, the FY20 operating budget.

            “I’m not going there,” said Finance Director Judy Mooney.

            “I’m not going there either,” Finance Committee Chairman Peter Winters commented.

            Waterman explained that the Town’s hands are essentially tied, and so a motion to amend the town clerk salary line item was the only viable option to impact Pickles in his position.

            “Is that even legal?” Finance Committee member Alan Minard asked.

            “Yeah,” said Waterman. “[Pickles is] an elected official, so …”

            The committee pondered how this motion would best be executed given that, should Pickles resign as a result of defunding his salary, someone else would likely be appointed to perform his duties.

            Mooney suggested that if one were to move to amend Article 2, the motion to reduce Pickles’ salary to $1 should be accompanied with language that would transfer the remaining $19,492 to the Reserve Fund.

            “You want to be able to have that availability if you need to appoint someone,” said Mooney. “You’ll want that ability to move it quickly.”

            “So you need a motion to reduce and transfer,” said Winters.

            “If that’s your intention,” Mooney said.

            “All I know is what the buzz is,” said Waterman.

            “We need to be prepared,” said Winters. “If there is a resignation then we need to have money to cover somebody else.”

            The committee voted to recommend adopting Article 2 as presented, with the understanding that it could happen that someone might make the aforementioned motion on May 21.

            “The buzz isn’t good enough,” said Minard. “It should happen,” he stated.

            “People are motivated,” said Waterman.

            In other business, the Annual Town Meeting Warrant this year is a lengthy one, featuring 61 articles – some involving spending money, others unrelated to finances. The FinCom makes recommendations only on the finance-related articles, but since the warrant has already printed, these recommendations will not appear in print for voters the night of Town Meeting. The committee spent the evening going through the articles one by one – recommending most, recommending one with a “sigh”, holding off on making a recommendation until later for some, and “not” recommending two.

            The FinCom voted “not to recommend” adoption of Article 22, a new $325,000 ambulance for the Fire Department, and Article 31, the $2 million Old Rochester Regional “TURF” project.

            The committee acknowledged Fire Chief Brian Jackvony’s prior explanation for this article to replace a 2008 ambulance that has broken down this year multiple times, but the FinCom preferred to take a different approach – “If it breaks down, you fix it,” as Minard put it.

            “Everybody needs a shiny new vehicle,” Minard commented.

            But Waterman pointed out that not only did the ambulance break down more than once, it broke down while en route to the hospital with a patient on board.

            Still, the vote to not recommend adoption of the article was unanimous.

            As for TURF, “It’s up to the voters on this one,” said FinCom member Margie Baldwin.

            “We can’t afford it at this point,” said Minard.

            The committee refrained from making recommendations on the following articles in order to receive further information: Article 11, $2.8 million to replace the water main pipe on Mill Road; Article 17, $105,000 for the design of the Point Road-Delano Road water main replacement project; Article 23, $30,000 for the Fire Department to replace the water tank of its brush breaker; and Articles 25 and 26 that pertain to the Town either outsourcing its trash collection, or buying a new trash truck. The bids for the cost of those two proposals will not be available until after April 26.

            The next meeting of the Marion Finance Committee is scheduled for April 24 at 6:00 pm at the Marion Police Station.

Marion Finance Committee

By Jean Perry

Leave A Comment...

*