Grace Shepard tells Sherborn selectmen she wants to stay on personnel board

Sherborn - Starting in 2005, Sherborn resident Grace Shepard served on the Personnel Board. This June, after six years of service, the Board of Selectmen decided that she would not be reappointed.

Two weeks later on July 14, Shepard returned to the Selectmen’s meeting to plead her case. Supported by her two other board members, she spoke in front of the selectmen, asking them to not tear apart their group.

“We have done a lot of good things,” she said. “I think we work together very well.”

However, the selectmen told a very different story. Selectmen Paul DeRensis said that decision to not reappoint was based on a pattern of poor performance from Shepard. He said that last year when he was chairman, there were many instances where he had asked for support from Shepard, but didn’t get it.

“She didn’t help,” he said. “I was left high and dry last year.”

The dramatic showdown between Shepard and the board entered the public eye at the Selectmen meeting on June 23 when DeRensis spoke out against Shepard’s performance and explained why she was not being reappointed to her position.

Shepard, who publicly supported Peter Liffiton, DeRensis’ opponent in this spring election, suggested that political motives might be at play. Although she was careful as to not make many controversial comments at the meeting, she did admit that bitterness was apparent between the two boards.

“There is some animosity out there,” she said. “But you’ll have to talk to those who spread it to see why.”

DeRensis said that the basis for reappointment had nothing to do with whom they supported during elections, though. He said that as long as the person was a good worker, their job would be safe.

“I support Liffiton people up and down the line as long as they are doing their job,” he said. “Shepard wasn’t part of the team, though.”

However, at last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Shepard’s fellow Personnel Board members showed up to argue that she was valuable to the group. Board member Judi Miller said that the decision to not reappoint was “personally driven and illogical.”

“It would be horrible to not have Grace on the board,” she said.

She continued speaking to Board of Selectmen Chairman Thomas Twining, pleading that he not “decimate” the Personnel Board, which she said had made a positive influence.

“We do something good,” she said. “Please let us continue.”

Shepard’s other board member, Ron Arigo, said that her presence kept the group running.

“It’s critically important that you keep this board together,” he said.

Shepard’s future will be discussed at the next Board of Selectmen meeting on the week of July 25 when it will be placed on the agenda.

Until then, Shepard’s position on the board is up in the air. Twining said that no decision would be finalized until after the discussion.

“We will have all the answers after the meeting,” he said. “Until then, we’ll just have to wait.”

Evan Koslof

7/20/11

Originally Posted: http://www.wickedlocal.com/sherborn/news/x1797073683/Grace-Shepard-tells-Sherborn-selectmen-she-wants-to-stay-on-personnel-board#axzz1SgngCHd6