Sherborn Personnel Board members resigns

Sherborn - Earlier this month, the Sherborn Board of Selectmen decided to not reappoint Personnel Board member Grace Sheppard after six years of service. In response to this decision, Sheppard led the entire board to resign from their positions at the selectmen meeting on Aug. 11.

At the meeting, Sheppard read a five-page speech to the board, and then announced that fellow board members Ron Arigo and Judi Miller would be joining her in resigning in the upcoming year.

Sheppard said the resignation occurred because they all felt disrespected by the selectmen.

“I feel like the other members felt undervalued,” she said.

Chairman for the Board of Selectmen Thomas Twining said that Sheppard was removed because the personnel board was ineffective and didn’t communicate well. He said the decision to remove Sheppard was based on performance and not personal reasons.

“This isn’t about the people involved,” he said. “It is about the efficient running of our town government.”

Twining said that Sherborn is facing many sexual harassment suits and a fire department audit, and so they would need a strong communicative personnel board to aid them.

Bruce Jamerson has already been pegged to lead the personnel board, but the other members have not yet been selected due to the unexpected resignation of the board.

“Jamerson’s sitting by himself because I didn’t anticipate Grace getting the whole board to resign,” Twining said.

Twining said that a second member has been selected as well, but until the paperwork is finalized, the name will not be released. He also said that he hoped to expand the group to a five-person body.

“We’ve done things in a particular way in Sherborn,” he said. “And it’s hard to change, but we need to.”

Sheppard, who was a former selectmen for the town, said that she was disappointed by the selectmen’s actions, but that she would still work to help Sherborn.

“I love the town and I’ve served the town for many years,” she said. “An now, I hope to find other ways to continue doing so.”

The Sherborn Board of Selectmen will meet again at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18.

Evan Koslof

8/16/11

Originally Posted: http://www.wickedlocal.com/sherborn/features/x27452866/Sherborn-Personnel-Board-members-resigns#axzz1VDLQGyZ1