Clinton’s Final Board of Selectmen Meeting Marked by Harmony
For well over a century Clinton has been governed by a Board of Selectman (BOS), a practice that ended on Nov. 13 when the town held its last ever BOS meeting, before the switch to a town manager style of government. With their term expired, the BOS members took the time to reflect on the last two years in Clinton.
Starting on Nov. 19, Clinton’s form of government will change from the familiar BOS style of government, to a town manager form of government. Under this form of government, an elected seven-member town council will oversee a hired town manager. The town manager will handle many of the duties that were previously handled by the first selectman. While this form of government is new to Clinton and somewhat rare in New England, it is actually the most common form of municipal government in the country. The change in government was proposed in 2018, and residents overwhelmingly voted to approve the switch in November 2018.
Since November 2017 the BOS has been comprised of Democrats Christine Goupil, Tim Guerra, and Jack Scherban; and Republicans Carol Walter and Phil Sengle. Clinton’s new Town Council, elected on Nov. 5, will include Republicans Walter, Chris Aniskovich, Dennis Donovan, and Mark Richards; Democrats Goupil and Guerra; and Green Party candidate Eric Bergman. Aniskovich, Goupil, Walter, and Donovan will serve a four-year term, while Richards, Bergman, and Guerra will serve a two-year term.
Scherban ran for the town council but was not elected while Sengle ran for the Board of Police Commissioners and was also unsuccessful. All five BOS members supported the change in government in 2018.
The council’s first serious order of business will be to select an interim town manager, and then hire the town’s first full-time town manager.
At the last BOS meeting, as the group discussed their time on the BOS together, the occasionally frayed relations that cropped up during the election campaign was put on the backburner. Instead, the selectmen focused on thanking the town employees and each other for their time spent working on the town.
‘Able to Rise Above Party Lines’
Goupil has served as first selectman for the last two years, making her Clinton’s last first selectman. Goupil started the meeting by reading a lengthy statement about her time on the board.
“Every member of this commission contributed to its success,” Goupil said.
Goupil said she was proud of the board’s accomplishments and that “as a board we were able to rise above party lines.” Goupil mentioned the projects that are in various stages of development around town and said she hoped the town council would continue to work to take the lead on making sure the projects are completed.
Guerra followed Goupil’s remarks by adding “Obviously the last two years for me have been a time of great growth, and though we had some ups and downs, I believe this council has looked after what’s best for Clinton.”
Guerra highlighted Goupil’s work to save $758,000 in debt payment by refinancing bonds, the development at the Old Morgan School, and the sale of the Unilever property as accomplishments by the board that made him proud.
The night before the BOS meeting, the elected town council members met with the Town Manager Search Committee (TMSC) to select the five finalists for the town manager position that will be invited to Clinton to interview for the job and meet with the public on Monday, Dec. 2 and Tuesday, Dec. 3. The names of those selected will be released after press time. Walter spoke about this meeting during her remarks.
“It seems like everyone was on the same page and it was nice to hear there was cohesive movement forward,” Walter said. While Scherban and Sengle will no longer serve on the top board, they also spoke of their time together.
“I feel proud of the accomplishments we’ve made, I enjoyed serving with each of you,” said Scherban. Scherban was also singled out during the visitor’s comments portion of the meeting by Dolly Mezzetti who said she came to the meeting to specifically thank Scherban for his years of service on the board of finance and BOS.
‘Enjoyed the Rapport’
Sengle did not attend the last BOS meeting because there was a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting occurring at the same time as the BOS meeting, and he said he felt like an item on that agenda that he was interested in could have a larger impact on the future of the town than the limited agenda of the final BOS meeting.
Reached for comment after the meeting, Sengle said “my time on the BOS was very eye opening, educational, and I appreciated the opportunity to support things felt were good for Clinton and to move it forward. I enjoyed the rapport with the other selectmen and felt they were all equally interested in moving Clinton forward.” For most of 2019 Sengle served as the chairman of the TMSC, and said that he was “most proud of the progress made toward the town manager and the support the search committee got from the BOS.”