MY VIEW
SUPPORT MOVE TO APPOINTMENTS
by Pam Lohmann Yes to Articles 44-52
As a member of the Town Government Study Committee (TGSC), I urge voters at Annual Town Meeting to support Articles 44- 52. Their overall purpose is to streamline local government and to make it more responsive.

Ever since the TGSC was established by voters at the 2005 Annual Town Meeting we have been working to further that goal by examining many different ideas and proposals in great detail. More and more we came to the conclusion that strengthening the authority of the Board of Selectmen and the Town Administrator was essential to achieving more efficient and responsive local government. The changes we propose are designed to accomplish as much.

Some proposals are minor, some are farreaching. Some are in the form of warrant articles changing the Town Charter and will be voted on at Town Meeting. Many more are in the form of advisory recommendations that can be implemented by government officials. Taken together, they will result in improving town government.

A number of the articles we propose would result in the appointment rather than the election of members to several boards. This is not a move away from democracy. The Board of Selectmen (BOS), which would make these appointments, is and will continue to be democratically elected. The BOS will be held accountable for the appointments they make, and they in turn will hold the boards accountable for their performance. Another advantage of the appointment process is that it will permit the BOS to seek out people with appropriate expertise and skills who may not be known to the public or be reluctant to run for office.

Experience has shown that sometimes an elected board - either inadvertently or for reasons of "turf" rivalry - pursues an agenda that is at variance with policies adopted by the BOS, even though that is the highest elected body and most responsive to the public will. Appointed boards would function with greater attention to overall policy aims and result in more coherent operation of government.

In order to avoid cronyism in the appointment process, the TGSC proposes an important advisory recommendation: the BOS must develop clear criteria and open procedures for making appointments. Appointments are not made by a single individual but by a majority of selectmen that would have to be convinced of the candidate's qualifications. Such a process would be transparent to public scrutiny.

In keeping with our charge, the TGSC has listened to and carefully analyzed many different ideas and suggestions in hundreds of hours of open meetings. Our committee discussions mirrored many of the same issues and objections that will be raised leading up to and at Town Meeting. Our recommendations represent our considered view of the best way to proceed. We hope that Nantucket voters will give credence and respect to the thorough work we have done and support our recommendations.