Whitman-Hanson Express

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A visit with … Whitman ATA Lisa Green

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WHITMAN — When Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green moved to Whitman 15 years ago,with her husband Ed, who works for Shaw’s markets, and now-16-year-old son Jason, a member of the WHRHS baseball team, they felt they had found a hometown, and she became involved in the community.

At the time, Green had no inkling she would be helping administer town government, but that’s where her road led. Perhaps a journey is the most apt metaphor for this public servant who began her working life as a travel agent, which she did for about 20 years before going to law school.

Green grew up in Brockton, but as her father is a good friend with James Reed from Reed’s Automotive on Temple Street, she was in Whitman a lot growing up.

“Travel was kind of going in a different direction because of the Internet,” she said of her change in career direction. “Travel agencies were kind of a dying breed … it was very much a changing industry.”

She initially went back to school with the idea of becoming a paralegal, and continued to obtain her law degree. Before beginning her new position of assistant town administrator, Green had been an adjudicator for the federal Social Security Administration.

She stepped down from her seat on the Board of Selectmen in October to meet the separation requirements involved in applying for her new post — and received the vote of all four of her former colleagues on the board to win the job.

The Express sat down to talk with Green in her Town Hall office Thursday, Dec. 8.

Q

: What drew you into public service?

A: “Social Security is considered public service. I worked there for eight years and I was also very heavily involved with the [Whitman Baseball and Softball Association] WBSA. I worked on getting scoreboards for some of our baseball fields and was successful in getting two. I liked that a lot and decided to run for selectman when I saw there was a seat open. … I enjoyed the five years of being a selectman and really learning about Whitman.

“Being a selectman really taught me about the inside — the government and running a town. I heard that [former Assistant Town Administrator] Greg [Enos] was leaving, I had given it a lot of thought and resigned from the board and applied for the position.”

Q: Is this something of a dream job — working in the town in which you live?

A: “It is. It’s funny, when people say to me, ‘What a commute you have — a five-minute, commute,’ I think I’ve paid my dues. I worked at the airport, so I traveled from Brockton to Boston every day and then I worked in Dedham when I worked at the travel agency, and then worked in Boston again — Quincy, Braintree — with SSA.

“Actually, when I became a selectman, I never thought it would lead to a full-time career in municipal management, but here I am today, and very excited to be here and very motivated.”

Q: It must have been gratifying to have the support of all four of your former colleagues.

A: “Yes, it was. I was very grateful to them for having that kind of faith in me. Sometimes you don’t know if you’re doing a good job, a bad job or an OK job — you’re not really sure. But when they all voted for me it was very gratifying. I was overwhelmed and can’t thank them enough for placing me in this position.”

Q: How is this job different from working for the SSA, other than the level of government?

A: “I mainly worked in disability, in the law end of it in the general counsel’s office. That’s where they defended Social Security against lawsuits filed against them. When I was promoted to an adjudicator for the disability applications, that’s an important job because you’ve got people’s life in your hands. … They are relying on you, basically, to help them live with disability. It was a demanding job. We were given a certain amount of cases every week and we had to make quick decisions so people weren’t waiting a long time.

“Coming down to this level of government, I’m now working for the town. It’s a small town and people are very comfortable coming in and talking with you about concerns they have, complaints that they have and I think it’s important that people know they can come to us and talk to us.”

Q: Does your SSA background help at the town level?

A: “I can answer some questions regarding retirement, but that wasn’t really my expertise … I was more involved with disability. But I can certainly put my legal and Social Security background to work to benefit the town.”

Q: What do you like best about living in Whitman?

A: “It’s a small town, which I love. It’s a pretty town. There are a lot of dedicated people who live here. They put their time into the town. The WBSA — everybody there is very dedicated to the kids — football, soccer, there’s a lot of small-town activities that go on here. Businesses support Whitman. You get to know so many people in the town. That couldn’t happen in Brockton.”

Q: How do you envision your new role?

A: “I want to make sure that I am looking into any grants out there that will help improve Whitman, either infrastructure, the environment or human services. I’m going to be taking a grant-writing course — my writing expertise is in legal writing, but I have that talent because I’ve had training — so now I want to focus that writing ability toward grants. You need to be versed in budgeting … and I need to learn what people look for [in a grant application].

“Greg was successful in getting Whitman recognized as a green community. I want to make sure I continue that, because there are a lot of grants out there for green communities … funds for the food pantry, animal control and things like that.”

Q: What’s been the biggest surprise about the job so far?

A: “I’m very touched by how welcoming everybody has been … within Town Hall and by all the town employees in Whitman. Sometimes, when a new person comes in, some people can have a little reservation toward them. I’ve had a presence as selectman for five years so they knew me a little bit. It’s a complex position, there’s going to be baby steps, Frank is a great mentor and is very patient in teaching me different things.”

Hanson mourns a ‘real lady’

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HANSON — The community is mourning the loss of Hanson Public Library Director Nancy M. Cappellini, a loving person who made friends with colleagues and made her friends feel like part of the family.

Cappellini died at home Sunday, Dec. 18 after a long illness [see obituary, page 13]. The library was slated to be closed Thursday, Dec. 22 to permit the staff to attend her funeral.

“Nancy Cappellini was a positive, welcoming presence for everyone who came to the library,” said Library Trustees Chairman Jennifer Hickey. “She was a joy to work with. Everyone liked Nancy and the energy that she brought to every interaction.”  Hickey said to Cappellini, running the library was more than a job — she truly cared about the patrons, staff, Trustees and the Foundation.

“She will be sorely missed,” Hickey said. “Nancy became a good friend to me over the years, and I am heartbroken at losing her.”

The Board of Selectmen also honored Cappellini, observing a moment of silence in her memory Tuesday night.

“I know she’s had a great impact on a number of people — seniors and our kids in our town,” said Selectmen Chairman James McGahan. “I know that she’ll be sorely missed.”

Many of those who knew and worked with her in town government echoed that sentiment.

“She was such a special, uplifting person,” Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan said. “It’s such a loss. She was such a presence in that library and even in Town Hall when she was here.”

Administrative Assistant to the Board of Selectmen Meredith Marini said she will remember Cappellini as a pleasant person with a ready smile.

“She had a great outlook on life,” Marini said. “It’s heart-breaking, she’s definitely too young to be gone.”

Those who worked closely with Cappellini were deeply shaken by the news of her passing, said Senior Center Director Mary Collins, whose facility shares the same building as the Hanson Public Library.

“It was a very family-like atmosphere,” Collins said of the library. “Each one of them (staff members) said to me that’s because she created that.”

Collins spent part of the day Monday with the library staff.

“It’s so personal,” Collins said of the loss. “I just feel truly that she was a woman of integrity and compassion and she always had what was in the best interest of the patrons in mind.”

Cappellini was always looking for ways to improve the library’s services and involve more people in programs, including the founding of the monthly Book-to-Movie group. She was also an advocate of agriculture, including a farm babies petting zoo in the annual summer reading program kickoff events and working to help form the town’s Agriculture Committee, on which she served as its clerk. She also served on a past reuse committee for the Plymouth County Hospital site.

“I think she was one of Hanson’s treasures, and hopefully people had an opportunity to know her,” Collins said.

Library friends and colleagues also spoke of their friend.

“I worked with Nancy serving as Library Trustee for five years, and I always admired her grace, humor, and patience,” said Trustee Helen Levesque wrote on Cappellini’s condolence page at the Keohane Funeral Homes website.

Library staff and trustees in Whitman were also saddened by Cappellini’s loss.

“Nancy was a wonderful woman,” said Whitman Public Library Director Andrea Rounds. “She was really well-respected in the library field and we’re so sorry to hear about her passing.”

Rounds said her Hanson counterpart will be truly missed.

“She was one of the most welcoming people,” agreed  Michael Ganshirt, administrative assistant to Whitman Town Clerk Dawn Varley and a Whitman Library trustee. “Every time you went in the library, she always came out and said hi and spent some time with you. The town is going to miss her greatly.”

Ganshirt, who is also president of Whitman and Hanson Dollars for Scholars, said Cappellini was supportive of that cause and “anything that anyone else did,” he said.

Whitman Public Library Senior Library Technician Mary Casey said Cappellini  had the remarkable ability to make one feel part of her family.

“She exuded such grace, compassion and warmth,” Casey said. “She met everyone with her radiant smile and had the ability to put everyone at ease.”

Casey recalled a Mass. Library Association conference dinner in May, during which Cappellini just happened to sit next to her.

“I had an extraordinary evening with her because … she was just a fun person, a very down-to-earth person, funny and just very graceful,” Casey said. “She was just a real lady.”

A gift to those who gave all

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HANSON — A traditional English Christmas carol celebrates preparation for the holiday as people “deck the halls with boughs of holly,” but Marc Benjamino, a junior at WHRHS, had a more meaningful decoration job to do on Saturday, Dec. 17.

On the strength of his private fundraising effort in support of the Wreaths Across America program, for which he raised $3,000 to pay for Christmas wreaths to decorate the graves of fallen military, Benjamino was invited to participate in placing 250,000 wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery.

Benjamino found the opportunity to be very moving,

“It was an experience, let’s just say — words can’t really describe it,” he said Monday, noting that there were thousands of others who also made the journey to ensure the nation’s fallen servicemen and women are not forgotten at the holidays.

“It was a very honorable experience,” he said. “I would say that it was just awe-inspiring. It hit very close to home. It was a shame to see that all of these people have died for our country, however it was very nice to see that everyone came out … and our country gives them the respect they deserve. There’s a monument for every single one of them.”

A cadet with the Forest Hill Military Army Cadet Corps in Kentucky, and as a person with veterans in his family, Benjamino said he understands the service and sacrifice made by Arlington’s fallen and encourages others to volunteer with Wreaths Across America.

“It was a really emotional and honorable experience,” he said.

While he is not entirely comfortable with the attention his gesture has received, Benjamino is committed to paying the fallen the respect due them.

Closure

“They need to be honored and they need to be remembered,” he said, describing the experience as a warm feeling that brings closure as the nation remembers that these servicemen and women sacrificed their lives for the rights all Americans enjoy.

His family and school community are just as honored by Benjamino’s fundraising effort on behalf of the Wreaths Across America cause.

“As Marc’s teacher, when I heard he was taking his time out to do this to recognize the men and women who dedicated their lives [to country], I just thought it was a must that he be recognized for this,” said Chris Googins, who is also WHRHS dean of students. “I know he’s probably upset about that, because he’s such a humble kid, but he’s an exceptional kid and he’s one of the best kids I’ve taught at W-H in my 20 years here.”

Googins said Benjamino’s passion for history helped spark his interest in the project.

Benjamino is taking an elective course on WWI, and is a member of the W-H History Club, which has also received a gift of about $500 from Wreaths Across America.

“I respect the fact that he is going above and beyond to make our community better and I’m proud to have him in class,” he said.

Founded in 1992 by the Worcester Wreath Co, the Wreaths Across America project aims to distribute holiday wreaths to graves of deceased soldiers at various cemeteries across the country, but focuses attention on Arlington.

The wreath-placing Dec. 17 followed a remembrance ceremony “so that we may pause to think about what these soldiers have given us and to remember them and honor them during this holiday season,” Benjamino wrote of the event before departing for it.

giving back

“He did this on his own,” Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak told the School Committee Dec. 14. “It wasn’t a school-funded thing. He did raise some money for the History Club, but [this is the] kind of social programs that we give back during the course of the day here. People don’t know it, but we have some wonderful, wonderful, wonderful kids here.”

Benjamino raised the $3,000 as an independent fundraiser for Wreaths Across America, going to parent-teacher conference night, Veterans Day parades and various companies and organizations to discuss the program and ask for wreath sponsorships.

He said Wreaths Across America welcomes anyone who wishes to help place wreaths, but the organization encourages fundraising first to help purchase the greenery.

Schools look to 2018 budget

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The W-H School Committee will likely be seeking a full-day kindergarten program again for fiscal 2018, this time armed with annual cost estimates beyond the estimated $500,000 start-up costs.

Budget discussions will begin at the committee’s next meeting, Wednesday, Jan. 11 in preparation for the official budget rollout on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Both meetings begin at 7 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend both sessions.

“Starting in January would be a good time to recruit people and show what you support to this committee so we can make our decision moving forward into the next budget year,” said Chairman Bob Hayes at the Wednesday, Dec. 14 meeting. “We have no problem putting in extra seats. We will do that and we’d love to have everyone here.”

Tuition-free full-day kindergarten was part of the $3-million Student Success Budget that failed an override in May.

“I’ve been for this since it first came up, so I say keep going for it,” School Committee member Robert Trotta said. “I think it’s important — we all know it’s important— and it’s a big budget item, but eventually I think we need to get all-day kindergarten into our budget.”

Part of an expected cost reduction after the first year is that a mid-day bus run would not be needed, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner said.

She pointed out that, while the override failed, more parents were convinced of the benefit of full-day kindergarten and enrolled their children. But, educators cautioned the limited number of scholarship slots available creates a “have and have-not” situation, in which some children miss out on the benefits because their parents cannot afford it.

“We’re part of the shameful low part — probably 70 districts — that doesn’t fund kindergarten, Committee member Dan Cullity said. “The state’s already looking to do pre-K, so we’re so far behind, it’s ridiculous.”

“The criticality of this is we can’t have those students starting behind,” agreed Committee member Chris Howard.

Cullity said the South Shore is the only region of the state where most districts do not mandate full-day kindergarten.

“It takes them two to three years to catch up,” he said.

“Sometimes they don’t,” Gilbert-Whitner added.

Cost details

Hayes asked Business Manager Christine Suckow to research second and third-year costs of full-day kindergarten to provide more information for town officials and voters.

“That’s the number one question I’ve had asked from the finance committee standpoint,” he said.

Gilbert-Whitner also said the state bases Chapter 70 funds for full-day kindergarten as a whole child, where half-day program reimbursement is based on “half a kid.”

“Clearly state aid should go up,” she said. “But that’s not a ‘will,’ that’s a ‘should.’” The district’s status of being short of target share will also have an effect on Chapter 70.

On the other end of the K-12 curriculum, the committee also heard a report on the after-school programs at the high school, now funded by a renewed 21st Century Grant, which the district will soon have to fund.

“Grants are seed money and we are then supposed to move forward,” Gilbert-Whitner said.

Student support

The grant has been in place for seven years, initially an annual $105,000 grant for three years which has been renewed once already, according to WHRHS Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak. The district has received more than $700,000 over the seven years, using it to fund after-school programming and transportation.

“For me as a high school principal, sending kids home without parents before 2 p.m. — kids who are at-risk or kids who need support — that’s challenging,” Szymaniak said. The high school day was pushed ahead, ending at 1:40 p.m., to permit a cost-saving bus schedule five years ago. He said the grant-funded programs have provided effective programs for the at-risk population and “kids who need to find a niche after school.”

Szymaniak credits the program for helping bring the dropout rate down to .2 percent from 3.9 percent in 2009.

“That’s our goal here — to graduate kids,” he said. “We’re hoping to renew the grant, but if they don’t fully fund it, I don’t want to cut programs.

After school enrichment program coordinator Maureen Leonard said 40 students take part in academic and emotional support and enrichment programs and she also works with their families. A credit recovery program is also featured for students lacking the credits to graduate in four years.

A success plan is established for each student in the program.

Participant Olivia Affannato spoke of her experience.

“I used it, at first, as somewhere to do my homework because, when I’m at home, I don’t really want to do homework,” she said. “I quickly realized it’s more than just that.”

Affannato said the program had helped her learn to advocate for herself and build relationships with peers and faculty, along with providing her to work with outside groups in regard to her concern over the ongoing opioid crisis.

“Programs like this probably should be highlighted even more,” Trotta said. “People need to know that schools do have special programs like this and students can become very successful.”

Szymaniak said there is a team approach at W-H to support all students.

Hanson meeting reviews road improvement plan

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HANSON — Selectmen and the Planning Board in collaboration with Environmental Partners, Inc., of Quincy, held a joint meeting Tuesday, Dec. 6 to introduce and discuss the proposed Route 14/Maquan Street Reconstruction Project in Hanson.

It was the first of what is expected to be a series of meetings on the proposals.

Selectman Don Howard, who began working to get the project on the state/federal transportation improvement program (TIP) a year ago, chaired the meeting. Planning Board members Don Ellis and John Kemmett and Selectman Bruce Young also sat on the dais for the meeting, which was broadcast by W-H Community Access TV.

“I can’t see Hanson in the middle … just to sit there an have nothing done,” Howard said. “It seems to me Hanson, in the past few years, [has received] nothing from the federal or state governments and I think it’s about time we get a little bit of service.”

The proposed project — which is viewed at about five years away — is anticipated to include improvements to traffic circulation and safety, pedestrian and bicycle facilities and roadway flooding along Maquan Street from Liberty Street (Route 58) and Indian Head Street to the Pembroke Town Line, a distance of approximately 1.2 miles.  It will also include reconstruction of School Street (approximately 0.25 miles long to link pedestrian and bicycle accommodations from the existing Indian Head School, Maquan Elementary School, Hanson Public Library and sports fields with Maquan Street and its abutting neighborhoods.

During the hour and 40-minute session, desginer Dan Fitzgerald of Environmental Partners presented a PowerPoint program on the preliminary concepts and alternatives for improving safety and roadway drainage.

Traffic volume and projections for intersections involved, taken during peak, midweek commuter times were reviewed as well as current stop sign placement.

Among the proposals for traffic alternatives up for consideration is a roundabout at from Liberty Street (Route 58) and Indian Head Street, as has been done at the Pembroke end of Route 14 and changes to other intersections along Maquan Street.

“It’s just an idea —it’s your town — but I think it’s a worthy alternative,” Fitzgerald said of the slide illustrations. “These are not full designs, these are just initial ideas based on space that we can see out there.”

He stressed that roundabouts are safer than the larger rotaries are built for more high-speed traffic.

Present roadway conditions have also been reviewed, including average speeds — 85 percent of traffic has been registered at 41 mph where the speed limit is 30 to 35 — and wetlands near the road. Residents attending the meeting expressed concern about the speeds now seen on Maquan Street.

Kemmett also asked for a cost projection of maintaining the roadway paint needed in the plans shown. Utility poles along the route will also have to be relocated.

The town owns 45-foot rights-of-way. Bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the road within a 43-footplan are proposed. Pembroke’s end of the project, which was planned before design rules changed, does not include the same bike lane and sidewalk designs now under consideration for Hanson.

Another alternative would use a narrower vehicular roadway, with a paved area for pedestrians and bicyclists to share, separated by a median. Another called for bike lanes on both sides and a sidewalk on one.

Residents at the meeting preferred the paved area for pedestrians and bicyclists to share, separated by a median option.

Fitzgerald also said any wetlands impacted by retaining walls  required by the project would have to be replicated.

Kiwanee investigation closed: Peloquin defends report, Selectmen point to rules changes in place

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HANSON — Selectmen closed the investigation into Recreation Commission oversight of Camp Kiwanee on Tuesday, Dec. 13 after hearing labor counsel Leo Peloquin defend the conclusions of original his October report. The Board of Selectmen voted 4-0, with Selectman Don Howard abstaining, to conclude the probe and move forward.

Selectmen also set a Jan. 6 deadline for interested residents to apply for appointment to a reconstituted Recreation Commission, with the plan to vote on appointments at the Tuesday, Jan. 10 meeting. Selectmen hope to see a recreation director in place by the end of January.

“I don’t think [the reports] are trying to take away from the amount of hard work that anyone has done,” Selectmen Chairman James McGahan said, noting that oversight procedures are now being improved. “I think when somebody works on something so hard for so long, a sense of entitlement starts to form, and I think it’s human nature.”

McGahan agreed with Peloquin’s assertion, however, that there was no “hard evidence” refuting the labor counsel report and said he saw a great deal of confusion concerning rental rates at Kiwanee.

“We have to focus on what the problem is,” McGahan said. “There’s a problem here of making sure we follow the rules.”

Peloquin, in an 83-minute presentation, responded in detail to a Nov. 28 rebuttal by attorney George H. Boerger of Duxbury of the original report’s conclusions. Boerger representing Kiwannee caretaker James Flanagan and former Recreation Commission members Maria McClellan, Sue Lonergan, Dave Blauss and Janet Agius. Peloquin’s report can be obtained electronically by contacting the Selectmen’s office and may be viewed on W-H Community Access TV.

“The essence of my report was that, over … the past six years I identified, just based on documents, that there were more than 50 instances where individuals had rented facilities at Camp Kiwanee for a discounted rate,” he said. “In the response there’s no check to refute this, there’s not even an attempt to refute this.”

None of the discounts were brought before the Board of Selectmen, and none were brought before the Recreation Commission to be considered, Peloquin said. The authorizing parties were not always apparent.

Peloquin also said, if the legal bill meter started with initial audit last December, he wouldn’t doubt Boerger’s assertion that the town has spent $62,905 on the investigation.

The key points raised by what he terms the “Camp Kiwanee group,” and to which Peloquin responded Tuesday were:

• The group’s response challenges only a handful of more that 50 discounted rental agreements documented by the investigation;

• Lonergan received “significantly discounted rentals including her use of ‘Kiwanee cash;

• McClellan authorized a discounted rental for her niece at the Needles Lodge library;

• Peter Giovannini, a former Hanson teacher, received significantly discounted rental agreements and other privileges from 2011-16;

• Former Hanson Town Administrator, Michael Finglas denies the new claim by the Camp Kiwanee group that he approved the Kiwanee Cash program;

• David Blauss does not challenge the investigation findings that his mother received a discounted rate to rent the lodge for a family Christmas party for several years;

• Blauss does not challenge the investigation findings that he allowed his cousin, who also worked for him, to stay at Camp Kiwanee without paying. His claim that it was solely to provide security is not credible and was an abuse of authority, no matter what the reason for allowing it;

• The group’s contention that former Town Administrator Ron San Angelo denied the Recreation Commission access to records, contradicts the plain language of his email, which made it clear they were to receive access on request;

• New reasons offered for Debbie Blauss’ financial deal for yoga instruction were not persuasive; and that

• The investigation was prolonged by a lack of cooperation by key commissioners and Recreation Commission employees.

“These people are very strong in character and nature,” McGahan said about the records request issue. “I don’t believe — in any way, shape or form — they would have taken no for an answer if they couldn’t see the records.”

He said he believed they would have demanded access from the town administrator, picketed and come to the Selectmen, as he would have done.

“I would have kept pressing for those records,” McGahan said, noting the latest report showed contradictions in the rebuttals. “I saw no evidence of that.”

Resident Richard Edgehille lauded Peloquin’s work as well as the board’s on the investigation.

“The audit brought this all on your shoulders,” he told Selectmen. “This guy did a great job. Most of the people in town are not connected personally with these people, you guys did a great job.”

McGahan said it has been a difficult and uncomfortable process and expressed surprise that the room was not full of Recreation Commission supporters as it has been at previous meetings.

Audrey Flanagan said in an email Wednesday morning that the commission members did not attend the meeting because, “They felt that, based on previous statements from McGahan, that they would not get the chance to defend themselves (again) and that they simply were not interested in Leo’s rebuttal of the rebuttal.”

Only one resident present at the meeting, Susan McGrath of 66 Gerald St., spoke on behalf of the Recreation Commission, but she also agreed that problems began when Kiwanee was turned into an enterprise as a wedding venue in 2012.

Policies vs rules

“This is policies and procedures — things that should have been fixed along the way a while ago,” McGrath said.

Selectmen Bruce Young, Bill Scott and Kenny Mitchell agreed with that point.

“The internal control is not there,” Young said.

“This lady hit the nail right on the head,” Scott said. “When this became an enterprise account, so-called, there were no rules put in place for the governing of that. We were still going on the old — not rules — policies and procedures.”

A retired police chief, Scott compared it to policies and procedures governing police conduct that allow officers flexibility in given circumstances, but said that departments are also governed by firm rules and regulations.

“If we move forward, we’ve got to go forward with a set of rules for the Recreation Commission that will have to be abided by,” he said. “No one is knocking what they did or didn’t do. It’s just the whole thing fell apart procedurally.”

“We’re all municipal employees,” Mitchell said. “We have to answer to our people. … I wish a lot of these [Recreation Commission] people had answered questions when the investigator had contacted them initially, and once the investigation came up that some of the people said, ‘I made a mistake, I didn’t mean anything by it,’ so this thing didn’t drag on. It just made it worse.”

McGrath also said she felt the issue began when someone felt the Recreation Commission had to be disbanded and set out to make sure that happened.

McGahan countered that, as Kiwanee belongs to the community and the rules have to apply to everyone adding he hopes the result is the creation of something stronger.

“We have here an issue that has generated a lot of angst in the community,” McGrath said. “One of the reasons is, I think, is because this is an issue that’s sort of in the bedrock of the town of Hanson. Some of the people involved in the report have been people that are pillars of the community.”

The 38-year resident said Hanson residents’ willingness to pitch in and help each other is what makes it the kind of community in which she wants to live.

“I don’t feel it’s [a sense of] entitlement, I feel that it’s a stewardship,” she said. “You’ve got to take a step back to look at the forest for some of these trees.”    

Howard also asked why there were no plays staged at Kiwanee’s Needles Lodge this year — a regular fundraising effort for the camp.

“Half of these people you mention are part of my family,” Howard said. “I’m very upset about it. This is the first time I’ve really heard everything here … I think it’s disgusting — I’ll be very frank and honest with you.”

McGahan said the group was asked about that and had replied that the did not wish to do it this year.

Joanne Blauss said McCue wouldn’t confirm that we could have more than one rehearsal night a week.

“Over the years we’ve settled for two nights a week (three would be better, but that’s been our compromise), but now they won’t even assure us of that,” she said in an email Tuesday night.

‘Hands and feet of Christ’: Hanson church reaching out to community

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HANSON — Pastor Kristian Skjerli of Calvary Baptist Church, may not have planned on leading a church, but since he was a teenager he knew he had a calling to serve God in his community.

“It’s something I knew God was calling me to do back when I was 17,” he said. “It just took a little bit of a winding road that I didn’t expect. But it was a good road.”

Skjerli, 56, was approached to become senior pastor at Calvary Baptist about a year and a half ago, while serving as a deacon and member of the search committee to fill the vacancy in the pulpit after the Rev. Jeffrey Lavoie left to found The Well Community Church in Halifax.

“The thing that we want to make sure of, is yes we’re here to serve the needs of the community — whatever that is,” Skjerli said during an interview at his church Thursday, Dec. 1.

The church is a center to administer vouchers for families in need to contact the Salvation Army — the Hanson Senior Center fills that role for the elder population. The church also has begun an annual Thanksgiving dinner for dementia patients as well as an occasional thank you breakfast for the region’s first responders.

The church works with the Hanson Food Pantry as a collection location, as well as hosting a monthly support group for families who have lost children to addiction and is reaching out to determine how it can assist a program at East Bridgewater’s Covenant Community Church.

A group of Calvary Baptist members with trades backgrounds are joining forces to help people in need of minor repairs on their homes but can’t afford to hire a repairman. Residents purchase the material and the group performs the labor.

Calvary Baptist is also becoming involved as a participant in the Hanson Holiday Fest. Church member Jamie Bevelaqua is leading community outreach initiatives.

“The goal is to extend the hands and feet of Christ — that we are, literally, those hands and feet — so that as there is a need people can sense that we’re reaching out not only because we’re nice people, but because we have a message that drives us,” Skjerli said. The church also supports 39 mission projects around the world, as a way to aid its global community.

It’s the type of community outreach to which Skjerli has always been called.

“I started public speaking when I was 12 through a mission down in New York [City],” he said of a Baptist church group he belonged to that volunteered at an Episcopal mission, ministering to the homeless.  “I started sharing my faith and scripture as simply as a 12-year-old could.” Skjerli recalled.

Their mission was to provide information about services available to the homeless and to “give them hope because of Christ.”

“You have to look at things through their eyes,” he said. “Walk beside them at least, and feel what they feel, to get an idea of who they are.”

He recalled one man, a journalist from Los Angeles named Thomas O’Brien, who had struggled with alcoholism, and moved to New York for a job he was unable to find.

God’s love

“I asked him what the hardest thing was on the street, and he said, ‘Knowing that nobody cares about me. That — if I were to die today — nobody would know,’” Skjerli said. “I was able to share God’s love with him and that transformed me into recognizing the deepest need of people is to understand that somebody loves them, and God’s love is real and we understand it as we talk about this time of year through Christ.”

As a teen, Skjerli also helped found a program in his home church in the Brewster, N.Y., area to pick up kids and families who had no transportation on a church bus to provide rides to church and Sunday school.

“My heart was beginning to expand then, and my mind toward the needs of a community,” he said.

Born in Stamford, Conn. and raised in Danbury and in Brewster, N.Y., Skjerli, he and his family have lived in Scituate since 1994 — moving to care for his wife’s ailing parents. He graduated from Word of Life Bible College in upstate New York and at Cedarville College in central Ohio where he studied liberal arts and a Bible major.

His first ministry experience was as a teacher in a Christian school in Danbury. Eight years later they moved to Massachusetts, joining New England Baptist Church in East Bridgewater, where he was again asked to teach in a church-run school, doing so for 10 years.

While he never had the opportunity to go to seminary, Skjerli has preached at church and in a home church setting in addition to working with kids and learning sign language while at New England Baptist, which brought them to Calvary Baptist seven years ago. Skjerli now plans to continue study toward a master’s degree in counseling. It has been an unusual journey to the position of pastor, but one the church elders felt was strong enough in Biblical and pastoral knowledge to earn him the job.

“I have a strong Biblical education … I have a lot of experience in the pulpit,” he said. “Ministry has always been a part of my fiber.”

Skjerli served as a deacon under Lavoie and, as chairman of the deacons, the “leadership kind of fell into my lap when Jeff left,” due to a difference in philosophy. Skjerli then shared ministry with others trained in ministry while the search committee did its work.

When the time came to decide on whether to call three final candidates to serve as a guest minister so the church could get to know them, one of his fellow deacons asked Skjerli he would first consider being the new pastor.

He felt the decision needed thought and prayer, but accepted the post after undertaking a two-and –a-half hour question and answer session that ordained him.

“They needed to know who I was,” he said. He then preached a Sunday as a candidate pastor before being overwhelmingly winning votes from the congregation.

Refuting Kiwanee report’s claims

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HANSON — A lawyer for five former Recreation Commission members named in labor lawyer Leo Peloquin’s report on mismanagement of Camp Kiwanee has filed a report refuting Peloquin’s findings with Peloquin, who has forwarded copies to the Board of Selectmen.

The report dated Nov. 28 charges that Peloquin’s findings were “designed for the sole purpose of justifying the expenditure of $62,905 … for an investigation that far exceeded its scope,” according to attorney George H. Boerger of Duxbury, who is representing Kiwannee caretaker James Flanagan and former Recreation Commission members Maria McClellan, Sue Lonergan, Dave Blauss and Janet Agius.

At the Nov. 29 Selectmen’s meeting, however, the issue was not posted on the agenda at the recommendation of Town Administrator Michael McCue, following discussions with Selectmen Chairman James McGahan and Peloquin.

“There was information provided that went to town counsel and he’s reviewing it,” McCue told Selectmen at the Nov. 29 meeting. “I believe town counsel will be before the board at the next meeting on Dec. 13 to advise the board on his recommendations and findings.”

McCue assured Boerger in an email about the agenda decision that he would “make the Board aware of your request to come before the Board at a future meeting,” McCue.

McCue was not available for further comment this week due to illness.

Boerger’s report said his clients do not have the resources to respond to every single allegation in Peloquin’s report, but highlighted “key facts and errors, which should call into question most, if not all of the allegations.”

According to Boerger’s report:

• The original audit conducted on Camp Kiwanee’s operations did not lead to the investigation ultimately conducted;

• The Recreation Committee had been prohibited from accessing camp files for the last two years;

• There was cooperation among commission members with the investigation;

• Issues raised concerning the Kiwanee Cash program were resolved more than two years ago;

• Allegations of improper rates charged are not accurate;

• David Blauss’ cousin was permitted to stay at the camp to bolster security and stopped when ordered to; and that

• Criticism of his clients for attempting to micromanage the camp are unjust.

• He also stressed that McClellan was not the “administrator” of Kiwanee Cash, as Peloquin had repeatedly described her, but had only volunteered to type records because, as a retiree, she had the time.

cooperation

Boerger wrote that investigation interviews with Lonergan, McClellan and Dave Blauss were either never scheduled by former interim Town Administrator Richard LaCamera or were delayed. McClellan, for example offered to meet with Peloquin as early as May 3, but was not contacted for an interview until Sept. 19.

McClellan, Lonergan, Dave Blauss, Agius and James Flanagan are now hoping they will have their chance to review Boerger’s report in a public meeting.

“I am so disappointed in this investigation and the people who could have handled it so differently,” McClellan wrote in an Oct. 20 letter to McCue and McGahan attached to Boerger’s report. “You have beaten up some very great people by accepting evidence from people with clear agendas to keep their own jobs and destroy other people.”

Boerger also opined that the scope of the investigation and Peloquin’s report were “an attempt to destroy the reputation” of his clients as well as being extremely detrimental to the town, which relies on volunteers to fill many positions.

“Could operations of Camp Kiwanee been improved? Certainly,” Boerger wrote in his conclusions. “Was there ever any intent by the respondents to gain any improper advantage from their role with Camp Kiwanee? Absolutely not!”

under review

Selectman Bruce Young, who has been supportive of the Recreation Commission, declined comment on the rebuttal report at this time.

“I will refrain from making any comments on this, until we receive the formal response and possible amended version of the original investigative report from Atty. Peloquin,” Young stated in an email to the Express Tuesday, Dec. 6. Young noted that Peloquin is preparing a response to Boerger’s rebuttal, which he plans to email to Selectmen before the Dec. 13 meeting, and urged the board to hold off on permitting Boerger to make a presentation until after the board has received his response, “i.e., everything is in.”

McGahan said Dec. 6 that he felt the Recreation Commission already went over many of the points touched on in Boerger’s report at the Oct. 18 Selectmen’s meeting.

“I don’t want to go into complaints about how things were done,” McGahan said. “I want them to go into hard evidence. They’ve been accused of misusing the camp up there for their own purpose and I’d like them to come back with some sort of concrete evidence — ‘Here’s my cancelled check’ — but I’ve not seen anything to refute any of those specific charges.”

Recreation members have been seeking a public forum to present their rebuttal. In answer to a question from James Flanagan at the Aug. 23 selectmen’s meeting, McGahan said that, in his personal opinion, once the investigation was complete and on paper, it should be made available to all parties involved, which was done in October.

“I would like to see that,” McGahan had said, agreeing with James Flanagan’s request that a public session be held to discuss it, including refutations from those named in the investigation.

“Open discussion on that document would be open to the public,” McGahan said in August, but contends the Oct. 18 meeting provided that forum.

Selectmen, at that meeting decided that those named in the report could have until Nov. 30 to file corrections with Peloquin’s office.

McGahan had cited the Nov. 30 deadline in his statement against voting to appoint a new Recreation Commission at that meeting.

“Maybe something else is coming up, I don’t know,” he said. Selectman Kenny Mitchell agreed, saying he wanted the Camp Kiwanee issues behind them before a vote.

No replacements

Some residents have expressed dismay at the board’s decision not to vote on the slate of applicants which is: former Recreation Commission members Audrey Flanagan and Kevin Cameron, John Mahoney, Diane Cohen, Brian Fruzetti, Brian Smith and John Zucco.

“I felt we’re still doing the investigation on this [commission],” McGahan said Tuesday, Dec. 6. “I also want to check on what the director’s position description is, I want to make sure that’s where it should be.”

He also said he’d like to see some new faces on the commission.

Young asked when the Recreation Commission members could expect to publicly refute the report as they were told they could expect to do.

Weighing Whitman grow site

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WHITMAN — Selectmen will again discuss a proposed medical marijuana growing location in Whitman at its next meeting at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 13. Residents are welcome to attend and voice their opinion on the issue.

The proposed location is at 233 Bedford St., behind Sweezey Fence.

“It will be a fully enclosed building — probably a steel building very similar to a commercial garage,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said on Thursday, Dec 1. “It will have security as required by the state”

Ben Smith of Fresh Meadow Farm, who gave a brief review of the process during the Selectmen’s Nov. 15 meeting, will return Dec. 13, asking Selectmen to approve a letter of support or non-opposition regarding the project.

Lynam and Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green are researching the issues pertaining to the town’s obligations and rights should a grow facility be permitted, with the aim of preparing a recommendation for the board.

Lynam stressed that the town is not interested in a dispensary facility.

Medical marijuana dispensaries must be in plain view and people entering must be viewable to passersby to ensure any security issues are obvious, but it is not sufficient to sway Lynam’s opinion of how far the town would be willing to go.

He added that the one call he has received on the issue so far was “emphatically against dispensaries and OK with a grow facility.”

The letter of support or non-opposition is the next step the company, Mission Partners — to be known as Fresh Meadow Farm — must complete toward obtaining a Department of Public Health license. Because they are already in the licensing process, company officials said they qualify for the pool of applicants for a recreational marijuana license, but are now solely focused on the medical-use growing facility they hope to locate in Whitman.

“I would not be surprised to see these folks coming back to expand to the recreational piece once the dust settles on that vote,” Lynam said. “Right now the only regulations out are on medical marijuana, so it’s going to be difficult to determine how to regulate or approve a facility that’s for recreational marijuana.”

He said the grow facility is designed to be unobtrusive — there will be no signs and the hydroponic growing operation will be entirely done inside the building. Air scrubbers would  prevent any odors from reaching neighbors.

Lynam also discussed the future of Whitman’s regional animal control contract with Abington, now that Hanson has opted to withdraw from the erstwhile three-town program.

“The intent to creating a district approach for animal control is to take advantage of the geographical area that encompassed Abington, Whitman and Hanson,” Lynam said. “We recognized at the time we did that, that adding Hanson to the mix was going to significantly increase the area of coverage and we had some concerns about it.”

He said the Whitman-Abington program will continue to be reviewed, adding he tends to measure the success of programs in which Whitman participates by the number of complaints received.

“We have not had any issues either in Whitman or, of late, in Abington,” Lynam said. “I would say so far it appears to be working. I’m going to evaluate that, as we normally would any program, as we move forward in the fiscal year and determine if we have the right staffing and the right coverage.”

Whitman’s part-time animal control officer resigned to attend the academy to become an environmental police officer, leaving  the current animal control officer on call 24/7 to cover both towns, paid on a stipend basis. Calls are prioritized as to level of need.

Hanson Town Administrator Michael McCue had met several weeks ago with Lynam and Abington Town Manager Richard Lafond, at which time the three concluded that either they go in different directions or obtain more funding to hire additional staff. McCue determined Hanson would be better off going solo and the other towns agreed. Hanson Selectmen voted Nov. 29 to appoint Ron Clark as interim animal control officer for Hanson. A permanent position would be posted in the spring.

“Apparently there were issues in Hanson that they feel they were not adequately being provided for and they have requested to be released from the contract early,” Lynam said. “I have no intention of holding anyone captive.”

He said he wishes Hanson well and will bill them only for the period the contract was in force.

Board forges ahead at Kiwanee: Hanson BOS supports McCue interviews for new Recreation Director

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HANSON — The town has reached amicable agreements to part ways with regional contracts for IT and animal control services, but Selectmen are divided on when and how to reappoint a new Recreation Commission.

The latter issue cropped up as Town Administrator Michael McCue reported to the board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Nov. 29 that the town has received eight applications for the Recreation Director job posting, which closes Friday, Dec. 2.

“We have some fairly strong candidates for that position,” McCue said, asking the board for guidance on how best to proceed. “I don’t think we will have a full [Recreation Commission] reconstituted within the next couple of weeks or so … unless the board directs me otherwise, I would like to move forward in bringing these people in for interviewing them.”

McCue said he would like to have a director in place by Jan. 1, 2017.

Selectman Bruce Young then advocated for meeting as soon as possible to reconstitute the Recreation Commission as the board has received seven applications from people interested in serving on the commission.

“The ideal situation would be if we could meet briefly next week to appoint the Recreation Commission, then they could organize and assign a person to sit with [McCue] and go through the process,” Young said. He noted that McCue and that Recreation representative would then conduct the interviews and recommend a couple of candidates to submit to the fully reconstituted Recreation Commission to appoint, as outlined in the Town Administrator Act.

The board voted 5-0 to appoint Selectman Bill Scott to sit in on interviews with McCue in order to prevent a hiring delay that could cause some applicants to withdraw.

Selectmen Kenny Mitchell and Chairman James McGahan advocated that the investigation process completed before sppointing a new commission so the town can move forward.

“The problem I have with it is we’re probably going to expect some input [from the town’s attorney] because we also have a deadline on Nov. 30,” McGahan said of a previous decision to give Recreation Commission members named in Labor Counsel Leo Peloquin’s report time to rebut its findings.

“I don’t want to make any decisions on any Recreation Commission members until after this Camp Kiwanee [investigation] is completely done and over so we can move forward,” Mitchell said. “I want to start fresh — a nice, clean slate.”

Young asked how Mitchell and McGahan thought the investigation could affect a new Recreation Commission.

“You’re talking about appointing a new Recreation Commission,” Young said. “You might end up with two members from the last board, but those members probably weren’t even involved in that whole scenario. … I don’t see that any of the prior people who resigned put applications in.”

“A statement was made when they resigned,” McGahan said. “I’m not going to hurry up and get somebody in just so they can get that position, which is probably just going to sit there and allow Mike to just do the interview.”

Young argued that five or six new people have applied and should have a chance to go through the selection process in order to get the Recreation Commission back to work, noting the Town Administrator act does not give that post appointing authority. McGahan countered that Selectmen had voted to place McCue as the Camp Kiwanee administrator until a new director is hired.

“I don’t have any problem with him being the interim head of the Recreation Department, and I don’t have a problem with him even being a personnel manager and doing the interviews,” Young said. “I do have a problem with circumventing the Town Administrator Act.”

McGahan said he does not believe that is being done.

Contract changes

The contracts Selectmen voted to withdraw from involve an IT services contract with Whitman-Hanson Regional School District and the regional animal control agreement with Whitman and Abington.

McCue said that, in both cases, Hanson’s withdrawal was being done under amicable circumstances. The IT contract, which Selectmen had approved and authorized McCue to sign an amended contract with the school district through the end of the fiscal year. The town will only pay the $37,500 for a nine-month contract with an option for coverage over a full year.

“It’s unfortunate,” McCue said. “I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault. … This gives an awful lot of lead time to figure out what makes sense both in the short term and long term for the town of Hanson.”

McCue said a meeting with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner and members of the district’s IT staff over the current agreement revealed the schools’ in-house demand on that staff has greatly increased, making it difficult to continue serving Hanson’s IT needs as well.

Whitman had gone its own way on IT services four or five years ago, hiring it’s own IT director Josh MacNeil.

“If they’re in a position that they feel they can’t really support us to the degree that I think we were hoping for, it makes sense — and both sides were in agreement on this — that the town of Hanson [should] move in its own direction on this,” McCue said. “They were very generous to let us out of the contract.”

He said either a consultant or a full-time IT person could be budgeted for and he has begun meeting with consultants to gauge the cost involved.

In supporting McCue’s advice that the town should also back away from the regional animal control agreement, Selectmen also voted to appoint Ron Clark as interim animal control officer for Hanson. A permanent position would be posted in the spring.

“I’m certainly a proponent of regional agreements when they make sense,” McCue said. “Unfortunately, this is another instance we’ve run into where the workload has basically surpassed the ability of the staff of the agreement.”

McCue had met several weeks ago with Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam and Abington Town Manager Richard Lafond, at which time the three concluded that either they go in different directions or obtain more funding to hire additional staff. McCue determined Hanson would be better off going solo and the other towns agreed to that.