WHITMAN — After presiding over the swearing-in of a new police chief, deputy chief and police sergeant, Selectmen on Tuesday, Sept. 24 voted 4-0 to support only a statutory-based assessment formula for calculating school budgets.

“This isn’t a way to pick Hanson’s pockets,” said Selectman Randy LaMattina before the 4-0 vote. “This is a way that we should have known about. … I’m not saying anyone is wrong. I don’t know why that is, but I do know we have to fix it.” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski was absent.

But first, there was the matter of promoting three WPD officials to new leadership positions within the department.

Whitman Town Hall Auditorium was filled with family members, friends and colleagues of Police Chief Timothy Hanlon, Deputy Chief Joseph Bombardier and Sgt. Patrick Burtt-Henderson as they were sworn in by Town Clerk Dawn Varley.

New badges were pinned on by Hanlon’s wife Lori; Bombardier’s wife Kim, as his father Paul looked on; and Burtt-Henderson’s wife Chrissie, who was accompanied by his dad Dave.

Hanlon had been appointed as chief by an Aug. 6 vote of the Board of Selectmen, subject to negotiation of a contract. They voted Tuesday to approve that contract and his appointment before Varley, who called her duty a great honor, swore him in.

Each ceremony was followed by warm and enthusiastic applause.

Selectmen had also voted to appoint Bombardier as deputy chief on Aug. 6, also subject to negotiation of a contract, approving his contract and appointment Tuesday.

“Joe and I went to school together,” Varley said before administering his oath. “He’s a year older than me,” she joked, adding, “Joe was always wiser. I’m very, very proud to be swearing you in.”

Burtt-Henderson took his oath of office after Selectmen voted to approve his contract and appointment. His initial appointment, too, had been voted Aug. 6, subject to negotiation of a contract.

Following the promotional ceremonies, Selectmen reconvened in their meeting room to address the balance of their agenda.

The board adjourned before addressing whether to appoint two members to a new regional agreement committee. The School Committee voted to form the panel renegotiating the assessment formula [see related story, page one]. That committee must wait until after Hanson Town Meeting voters decide on an Oct. 7 warrant article on revoking a past vote in support of a revised regional agreement. Whitman Selectmen meet next on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam reported to the board that he and Selectman Randy LaMattina, who chairs the town’s Budget Override Evaluation Committee, have spent a great deal of time working on the issue and communicating with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. LaMattina has also been talking with Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak and School Committee members.

“The district can follow an existing agreement that specifies the way to assess each town for its share of the operating budget, or you can use the statutory method, which from DESE is the preferred method,” Lynam said. “The method that the state intends for regions to use is the statutory method.”

That formula calculates the financial ability of each member town in a district, establishes what the aid for each town will be as the starting point under the statutory formula created as part of the Education Reform Act in 1993. The 1991 agreement calculates assessments based on student population — of which 59.88 percent are from Whitman — under the alternative formula.

“Over the years, we have continued to assess each town based solely on student count,” Lynam said. “It’s not the intent of the statute or the regulations promulgated by DESE.”

He said no matter what formula is selected, it will not change the system, but it will affect the share of the budget borne by each town.

LaMattina said Education Reform set up a situation in which a school district could choose a formula.

“What they said is not incorrect,” he said. “Yes, there is an alternative method. Is that a legal method? Yes, it is. The argument that Whitman is saying is that there are two methods annually … The state actually recommends and puts it in place that makes it impossible not to use the statutory method. It is actually a fallback method when, and if, you ever got to a super town meeting.”

LaMattina said that is because it is the most equitable way to produce a budget for a school district.

“It is a self-correcting method,” he said. “It is adjusted constantly … based on economic factors.”

School Committee member Fred Small helped Whitman officials work through the superintendent’s office to write a letter to DESE seeking clarification on the scope of the 1991 agreement.

“The 1991 agreement does not limit the School Committee to only present the method defined in the agreement,” wrote DESE Director of Regional Governance Christine Lynch. “The School Committee may choose either method.”

LaMattina said town officials have to do what is ethically, legally and morally right for the people of Whitman and their children.

“When you look at what we’re paying over what the state says our minimum contribution should be — we’re $3.7 million over what the state says our minimum contribution should be — and that’s just one factor, then we need to do something or we will not be able to maintain services to where they should be,” he said.

Lynam said there are about 20 financial criteria on which the local contribution is calculated, based on economic conditions in a town, including value of property and median family income, among others.

“The kids that need this aid should get it,” LaMattina said. “That’s what we’re talking about.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson agreed that the board has a fiduciary responsibility to residents to do what is in their best interest. Selectman Dan Salvucci confirmed that South Shore Tech has used the statutory method since1995.

LaMattina said it has less to do with the regional agreement than with equity, as it is an option “open to any town.”

“Every region has had to go through this since the memo in 2007, if not before,” said Selectmen Justin Evans.

Lynch had told him Whitman is, in fact, “a little late to the game with this,” LaMattina said. She also told him “it’s very clear you may have a fight ahead of you, because it’s a one-on-one battle,” he recounted.

Whitman resident Shawn Kain, while agreeing that the statutory method is the way to go, based on the research and methodology, but said he has concerns about the time frame. He cautioned a vote at this time could be viewed in Hanson as an aggressive act.

“Expecting that Hanson could make that jump in one year, is a difficult expectation,” Kain said. “Absorbing $1 million in one year would be difficult.”

He advocated working together to hash out disagreements between the two towns to help stay on good terms with Hanson while the problem is discussed.

Salvucci, while understanding the argument said Whitman has already cut municipal department budgets twice for the fiscal 2020 budget.

“I think the department heads took the bull by the horns and did what they had to do to give the schools what they needed and cut their own budgets,” Salvucci said. “It may be Hanson’s time to do that.”

Evans said he had initially leaned in Kain’s direction, but the rate of Whitman’s assessment increases coupled with Hanson’s student population decline coupled with increasing home values mean the situation is getting worse.

“The longer we delay the deadline, the more difficult it will become.” Evans said.

Small said that, regardless of the funding formula used, the school budget’s bottom line will not change. Budget Override Evaluation Committee member Chris George said the statutory method will be the most equitable way to cut up the school budget.

“I know there are some School Committee members [who] I don’t know where they stand,” George said. “I can tell you, as a citizen, if you’re a School Committee member and you’re considering not voting for the statutory method, you’ve got to think long and hard, because — it’s not a threat, it’s a promise — I’m coming for you with a whole bunch of other residents. We’ve given away $3.9 million since 2015. It’s only going to continue to get worse if we don’t fix it now.”

Evans said adopting the statutory method now helps Hanson by giving them more time to prepare for budget decisions before May town meetings.

“We’re being proactive here,” Bezanson agreed. “We’ve already jumped in with [LaMattina’s] committee. We’re working on the next year, trying to figure out how we’re going to do this. With this we have a clear vision as to how we can approach the next year. … For us not to do this, is suicide for us.”

WHITMAN — Police Chief Scott Benton retires on Monday, Sept. 16 after a 33-year career in law enforcement.

He said he is looking forward to a new era and plans to remain productive however he is looking forward to a greater quantity of downtime.

With two new grandchildren, and another arriving in the coming year, he is looking forward to being a papa along with traveling with his wife Kathie.

His influences in his profession were his father and his uncle who were both police officers, but he didn’t decide until halfway through college to begin his law enforcement career. Benton said from the beginning of his career through the end his clearest intentions were helping others — which drew him to the badge at the start.

“I certainly believe in what a police officer stands for,” Benton said. “You level the playing field on the domestic front- you make it fair for everybody.”

Step by step he climbed the ladder in the Whitman Police department in the community where he grew up. Beginning as an auxiliary officer. In September 1986, to a permanent reserve officer in May 1988 he was a full time patrolman in January 1990 and within two years became the first DARE officer for the Town of Whitman.

He made sergeant in May 1994, detective sergeant in 1997, followed by deputy chief in 2008, and Chief in   2012.

“When they need your help they are usually desperate. It doesn’t need to be a life and death thing but when people come to you (the police) they are looking for your help,” he said.

He has reunited with a few victims over the years who, he recollects, were at a disadvantageous place in their life. The circumstances involving child victims are the ones he will not forget but various occasional triggers evoke memories of other cases from his career.

Like all first responders, being an officer on the street can bring daily occurrences that leave residual emotions inked on the soul.

It has remained an unspoken bond in one particularly horrific domestic case; the victim would likely have been killed if they didn’t reach her on time.

He describes himself as a protective father with an incredible family bond. There were periods of time in their personal lives that he felt his children had endured comments and mistreatment because of his profession. Nonetheless he has no regrets in the choices he has made.

He recalls his own father paying for college while he was a kid cutting classes. He acknowledged that his father gave him a great opportunity to be anything he wanted. In a joking manner he remarked that his father just got smarter and smarter every year. He plans to retire on Sept., 16, that would have been his father’s 80th birthday. He passed away in the fall of 2018.

Benton has witnessed numerous transformations in society over his three decades involving relationships between citizens and officers, one topic of concern he has raised is the use of police body cameras.

“If I was a police officer today I would want to have a body camera to protect myself so that the entire incident was captured,” he said

Based on social media it is unfair of someone to post what they want you to see from an incident that took place- however most of the time that is not the full story.

At the end of the day that’s all we can ever ask for in life is to be treated fairly, he said.

Benton will pass the torch to Deputy Chief Timothy Hanlon also a long time career Whitman officer.

“I was lucky to have Tim (Deputy Chief Hanlon) he has been a great partner in this. He will lead Whitman to its next chapter.   I know he will do a great job. “

In terms of being remembered as chief  Benton said, “I‘d like to think I was a policeman who just happened to become a chief for a little while.”

WHITMAN — The Override Evaluation Committee on Monday, Aug. 26, will be working with retired Duxbury Finance Director John Madden to review current town finances and plan for the future.

Madden, who started in Hingham before working in Plymouth for 17 years before moving on to Duxbury for 12 years, has 31 years of municipal finance experience. He has also worked in the private sector on converting accounting systems for cities and towns across the Commonwealth. He is currently education coordinator for the Mass. Municipal Auditors and Accountants’ Association, which he has also served as president.

He expects to provide a progress report to the town in a couple weeks. In the meantime, the School Committee has also contracted with the Mass. Association of Regional Schools (MARS) to conduct a review of the school district’s finances including minimum local funding of the towns.

“You guys are my primary focus,” Madden said after outlining past work he has done for the town of Rockland, as well as recurring work in Uxbridge, Woburn and Mansfield. “Budgeting had been the greatest aspect of being finance director. That, and forecasting and projecting — I just love that.”

Madden said when he started in Duxbury the town had been using nearly $1.9 million in free cash to balance the budget.

“Once you begin to use free cash for ongoing expenses, then it’s no longer considered free cash,” Madden said. “Eventually, you run out of free cash and the tenor of conversations generally changes.”

He said he has spoken to Finance Committee member Scott Lambiase about what the Override Evaluation Committee is looking into and that he can bring perspective to the process.

Madden said he anticipates working closely with Town Administrator Frank Lynam and in talking with the town accountant and, potentially, the building inspector, assessor, “and anybody else you want me to talk to.”

“I’d be comfortable going back about six years to see changes … just to get a look back,” he said. “What are your trends? Are there any anomalies in there? What has changed and what have you done with those changes?”

He plans to translate those five years into a picture of the current financial situation, as well as a look forward five years.

“We’re having a hard time meeting everyone’s needs,” said Committee Chairman Randy LaMattina. “We have seen the school district suffer [and] we’ve given them a good chunk of money but it doesn’t seem enough.”

He told Madden that, ultimately, the committee was set up to formulate a strategic plan of where the town’s finances will be in five years.

“If we’re going to fix it, we want to fix it now,” with the help of a new set of eyes, LaMattina said.

“I know we can get there,” Madden said. “I know we can develop a working tool.”

To do that, he said he needs to know information, including practices done from routine but not written down, about the town that is different from his experience.

“It’s the nuances of what makes Whitman Whitman that I need to know,” Madden said.

During the meeting Lynam also reported that, in order to fund this fiscal year, $350,000 of what historically has been excess levy capacity was used to fund, among other things, the increase in the WHRSD budget.

“The concern I had expressed at that meeting is that we were using money that we couldn’t readily identify, but we anticipate would be available, and as an offset we did retain free cash available for appropriation in the event that these numbers weren’t there,” Lynam said.

He asked the town accountant to work through the available numbers and with the Department of Revenue to extrapolate what those numbers would be.

The resulting estimate is that $553,000 will be available in the levy capacity when the tax rate is set, however, the $350,000 already used for the school budget represents part of that figure.

“If all of these numbers are supported, we will have an additional levy of $203,000 when we set our tax rate in late October or early November,” Lynam said.

Lynam and Madden will be asked to formalize how that is done, according to LaMattina.

The UMass, Boston Collins Center will present a capital plan for Whitman at a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the Town Hall Auditorium.

HANSON — One search is over. Selectmen on Tuesday, Aug. 20 voted to endorse the recommendation of interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini to hire Greer Getzen of Norfolk to succeed Marini as Executive Assistant to the Board. Getzen accepted the position.

“I just want the board to find a fit for them,” Marini said, noting that the Town Administrator Act calls for her as interim to make a recommendation to them as the relevant board. “I felt that the board needed to have part of the interview process. It’s a really close relationship and I’m not going to be here.”

Marini plans to retire in December so long as a new town administrator is in place by that time.

The board was impressed with Getzen’s experience.

Getzen, who also has experience as an interim town administrator in Dover from 2004-09 and as town administrator until 2018, also has 14 years’ experience as an executive assistant to that town’s Board of Selectmen.

Also interviewing with Selectmen Tuesday were Leanne Monaghan, currently part-time clerk with the Hanson Water Department, and Halifax Assistant Town Treasurer Linda Cole. Both may also be considered for clerical vacancies in Hanson’s Conservation and Planning departments, Selectmen said.

The three finalists were all recommended for interviews after Marini, Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett and Selectman Kenny Mitchell independently reviewed résumés of 36 applicants.

“I’ve been told that there’s some concern regarding the posting process,” Marini said before Tuesday’s interviews began. She said that, in compliance with general bylaws, an internal posting was done two weeks ahead of public posting, with preference in the process given to town employees.

Department heads and Marini — in the capacity as town administrator — reviewed the applications before she, FitzGerald-Kemmett and Mitchell made their recommendations for which candidates should sit for final interviews. Mitchell and Marini interviewed five people Tuesday, Aug.13.

“I think this is the first time we’ve ever done this that Laura, Kenny and I went through them — at different times — and all picked the exact same people,” Marini said.

Getzen had begun her career as a paralegal and then worked for Legal Aid, assisting low-income people with applications for federal benefits before becoming an executive assistant with the town of Natick from 1995 to 2004. She took the position of administrative assistant to the Dover Board of Selectmen in 2004, where she worked until leaving to become project/procurement specialist for the town of Westford in 2018.

“I found local government really fascinating and important,” she said. “Over time the selectmen grew to trust [me and the town administrator] and grew very comfortable with us. We were the first administrator and assistant who were there for a long term, before that it was three years and out. We were used as a stepping-stone.”

She admitted her departure from Dover was prompted by a selectman’s campaign platform of “out with the old, in with the new” and she was concerned she would be painted with that brush.

“I’m not sure what the reason was, but I just felt the language was on the wall, she said. Westford was not a good fit, she said, as she was seeking “a real executive assistant position” and the more clerical role she walked into “bored me to death,” Getzen said.

“I have a broad range of skills and experience,” she said.

Selectmen were impressed with both her skills and candor.

“You’ve explained very clearly why you left your current position and you come to us highly recommended,” said Selectman Wes Blauss. “My only concern is I had to go on Google Maps — where is Norfolk?”

He wondered about Getzen’s ability to contend with the commute, especially in winter.

“I am not afraid to drive and I have a good four-wheel-drive vehicle,” she said. “For me, it’s not a problem.”

Marini said that, as long as the board was comfortable with any of the finalists, Getzen got her nod because Getzen has the skills and experience to take the executive assistant position before a new town administrator was chosen.

“We asked her about how she feels about taking the job and not knowing who the boss was going to be,” Marini said. “We asked everyone the same question. It wasn’t going to be a problem for any of them.”

Marini agreed that Getzen came highly recommended.

“I thought all three were excellent,” said Selectman Jim Hickey, who noted he felt unprepared to comment further as he had just met all three candidates, but that he would cast a vote.

Getzen was Mitchell’s front-runner.

“But if you told us you couldn’t take the job, I’d be fine with the other two,” he said.

“I really was looking for somebody with municipal experience,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Perhaps the other two … would be excellent here [for other vacancies]. I don’t want to be in a position where we would want to have another interim town administrator — I’m hoping this is the last time we ever have to do that — but if we don’t, I think this woman could step right in and do the job. That, for me, is compelling.”

A Plymouth resident who has worked at the Water Department since 2013, Monaghan pointed to her knowledge of Hanson and her possession of the skills required for the job as reasons she would be the best candidate. She has also worked for Analytical Balance in Middleborough coordinating the sampling and testing for public and private water supplies, and performed similar duties at GeoLabs in Braintree before that.

Hanson resident Cole said her range of experience working for the town of Halifax for 20 years has prepared her for the executive assistant role. She began work in Halifax in a clerical role for the Town Clerk/Treasurer’s office in 1995.

HANSON — It happened when they were on an errand to buy their daughter a dress in January 2018. Christine and James Guindon found something else that caught their eye that day — the former East Washington Street School in Hanson, which had stood empty and unused for nearly 20 years.

For a couple searching for a location in which to expand an early childhood education business, it was just about what they were looking for, and about a year later workmen began renovation.

Buzz around town began soon thereafter.

“I think it’s been a source of curiosity for a lot of people,” Christine said of the reaction to the activity surrounding the building since the Guindons bought the former elementary school at 195 East Washington St.

“Everybody drives by,” James agreed.

Christine is the owner/director of The Learning Well Early Child Education Center at 91 Copeland St., in West Bridgewater and James is a roofer who also does slate and copper work. They had transformed a former church — in a renovated farm building — into The Learning Well and were looking to expand because waiting lists for the school were becoming longer.

The Hanson location already has a waiting list for infants. Christine Guindon said the aim is to have the main floor ready for inspection and, ultimately, opening in November while James continues finish work on the basement level.

“I just really want the town to be proud of it,” she said. “I want it to be a really neat part of the community, and I want people in the community and the surrounding towns to come and enjoy the programs and to utilize it because it’s so unique.”

She opened the West Bridgewater facility in 2016 after she had run a day care out of her home for 10 years, while her children were small and finding available day care had proven difficult for her.

“It’s an important part of a family nowadays, they’re looking for a place where their children will be safe,”

The Learning Well offers a year-round program serving 60 children in 45 families. On a visit to the West Bridgewater School on Friday, Aug. 2, preschoolers were learning about Oktoberfest and other cultural traditions during a unit on Germany as hand-painted German Flags were strung along one end of the class. Younger students in another class were finishing a unit on France before moving on to Italy.

The Guindons had never been to Hanson before that fateful shopping trip, James said, but both had the same reaction to seeing the building — it was perfect for their plans.

“It had been sitting and all the paint from the ceiling was on the floor,” Christine noted. “You really had to see past the bad condition it was in.”

Their two sons have been working on the renovation and her three daughters are teachers at the West Bridgewater location.

“We have a vision for here,” Christine said, noting she would be able to offer two classrooms for each age group she serves in Hanson, compared with the one for each possible in West Bridgewater.

The Hanson neighbors were happy to hear of their plans, Christine said, and they turned out to support the project at public hearings before zoning officials.

A handicapped ramp will be added on one side of the building, and special-order windows to replace the original windows will be installed — but they had to be reordered when the wrong size was initially delivered.

“We have viewing windows [in the hallways], because I am a firm believer that parents, families and people who are touring can see our programs,” Christine said.

The main floor will be divided by age groups with infants to age 2.9 in four different classrooms and preschoolers in a larger class in the basement, along with a gross motor skills/indoor play area and large bathrooms. Classrooms on the main floor also have bathrooms.

“If you’re not in the field you don’t really understand what goes into making a program that fits all ages,” she said. “I surround myself with great people who know what they are talking about, who have taught me so many things.”

Christine said the financial investment has been “much more than anticipated,” mainly due to abatement, removal of oil tanks in the basement, and installation of drainage and a new five-foot thick cement floor in the basement as well as the handicapped ramp and a wheelchair lift.

“I think it was something meant for us,” James said. “I think history in towns is getting lost. You can go through every single town and see buildings being taken down.”

While this school is not historic, he noted the architectural details such as the huge windows are not common these days.

“When we started this program, the biggest thing to me was trying to keep local people involved in it,” James said. “I thought it was important that the towns around it actually did the work.”

Jeff Shaw, “an excellent site man who didn’t kill me on costs” is a local businessman.

“I hope that the community or the town will want to maybe use this space,” she said, noting the basement room would be good for dance or karate classes — or even birthday parties for children who attend the day care.

James took five months to plan the project and gave priority to Hanson companies for subcontracting work on the school.

“The biggest challenge is the one in front of you,” he said, noting that the project’s standing costs for construction are on-target, but other “soft” cost, such as replacing bricks at the back of the school, were unexpected.

He has done a lot of restoration work, including the roof of the Tremont Street Church in Boston — which had been sold and converted to condos — as well as the Mt. Auburn Street Church in Arlington.

Several people they know, from business contacts to family members had passed the school building in the past, but he and Christine had never been to Hanson.

He also noted that a neighbor on one side of the school used to play football with him at Plymouth State — and they hadn’t seen each other since high school. Another man, now living in Washington, D.C., came to visit the building because he had gone to school there and was revisiting his former hometown.