Friday, May 10, 2013
David Mancuso was appointed to the board Tuesday night, and will take Marsie West's seat.
David Mancuso ran for the RMLD Board of Commissioners in this year's election, but did not win. However, he was appointed to the board Tuesday evening and will be a member until 2015. There was an open seat on the Board of Commissioners as Marsie West had to step down after being elected to the Board of Selectmen. Mancuso was appointed to the board by both the selectmen and existing commissioners Tuesday. Mancuso served as a regional vice president for external affairs for a Fortune 50 company and has experience in strategic planning; executive, legislative and regulatory branches of government; and the oversight of municipal community affairs, he said. He has served as the vice chairman of the Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and is a …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
And other news from Tuesday night's selectmen meeting.
Future Reading preschoolers and kindergarteners from the Eaton and Barrows Elementary School may one day have a school of their own. The School Committee and Board of Selectmen are working to buy the building at 172A Woburn St., next to St. Agnes Church, for that purpose. The School Committee voted this fall to offer free, full day kindergarten to all Reading kindergartners at an unspecified future date and has been looking for space for those students. The purchase price for the Woburn Street building: $1.4 million. The building would also need renovation. No estimate of the cost per taxpayer was given Tuesday night at a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee. To calculate that figure, you’d have to know the total …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
New selectmen sworn in. Selectmen also learn comment deadline for Post Office proposal.
Should senior staff rotate into the position of general manager of a town department while the department looks to fill the top job? With an interim general manager in place? Two selectmen and the town manager questioned the vote taken by the Reading Municipal Light Department Board of Commissioners last month to do just that. After consulting with town counsel, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner told the selectmen he considers the light board vote “null and void” because it violates two protocols. But Hechenbleikner is not responsible for the charter as it applies to the light department, he elaborated to Patch yesterday. However, "I feel responsible" to voters, the writers of the charter and as a town resident, he continued, "to make the …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Also: Selectmen recognize two outgoing board members.
The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to support the filing of a Statement of Interest, the first step for potential partial funding from the state School Building Authority, to replace the original, 40-plus-year-old single-pane non-insulated classroom windows at the Killam Elementary School. Killam is also experiencing short-term enrollment growth, according to the statement. In addition, more students are enrolled in full-day kindergarten and require special education service. So, the school “has had to consolidate art and music into one classroom and consolidate special education program space to make classrooms available for core academic instruction.” As a result, “At least one grade level will have sub-optimal class sizes due to the …
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Daniel Ensminger, Mark Jackson and Marsie West vie for two seats.
If you could change anything about Reading, what would you change? What’s the biggest challenge facing the town – and how would you address it? The three candidates for two open seats on the Board of Selectmen faced a dozen questions, including those two, during an hour-long forum Monday night, organized and televised by Reading Community TV. The candidates are Daniel Ensminger, Mark Jackson and Marsie West. Their names appear in that order on the April 2 town election ballot. Neither Stephen Goldy nor Rick Schubert is running for reelection. A summary of the candidates’ answers to some of the questions follows, in the order in which the candidates answered the questions. The town’s biggest challenge? Ensminger wants to maintain what …
Monday, March 18, 2013
West is a 19-year resident and current member of the RMLD Board of Commissioners.
Marsie West, 19-year Reading resident, is running for one of the two open seats on the Board of Selectmen. West is currently on the RMLD Board of Commissioners, but has accomplished what she ran for, she said. West is currently the Assistant Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at John Hancock and formerly worked at BNY Mellon. She has been involved in town government for 10 years. She sat on the Finance Committee for nine years and served as chair for the last two. Over the past year, she has been a member of the RMLD Board of Commissioners. She felt strongly about the RMLD Board of Commissioner's decision to retire, rather than sell, their Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), which is why she opted to run for the board. RMLD has …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Daniel Ensminger will be one of three candidates on the ballot.
Daniel A. Ensminger is running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen, but this will not be his first time. Ensminger was a selectman from 1989 through 1998 and, if elected, plans to bring leadership to a young board, he said. Given that the town manager is retiring in June and there were two open seats on the board, Ensminger considered running. He thought his experience on the board may “come in handy.” After a friend suggested he run, he gave the thought more consideration and decided to pull papers. Ensminger has a PhD in computer and systems engineering and is an engineer by trade. He retired in 2009, but in his most recent position worked as an IT manager for American Student Assistance where he managed 40 system analysts. He has been …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Also: Residents oppose parking change on Woburn Street.
Now there are three finalists for town manager and one of the trio is a familiar face: assistant Town Manager and Finance Director Robert LeLacheur. The Town Manager Screening Committee has also named John D’Agostino, town manager in Abington, and Kerry Speidel, Lunenburg’s town administrator, as finalists. The Board of Selectmen will interview the three finalists individually, in public, this coming Tuesday, March 5, starting at 6 p.m. The position will open when town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner retires this spring. He has held the job for more than a quarter of a century. Board of Selectmen Chairman Stephen Goldy wants the selectmen to choose a new town manager on March 19, the last scheduled board meeting before the town election April…
Friday, January 4, 2013
Selectman Stephen A. Goldy will not run for re-election this April.
- GOVERNMENT
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Friday, January 4
The following was submitted by Stephen A. Goldy: Dear Neighbors, Thank you all for allowing me to serve you for the past seven years. I ran for the Board of Selectmen in 2006 to help make some positive changes in Reading. I truly believe we as a community have made great changes and significantly improved our community. I have decided not to run for re-election on April 2, 2013. The reasons are actually quite simple. First, I want and need to spend more time with my family. My job requires me to travel a fair amount and over the past year when I am home my daughters routinely ask, “Are you going out to another meeting tonight.” I realized that I am not home more than I am home and I do not want to be absent for the important times …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Also: Selectmen review Town Meeting warrant; police department earns certification.
Residents of Reading who might want to sit on the screening committee for a new town manager, now’s the time to apply. The committee will screen resumes and candidates for a manager to succeed Peter Hechenbleikner, who has held that position for 26 years. He will retire this coming June 1. The selectmen established the screening committee Tuesday. It will comprise seven members: two selectmen, the superintendent of schools, a representative from the town’s Finance Committee, a town department head and two members of the public. The selectmen will appoint the committee members on Nov. 20. The selectmen will make the final hiring decision. The selectmen are working with consultant Richard Kobayashi from the Edward J. Collins, Jr., Center …
Brandon Chapman
2:54 pm on Friday, May 10, 2013
Congrats to Mr. Mancuso on his appointment. I'm sure he'll be a valuable addition. I'd also like to commend the Board of Selectmen and the RMLD Commissioners for exercising due diligence in the selection process. It's important that the citizens of Reading (and RMLD customers) get the best possible candidate to serve on the B of C, and a thorough vetting process is crucial to that end. more ›