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Public slighted by secret hiring

By Staff | May 6, 2012

Look for puffs of white smoke to float above Brookline’s town hall in late May. That’s when the secret conclave of selectmen expect to choose a town administrator.

Until then, the process remains off limits to town residents because, in the words of selectmen’s Chairman Clarence Farwell, to involve the public would be “asking for a disaster.”

It must be comforting to the good people of Brookline to know their elected officials hold their opinions in such high regard.

Unfortunately, such a decision comes as no surprise because, after all, Brookline doesn’t have the best reputation for transparency. Indeed, that’s one of the big reasons why Brookline is hiring a town administrator in the first place.

It recognized a need to improve openness and communication among the Board of Selectmen, town departments and the public. To now banish the public from the actual decision-making process is not merely ironic, it’s arrogantly cynical.

It’s instances like these when public officials need to be reminded they aren’t board members of a private company. Nor are they oligarchs invested with insular rights and privileges.

Elected to office by their constituents, selectmen are entrusted to serve the best interests of the people of their community. Above all else, that means being open, honest and forthcoming about the town’s business, which, of course, is really the people’s business.

It’s a mockery of this moral imperative for Brookline selectmen to exclude all public participation in the selection of the town’s first administrator out of some irrational fear of a potential “disaster,” whatever that hysterical reference is supposed to mean.

We’re not talking about people being massacred or homes being destroyed. We’re asking for Brookline residents to be treated with a modicum of respect. Apparently, that’s too much to ask from this board of elected representatives.

It is common practice in New Hampshire and across the country for school boards, city councils, town boards and other elected bodies to release the names of at least the top three finalists for administrative positions, such as school superintendents, city managers and town administrators. We couldn’t find evidence of a single cataclysmic event.

Indeed, it is such a common practice that municipal administration candidates expect their names to be released if they make it to the final cut. In many cases, candidates appreciate the opportunity to meet with the people they could be serving because it helps them gain a better understanding of the community.

Even limited access can be a good first step in establishing a relationship of trust between the administrator and the people who will be calling him or her when something goes wrong.

Perhaps most disappointing about the decision of Brookline’s selectmen to behave as a papal conclave is that it squanders a good opportunity for a fresh start.

By at least releasing the names of the finalists, the selectmen would signal they understand, appreciate and respect the reasons they’re hiring an administrator in the first place.

One of the new administrator’s crucial first goals will be to establish a cooperative relationship with town residents. That task will be made much easier if it begins sooner rather than later.

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