good afternoon I now call the appointments committee meeting of Tuesday July 30th 2024 at 4 p.m. to order I'd like the clerk to uh note that chair tyros councelor Heath councelor heglin and Katie from mayor's office are present is anybody recording today's meeting there are none reading a minutes prior meeting we have none interview of the following appointees a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Brandon Huey to the position of Youth commission member for term expiring August 1st 1st 201 27 uh Mr Huey if you uh mind coming up councelor Heath yes I would um have to abstain from this interview due to me being on the committee thank you [Music] councel report from the mayor's office Mr Brandon huy is a gardener resident who has been very active in the community having previously served as an elementary school teacher in Gardener public schools and in his current position as executive director of the Gardner Boys and Girls Club Mr Huey brings a key perspective on how to best engage the city's youth population in talking and working with Mr Huey he is a Clear Vision for where he would like to see the city move forward and understands that in order to have a strong future for the city we need to invest in our children and have and youth population who will be the leaders to carry the city forward later on I very happy to put this appointment forward for the Youth commission to try to get the commission back up and running and active in the city the mayor fully supports this appointment thank you very much and Mr H if you'd like to introduce uce yourself um I am Brandon huy and I am the director of The Gardener Boys and Girls Club um I taught for eight years in Gardener um and yeah like Mike says I'm I'm very dedicated to making sure that the youth and garden are um put first in the city so um I'd like to have a larger role in that and be part of this committee thank you very much Council uh just one quick question for you um is there any particular aspect of your vision or goals for this committee or programs you'd like to see come back or continue or new ones I think to get a great idea of that I'd like to I'd like to um meet with the committee and see what the committee's vision is and work with what we've got um I'd like to know um you know what are some things that we've done in the past what are some things that we could do in the future um are really really going to depend on on what we've what we've already accomplished as a committee and I'd like to meet the members of the committee to be able to put forth a vision like that but um yeah that's where I stand on that no thank you I appre I think you're School teaching experience the boys and girls club plus you're a parent I think it's all good experience and defitely makes you qualifi maybe uniquely qualified for the whole so thank you for your interest right thank you and also thank Mr H for his interest and I'd like to thank the mayor for working to fill this committee as uh as Katie had said trying to get this committee back up and running in the community because it does uh pay dividends to have a youth commission that's active that we haven't had in years past in Garner so they also thank you for stepping up for your community again Mr Huey I have no further questions I thank you for for coming today thank you can I ask one favor yes would you mind knocking on the door for counselor Item B A measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Corey hasselman the position of director of veteran services dur ter expiring August 1st 2025 report from the mayor's office you council members Mr has worked with the city as the city's assistant director of V veteran services for a little over a year his office has minimum Staffing levels that are set by the general laws by the general laws of the Commonwealth based on the number of residents living within the service District that we provide currently the city provides veteran services to the city of Gardner in the towns of Ashburnham Westminster Ashby and Princeton director housan is a gardener resident who grew up in the city and current currently lives here with his wife and family he is a veteran of the US Marine corpse and serves the veteran community of the area in various roles and positions with Disabled American Veterans and as the chair of the gardener veteran Council he also recently recognized with a quilt of veiler for his work serving the area's veterans the mayor fully supports this spr thank you very much director hman would you like to introduce yourself to the committee yes sir uh so I'm Cory hman bring core veteran as the mayor said um I currently reside in Gardener and U me and my family just bought a home two and a half years ago um I I believe I'm well versed in the needs of the veterans of the community I have been uh actively involved even before I got this position in Gardener veterans I was I'm a big uh supporter advocate of the disabled American veterans I worked with them before I got this job um I'm still very involved with the nonprofits in the area MV VFW all that um to make sure the veterans are getting their needs and I believe uh that makes me qualifi for this position thank you very much councelor Heath um thank you uh I'm sorry I was just sitting here reading everything um you've been here for 2 and 1 half years a resident uh in my home yes um I lived here before that as well for um close to 2 years and then as a kid uh I lived in Garder and around the surrounding cities awesome awesome I just I was well and that was I'm very impressed on the fact that you know being here wanting to get involved and such and I mean you know thank you for your services I should have start off with that right there but I mean I think it's great and I mean reading this hearing this and you know it's very um uh Noble of you to even want to even step into such a role so I just want to say thank you thank you I appreciate that as well thank you Council he Council thank you Mr chairman thank you uh for your service as well for your interest in this position and for your commitment to our veterans um you've sort of been in the role for a little bit yes so how's that been any hurdles how's the dayto day um be seeing there's a a couple changes from assistant director um obviously there's a lot more budget things I have to have my hands in them before um but the dayto day is exactly what I was hoping for which is serving veterans um I mean before coming up here unfortunately I had a a a widow um who just lost the veteran and hearing her story and helping her through this is what I do and um that hasn't changed and I um never will based off of the climate um of the veteran Community unfortunately and um yeah I I and I'm not afraid to take on those director specific roles I mean I used to be a manager for bank so budgets are nothing intimidating for me or anything so it's um yeah good thank you appreciate it that's it for me thank you thank you for your service Marine Corps um always encouraged to hear younger Generations coming back to Garder and serving their Community Garder it's a a long proud history supporting its veterans have always been impressed by the uh ceremonies and uh Honors that you put on and you'll work with the D and mbok I think is excellent um because the veteran services serves not only Gardener but the surrounding towns as the mayor um as Katie um reported would you mind just speaking to how that works just for the Public's awareness cuz it is kind of a unique uh Arrangement and I think it's good a good one for the community of course absolutely um so I'm not sure how much specifics I'm just briefly okay um so we cover four other towns other than Gardner um as Katie had mentioned and the veterans from those communities whenever they reach out to their City Town Hall um they refer to us here in Gardner we work with them um Case by case so obviously we have some veterans who are on the older side you know World War II Vietnam dealing with certain issues they they not mobile uh I do home visits to make it easier for them or I meet them at their local city hall so that way they're not struggling to try to get to to Gardener um we administer their chapter 115 the their City pays for it but we manage it we put in um the requests get the reimbursements and everything we order the Memorial Day Flags basically everything we do for Garder um for those local veterans um it just makes it easier that they don't need to hire those cities don't need to hire a full-time director uh since they're population is is smaller than than gardeners excellent thank you for that um that's exactly what I was looking for um I have no further questions any further questions for no fur questions thank you very much for your time thank you the next item is a measure to firming the mayor's appointment of Amanda Morris is the position of Director of Human Resources for term expiring August 1st 2027 report from mayor's office director Morris comes to comes to the city with an extensive background in human resource work prior to her work working for the city she served in director and manager roles in human resource departments for close to 14 years during this time she oversaw human resource human resource work for construction manufacturing and healthc care companies in these experiences she worked to develop and execute various new strategies and policies manage benefit programs work with insurance companies and claims and work on training and compliance with state and federal employment regulations during her probationary period I have been very impressed with her work with the work she has already accomplished with the city in terms of updating systems and working with our employees on individual basis our unions and other complex issues that have Arisen the mayor fully supports this appointment thank you very much director Morris if you like to introduce yourself U my name is Amanda Morris um I've been um in this position for about 2 and a half months now um I've been in human resource like you said a little over 13 years now going on 14 um in a variety of different environments um started a drug and alcohol rehab center then moved to a um Human Service Agency for adults with disabilities um shortly manufacturing construction um you know My People Are People regardless of of the industry or where you are so um I try and be a good advocate for the city and the employees um every every day something different so right now I'm just learning the ropes um of the city looking at different processes um systems how can I improve things um and then dealing with the day-to-day issues that arise thank you very much yeah thank you Mr chairman um so thank you for your t hot on so far I Hope they've been okay um how's the shift been from sort of more private to Municipal feel okay with things you said you're learning some ropes yes yes um interesting um there's a lot of things I I want to change quickly um so taking a step back in and knowing the process um and that sometimes it takes a little longer to make these changes and go through the proper channels um I have done a lot of um everything's pretty much selftaught up until this point um so it's been a little challenging I've been just as situations arise pulling old files pulling policies um just taking time to learn what needs to be done so um slow but I I think I'm doing a good job um from what I hear thank you appreciate it excellent uh thank you Mr chairman um hello again hi um you know I just want to say um thank you first cuz I think I ran into you the first week that you were in stepped in the office and I introduced myself and everything else and you welcom me with open arms and I was you know welcoming you in and um I know you came into a position where you know like the city had you know the previous person was in there for a very long time mhm and you know so you have some big shoes to fill and everything as such and I know she helped with the transitioning and everything else um and how are you doing now with everything now that you're the training wheels are off kind of um yeah so every day I learn something something new um my first two months I think I had like 40 hires between the summer wreck program and the DPW and so I'm a pro at hiring um I know all the ins and outs of that right now um I've sat in a few Union negotiations so you know every time I do something I'm just taking notes um I'm creating my own Sops so if the situations arise again I can refer to that um you know all the department heads have been amazing to work with they've all um I mean everyone's been so welcoming and helpful so any needs I have you know I just pick up the phone and um pull some files and go with the flow uh that's definitely awesome and then um I just had another question I just forgot what I was going to ask you but the um I forgot what I was going ask you that's all right it was I don't think it was anything too important if I forgot I'm right here if you remember so I think that's all thank you yeah no problem thank you moris and you um you actually kind of still some of my thunder cuz I was going to congratulate you on that hiring cuz I've just been blown away by how many how many roles we've been able to fill and I think it's been noticeable throughout the city when you drive around um especially in the Department of Public Works um so thank you for that I think it was much needed um understanding that you know Human Resources can be a bit um um confidential at times are there certain areas where you're especially got your eye on to improve in terms of I you'd said you're you're making your own SOS standard operative procedures yes um so I would love to see system upgrades so we have the capabilities of going electronic with a lot of forms and a lot of um processes that we do not currently um when I came I was actually pretty shocked at the amount of paper that gets passed around and hard signatures um so that is one of my number one things I'm trying to implement is you know how can we make things um not more cost I mean not only more cost effective but I mean cost effective time you know save time save all kinds of resources um so I've been working on that um creating some new policies I hope to put in front of the council soon um so definitely modernizing and and getting up to the times a little bit has been a good Focus AB obviously confidentiality has a lot to do with um files so you have to be very cautious um of the system Cas capabilities who has access to the files so I'll work with um you know Bob and it and make sure everything's secure as it needs to be in order to do that before we move forward that it's great to hear and I'm happy to hear the positive report from the mayor uh just 60 days in and I look forward to um you know when we have this conversation again in 2027 look forward to things thank you appreciate that thanks uh you can stay there for a second though because um you are also a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Amanda Morris to the position of disability commission member for a term expiring August 1 2027 report from the mayor's office chapter 62 of the code of the city of Gardner therefore entitled disability commission requires that one official of the city who is either elected or appoint or appointed serve as a member of the city C's disability Commission Section 2i of chapter 113 of the code of the city of Gardner there city of Gardner thereof entitled human resource department requires that this individual be the city's Director of Human Resources for all the reasons listed above for the position of Director of Human Resources I am happy to put forward director Mo's forward for this appointment thank you very much the mayor fully supports us thank you uh director Morris would like to briefly comment on this specific um appointment yes so I have not heard um a lot about this commission with the city I'll be very forward with that so I do need to look into that more um I do have extensive training through the Massachusetts commission against um disability have taken their mcad multiple trainings um I've done trainings throughout the year so I'm I'm more than comfortable um taking the seat uh just for my notes um to report on later it was the Massachusetts Commission of commission of uh disability of disability okay thank you and it was an mcad mcad yes mcad thank you very much any questions from um thank you um chair I really don't have any questions I just I'm happy with the fact that you're appointed in the fact that you do have experience and such so I'm pretty sure once you go ahead and learn more about it we'll learn more about it y absolutely thank you similarly just I think between some of your us human resource those disabilities your training just mention so excited to have you on the commission that'll be great and and just briefly I know we've uh as a committee uh appointed other members of the disability commission had good conversations about areas in the city that we can be better so I'm flly toig of training and I fully support this uh this appointment so thank you great thank you now I can let you thank you thank you uh next item in business is a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Richard Hanks to the position of zoning Board member for a term expiring August 1 2027 report from the mayor's office Mr Hanks is a Garder resident who has had extensive experience and working with building projects through his role as the Building Commissioner for several different communities and also served as the intern Building Commissioner for the city between Commissioners jean and zupa in my experience working with Mr Hanks I saw he has a Clear Vision for the work he did while remembering that sometimes the letter of the law and the spirit of the law have to meet in the middle when a project has Merit as someone with extensive knowledge about the Massachusetts building code and the zoning laws of both the city and of the Commonwealth I think he will serve as a vital member of the this board with the recent expansion of the membership of the zoning board of appeals from three members to five members Mr Hanks will be taking on one of the newly created full-time roles on the board the mayor fully supports us approv thank you very much councilor HEI um obviously um thank you chair obviously Mr HKS isn't here to go ahead and um you know talk for himself however I actually had to run in with Mr Hanks um a couple years ago it was April I just remember because there was certain there was an issue that happened with a cons situate house being sold house being bought and everything else this was in between the um before Mr Zer came in so he was the acting and um he helped me go ahead and help two people get their homes by helping an issue you know not to get into details but you know got to me I get to speak to Mr Hanks and um you know I'm really happy to see the fact that he Circle back to one of that is all thank you thank you councelor councel HG uh thank you Mr chairman um likewise it would have been great to have seen him today but I think his experience um working with the building commissioner office here and in other communities is going to give him really good insight and and experience for this position so I think I look forward to seeing him serve in this role and uh you know I want to thank Mr Hanks for for stepping up for his community again um you know he served in various different roles for Gardener in the past and this is uh also an interesting appointment because it is with the recent expansion of the zda to from 3 to five members um this creates a new opportunities for discussion and debate on that board so um I appreciate appreciate the mayor for putting forward Mr hanks's appointment any further discussion questions thank you next end in business is a measure of confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert Rice to the position of alternate zoning Board member for a term expiring August 1st 2025 report for mayor's office attorney rice has been a very active member of The Gardener Community as a former attorney former director of the Lei Haywood Memorial Library former state representative for the area former member of the most recent City Charter Review Committee and a member of the Williams Rockwell education gift fund he knows Gardner and its people and will bring a tremendous perspective in this role this appointment fills a vacant alternative alternate position that was created when Mr mroy cornet was appointed to a full-time member of the zoning board of appeals with the recent increase from 3 to five members of the zoning board of appeals I do believe it I do believe it prudent to add additional alter alternate positions to the board to ensure full coverage with the larger membership however this appointment is being put forward to fill an existing alternate vacancy and any further additions would be proposed at a later date Mr David ana ana currently holds the other alternate position for the zoning board board of appeals the mayor fully supports us pointment thank you for the report Katie any questions from the committee no questions name just like to thank uh attorney rice um time and time again he stepped up and um taken on yet another role for this community um and this is this is an important one to have an alternate and a full board on the TVA um so I appreciate the mayor you know not only proposing um the changes to the zba but also following through and and filling roles that he created um for the alternative and full-time membership editions any further questions have nothing thank you next item of business measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Chris Casey to the position of Bandstand Committee Member for their term expiring June 25th 2027 report from the mayor's office Miss Casey's appointment comes as the recommendation of the current members of the city's bansang committee she has been a con presence in the city's annual summer concert series and has volunteered help has volunteered her help on occasion with the work of the committee this volunteer committee makes the city's annual summer concert series possible through Gathering donations to cover 100% of the cost of the concert making it so that the concert series does not concert series does not have any burden on the city's annual operating budget all the members of this committee are very dedicated in its Hands-On work that they do every that they do every year for the city and I believe that Miss Casey will be a great addition to this team team the mayor holy Sports ISP thank you for that report any questions from the committee I was going to ask her a favorite show but it'll have to wait I have none and I just want to emphasize that this is a volunteer committee that that does do a lot of work an area of town that I think is um um really becoming a gem with Park Street Park right next to it and soon to be renovated um outdoor uh pool area with the indoor pool Greenwood more a pool being torn down in the construction of Pavilion I think uh you know we're seeing a farmers market used in that Park uh regularly and I think the BST committee is going to get only busier so I appreciate the time committed by that commit those committee members um any further questions all right St on business in the last interview a measure confirming the mayor's reappointment of Raymond Leon to the position of zoning Board member for term expiring August 1st 27 report from the mayor's office Mr lefon currently serves as the chair of the City Zoning Board of Appeals and has been a member of this board for the last 44 years during during his more than four Decades of service in this position he has brought valuable experience and discussion forward to the board of their deliberations he has a very extensive knowledge of the commonwealths and the city zoning laws through the hours of training and experiences that he has had during this time I very happy to put forward this reappointment and believe that his service in this position to be there best interest of the city thank you very much Katie um I just 44 years have to emphasize enough how much um how committed to guarding to the fond any questions from this committee no that says it all that says it all and this uh this a reappointment uh to zba again um to to make it a full board um so I have no further questions um and I just thank Mr Leon for for going at it another year so thank you uh next admin business resignations uh does the mayor's office uh have any resignations to share mind do not thank you next item discussion on appointees interviewed uh a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Brandon hes the position of Youth commission member for ATT expiring August 1st 2027 I'd like to move to recommend confirmation of the mayor's cointment second motion made in second uh for confirmation Council I have to actually abstain from this vote thank you Council thank you uh motion made in second to recommend the May's appointment all those in favor say I I all those opposed no motion passes oh uh a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Corey hasselman to the position of director of veteran services for a term expiring August 1st 25 councelor heglin uh move to recommend this appointment as presented second motion made by councelor heglin and second um seconded by councelor Heath to recommend mayor's appointment all those in favor uh sorry is there discussion all those in favor I all this oppos motion passes next item meic confirm the May's clment Amanda Morse the position of Director of Human Resources for term expiring August 1st 2027 councelor he move to recommend this appointment has presented as well second motion made by councelor heglin second and by councelor Heath to recommend the mayor's appointment is there discussion all those in favor I I all those oppos no motion passes measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Amanda Mor to the position of disability commission member for term expiring August 1st 2027 move to recommend this uh confer made dis appointment as presented second motion made by councelor heglin seconded by councelor Heath to recommend the mayor's appointment is there discussion all those in favor I all those oppos no motion passes the measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Richard Hanks the position of Zoning Board member for term expiring August 1st 20127 move to recommend this appointment as presented second motion given by councelor heglin second councelor Heath to recommend the May's appointment is their discussion all those in favor I I all those opposed no motion passes measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert Bry to the position of alternate zoning Board member for a term expiring August 1st 2025 Mr chairman I have move to recommend this appointment as presented second thank you councelor heglin motion made by councelor hegan second by councelor Heath to recommend the May's appointment is there discussion all those in favor I all those oppose motion passes the measure confirming the May's appointment of Chris KC to the position of b stand Committee Member for term expiring June 25th 2027 Mr chairman uh move to recommend this appointment as presented second motion made by councelor Hegman second by councelor Heath to recommend the mayor's appointment is their discussion all those favor I I all those oppose no motion passes a measure confirming the mayor's reappointment of Raymond Leon to the position of Zoning Board member for ter expiring August 1st 2027 Mr chairman I Mo we recommend this appointment as presented second motion made by councilor Hein second by coun councelor Heath recommend the mayor's appointment is there discussion all those in favor I I all those oppos no motion passes um referrals from Full Council we have none entertain a motion to adjourn motion made by councelor Heath second by councelor heglin to adjourn all those in favor I I all those oppos no motion passes We Stand adjourn thank you