##VIDEO ID:HSNS1tysacQ## REM everybody that uh good evening everyone welcome to the select board meeting uh for February 3rd 2025 uh the purpose of this meeting is to re uh review and appoint members to the Charter committee uh this meeting is not being broadcast live on lctv but it will be recorded so uh we're start with the pledge of alance FL of the United States of America the for it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all um and so everyone's aware um we can't hear you very well back you microphones or not they're on they're they're on so um so just so everyone's aware Matthew is um on um on Zoom so he I don't think he's behind us but he I can see his uh uh screen in front of us so um so um we have 15 applicants and I must say that I um am very pleased by that when we put this out we asked we were hoping for a committee of 7 to9 and I was desperately hoping we could fill it so um thank you everyone for applying um so do you how does the board want to go through this do you want to hear a little bit from each one and then ask questions to across or sure yeah that's what that works I mean if people want to speak great I think they should be allowed to if they don't you don't have to speak I but if you'd like to add I know was a a lot of the information we got was either a short two sentence blurp put us this morning you'd like to add um please please do so so we have a better understanding um I know I I think most of us are familiar with maybe a little over half so and I know each of us probably knows somebody but I there's a few faces I don't recognize in the room so it' be good at least to meet that way um if you come forward to speak uh so we're start with you Allan you're the first on the list do you want to come up and say a few words I'm Alan mcra you know me I know all of you um I don't want to be in competition I'm just here to offer my expertise and longstanding the town if I can be helpful I'd be glad to if I'm not chosen that's fine too thank you thank you any questions for Alan any anyone have any questions for Alan at this or so Alan you are fincom you on fincom for quite a while for about 20 years or so and then um you were also on the Personnel Board y a Personnel Board for about the same amount of time I have some expertise in DPW operations of commissioner Public Works summer for several years um your director of personnel experience is that um so I assume that's HR I'm sorry I couldn't you have um director of personnel listed in Somerville Somerville and in Everett yeah so HR type work full time yes yeah okay thank you no just going to say this to everybody thank you for putting yourself out there yep Betsy hi Betsy bowling I was on fincom for several terms short timer based on Allen the older and um I've done other things in town um my career was it with a business accounting background mostly implementing systems big systems sap and other places so a lot of going into organiz ation because implementing the software was kind of the easy part I always said had to understand how things worked how how the processes worked and so on and then try to figure out all that together with the software how you make things work so this is interesting to me um but did what Allan said you know get the best team and if it's not me not my feelings won't be hurt okay but but happy to contribute if I can thank you anything else um you know I think we probably ask each can kind of that one standard question what's I mean you you signed up for this what's your interest in it what what's the what's the end result for you or I haven't learned to keep my hand under my seats yet but um no I because of what I said I mean I've done this other places and so I'm interested in the town obviously I have an vested interest living here I want it to be right and and so I've said for a while as things get more complicated and more involved just do we need something different something more so interested in doing it and learning how it work I mean there's a learning part from my standpoint too you got the Consultants coming in so how does the process work and then just learning more about how the town does work now and and trying to understand better how it maybe it should okay that it yeah okay thank you again thank you uh Brian Tarbox could not be here tonight he's uh um everyone knows him from the finance committee um Charlotte hello everyone um so I'm probably one of the newer faces in town um I moved here with my family in 2020 um and so I have two small children uh age five and seven um and we so far just had such an incredible experience living in Littleton uh my husband and I moved here and and yeah we we felt incredibly welcomed um I have a background in public health that's my day job um I work with uh I'm with an international uh nonprofit and I work with uh governments around the world um and quite Keen to to try to apply some of that experience um and as many others have said already just try to offer what I can to this process um I recognize that I come in with very little experience of you know government uh and governance structures here um in Massachusetts but I kind of hope that that would allow me to have some fresh eyes um offer perhaps a fresh perspective um ask the the dumb questions maybe but the ones that might shed some light on interesting aspects of of uh the town structure um yeah happy to answer any questions uh that you have but that's a little bit about me go back to the same one yeah I think she kind of answered it yeah interest yeah yeah yeah go ahead oh I was just going to say sh I've gotten to know you um through you um were interested in town affairs from the very beginning as soon as as we met and um now you're on sustainability committee um so I just wanted to thank you for jumping in with both feet already yeah ab and for putting yourself out there on this in particular yeah um yeah no just thank you I just what cous 2020 was your interest in Littleton during that that's a tough time to be moving a um hope you know with the pandemic but yeah it it probably belies a little bit of my uh my analytical mind for For Better or For Worse um we had an opportunity to move to this general area and sort of the the concentric circles of of planning in terms of where we should move to um but actually one of the things when you when you really go you know 10 tabs deep into Google it's amazing how even down there the spirit of Littleton comes out um people just really raving about the the community um and so that was really what cinched it for us and we're lucky that it's turned out the way it has and and I have been really excited to be part of this sustainability committee um it's it's it's very uh it's fascinating I think as someone mentioned that learning curve really understanding um how you can affect change uh and have a positive impact um but then yeah being able to see that come to fruition yeah so what style of town government did you come from previously that's a great question so over the last well over the last 20 almost 30 years I've lived in India Cambodia Indonesia DC California everything from tribal to Pap I lived in Papua um so I I think yeah I I don't know a lot of different uh uh a lot of different types of administration um exposure to both very kind of national level District level and then also my work just you know the different ways in which um you know different places organize themselves um and obviously I was born in the UK as well so yeah uh I have a question anyone else I'll set thank you thank you thank you thank you I have I have a question mark Mark George Sanders oh hey oh Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark hello chairman members of the board thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to appear here tonight with regards to the future benefit of the town of lton I'm a transplant to New England I'm origin from South Carolina pton South Carolina and we had the first Farmer's Hall that was built in America and um what I joined the service and been around the world a couple times there and spent 30 years in the military there and my family is here we have three children that's going that two went through the school system here in Litton and one is in uh a freshman here in in Litton high school here every place I've been when I first came up here I came to Fort devans and ended up living in uh Pittsburgh and uh end up buying a home down in fittsburgh and um retired here out the intelligent command at Fort devans every place I've been I've always made it my business to be a part of the community doing whatever I could for the community because you have to like where you living at and I like living here in Litton I had my home built here in 97 and I love Lon it's a great place a lot of great people in this town lot of respectful people in this town a lot of people that do a fantastic job job in this town as volunteers just like so many came up here tonight for this Charter committed to be appointed I like to do what I can I make myself available to do what I can I know a lot about government I've been around government about 62 years so I'm no stranger to towns or cities and I've accomplished a lot of things in the communities that I've been in and I've participated in VAR boards and so forth here in Litton the first one being the disability commission back in 2002 and I've been on that committee ever since it's a great opportunity for me to participate in what ever the town of Lon charges this committed with and what we want to accomplish we must be United as a people of this town in order to accomplish the goals and objectives that we would like to accomplish here in the town of Lon and I look forward to helping you if I can and I thank you County thanks thank you George does anyone have a George hang on a second just hang on one second do anyone have I don't have anything specific no but I didn't know um okay thank you U Matthew do you can you do you have your audio working now can you yeah can you hear me yes okay good um I wanted to ask Charlotte a question but you couldn't hear me yeah do you want to come come back up yeah go ahead Matthew sorry about that so um I think several of the board members are interested in a focus on sustainability for the future of the town as it's a challenge that I don't think we've really dealt with I'm curious if you could tell us a little bit about why you joined sustainability was there something specific um partly it was an area where I felt like I would be able to contribute potentially um I'm still feeling my way around and and trying to understand where I may be um able to to provide some support where I can um and and really because I do think it's an area I'm passionate about I think with whatever we're doing in Littleton we have to be thinking about how do we best serve our current interests but also our future interests um you know the the littl ton of 20 years from now of a 100 years from now of 300 years from now um and having two young children also it's um you know you can't not be thinking about what their future also looks like so it is something I'm quite passionate about understanding more um how we can put those things into actionable steps uh within a town like Littleton so yeah I'm still very much learning but I I think it's an area where I have been quite excited about the potential so far thank you very much thank you Mr Knox hello all Mr KN um I'm originally from Middleton uh how long have you been here can't can't ask that question almost all that time I I have a true interest in the town from many aspects a lot of times I hear people say it's not the same as it used to be they having problems but you look at we were located with two major the highways and the and the train and whatever I think the town overall for all these years has done well to maintain its rural character and it's and it's been done because of town government now as town as time goes on town government does have to get studied over and over again because we know there something that's always needs to be changed and not changed and I'm happy to say I've been involved with Littleton in one aspect of since 1983 I've been in a number of committees that you know I've been on uh one of the Committees was a town government study committee in 2006 and 2007 that I shared and I that committee we actually dealt with a same division that came out to talk to you um and uh they gave us great guidance and we out of the U almost two years of study that we did I think we had 14 things that we put down as things that we thought could be improved and I think a lot of them came true but a lot of them fell by the Wayside as time goes on new people come in and things need to be reviewed so I I look forward to having the possibility of of participating and going through this study to see what changes could be made to make our town function even better and and to stay on the on on the right track I think it's admirable that you've been volunteering to the town right out of high school almost high before you were out of high school is that what you're say anyone have a questions for Mr Knox I had to get something in there I always do I usually go the other way though yeah just you know reviewing that um committee's findings you know I think uh back back then there wasn't discussion really of of a charter I don't know why it didn't press CH was was brought up but it didn't at the meeting that we had with DL actually came out and sat with us when we first formed the committee and there was some talk of CH but I think the feeling at that time is that the time the time the amount of time we wanted to put in some changes would be a lot shorter than if we went through the whole Charter system so I think it get dropped almost at the very first meeting we just decided to go go uh in that angle without doing that and just go by by bylaws that that have put in yeah okay any other questions okay thank you thanks joh thanks joh um the next one on the list is uh Jeff Yates who I don't actually see every he's uh the chair current chair of the planning board and was on the board of appeals um Kevin Brogan good evening my name is Kevin and I have lived in uh Littleton since 2018 I got smart and moved from groten over to Littleton um I've been serving on the personal advisory committee with Gary for about three years now I think since it was reformulated and I'm enjoying that a great deal um I used to serve on the Personnel Committee in Gren I also served on the sustainability Comm committee uh I don't know committee uh initiative in Gren which was I don't know what the nature of this sustainability committee here is in this town but that effort was about the future Financial stability of the Town given constraints on tax increases and spending and and the whole issue was were we in a s long-term sustainable position um I um moved from New York state with my wife uh back in I think 2015 actually and moved into Gren but then uh moved over here in 18 and I work in Human Resources have all my life uh continue to serve in Human Resources today I'm an HR Director at an organization that provides virtual mental health care and uh our our the reason we moved from New York state to this area is our only child our daughter went to Bentley College and settled down married a guy settled down over an air and we didn't want to be 5 hours away from our only child now we live one town away from our daughter and son-in-law and two beautiful grandchildren that's great and my reason for volunteering uh is I like working on interesting and impactful things this seems like it is and will be interesting and impactful and uh I guess um I also enjoy change management I I think change is a good thing I say that on a regular basis I think change is an opportunity and this sounds like a great opportunity and I love working on things like that thank you you are welcome thanks no I'm okay thank you appreciate it uh Kyle I can't I don't know how to pronounce your last name it's okay I'll out thank you hi so my name is Kyle bu uh my and I moved to Littleton in October of 23 so we're relatively new here um welcome thank you we have felt very welcome it's a it's a wonderful town uh and that's kind of part of why I want to either you know either do this or serve in some capacity for the community so if it's not this it's going to be something else uh professionally I spent almost 20 years in cyber security I've done work for the dod the doj the doe now I lead a global uh defensive team that sets out all the defensive strategies for a company called jll we're in 83 countries 110,000 employees so I solve interesting problems on a daily basis and I thought I could lend some of my analytical thinking in mind to to this committee uh and how we chose Littleton I mean you should see how many spreadsheets we had we had so much data about every town and you know tax rates and education so I figure I I could lend my hand and throw my hat in the ring you could share those spreadsheets with Mr noxy he's in real estate happy to share did you from move from out of state or within yes we moved it was about a 900 mile drive so so uh the the Massachusetts style of town government is a it's new to us it's uh it's a a welcome surprise though uh the government that I moved from so I was in Knoxville Tennessee I had no idea what they did in that government it wasn't open I didn't feel represented so I like I've been to multiple meetings just as an attendee I like the uh the style of government okay did you make the right choice absolutely I I will never leave I guess that's also part of why I want to you know serve in some capacity to the towns because uh so I have two daughters I want to grow up see them grow up here um and I just want to you know be a part of of the town and the government pton or Eli pton I knew the answer before I asked the question Knoxville good okay all right thank you thank you and if this doesn't work out we will find you you will be involved nomination papers are open for the list uh Karen MOSI hi everyone I'm Karen MOSI I've lived in Littleton for 25 years this is my first actually a little bit more than 25 years but this is my first for into town government I've done a lot of other community volunteering and other organizations and I now find myself with time to participate um in a different scale so I applied for this committee position because I thought it was just a really unique opportunity to sort of step back and take a look at what it means to have a town government what best practices are and then help position uh Littleton for continued growth and success and how are we going to manage all these things that are getting thrown at us from all different directions so happy to have the opportunity to participate in that way um for work experience I recently left a long-term position and I'm now working part-time at the greater L Community Foundation helping out with development and fundraising and I what I bring to the table from professional experience is a lot of program uh management at tech companies acquisition integration uh strategic corporate initiatives I've also had roles as corporate controller and in financial planning and Analysis so looking forward to doing what I can to help out the team and see where we can take the take the position thank you great appreciate it thank you thank you thank you thanks care uh pat lty pat actually reached out to me he was unable to hit a family commitment he was unable to okay Rob Houston so Rob Houston I think I know all of you you know of me um unlike other you know I'm fascinated by the the the people in this community right it's it's amazing we moved here in 2016 our spreadsheet was not a spreadsh sheeet it was very little went into picking Littleton other than turning the choice over to my 15-year-old daughter saying we're moving to Massachusetts sweetie where do you want to move to she did the research she did the spreadsheet she did the tables she picked Littleton and here we are um and it it frankly is the best decision she ever made for us we couldn't be happier being here uh you all know my wife is actively involved she she uh chose to get involved starting week one hitting Littleton um I've been slower I'm a little more deliberative my background is in um I'm a lawyer I'm a small business lawyer I've represented businesses for over 30 years so what I do is I listen I I'm not a strategic planner I'm not a spreadsheet person I'm a listener and I gather information in I take it in I analyze it I assess it and I give what I think for 30 years in my clients has been um exceptional advice so that's what I do is I listen and I provide input where I think it's helpful and um I would like to be able to do that on this Charter commission or committee I think um I love the New England style of town government town meeting is fascinating and it I I didn't know anything about it till I moved here but representative democracy as a lawyer is you know I love it I think it's it's cool and I think through this process one of the goals really is to how to get more active government of our citizenry so that we can properly represent them and how it integrates with our town manager Town Administrator and our Personnel to operate efficiently and effectively for the citizens so that's me and what I want to do thank you questions I have any check no thank you thank you thank you rob RS good evening I think I know you all of you uh I think uh over my life what I've done is I've listened to a lot of people I managed to get involved with a senior management team my position in finance led me to have to evaluate a lot of Alternatives and I think I tend to work pretty hard and work to accomplish what needs to be done uh along the way I can alienate anger some people as I tell truth to power I'm not afraid of doing that and I'm always trying to strive to make things better that's pretty much who I am so any questions um I guess we could ask why the why the charter commission I I think since I came here in uh Beth and I came here in 20 21 kind of took a year to kind of absorb Littleton came here primarily for my daughter and son-in law my two granddaughters um after listening I think some of you probably started to wonder who is that guy that's sitting in the room I sampled numerous numerous meetings and and so as a result of working and listening to others started to see as I heard about this started to see hey I think they're opportunities to to bring out some elements of the keep the best things and try to make things better within this process and make it better for the town you any I just think with the whole Harford current background and we are in need of a newspaper and you dig into stuff just saying this doesn't work out you know I'll sell ads in the paper if you I I have been approached the start of paper I will tell you that let's lock arms thank you thanks s Marini good evening um I think again know all of you um currently the chair of the Park and Recreation Commission and sit on the CPC um think this is a a very interesting opportunity to see how to improve things we have some I have some insight I guess on some of the challenges of our existing government um and and how we operate so I think it's a an interesting place to try and gather some information from from the Town members and figure out what's going to be a a better way to do this whether that's a a large change or a small change or just further encoding what we're we're doing similarly any any questions no thank you how long have you been in Litton um 21 years now yeah moved in 2003 so okay okay thank you and Tim Goddard another new kid all right good evening how long have you been in town my whole life yeah so lifelong resident of the town I'm currently Town moderator as you know previous uh to that I I was Town Administrator in this town and two other communities so i' got a lot of experience working with boards and committees uh in uh in you know very different communities town as big as Framingham and you know small as Carell as far as uh as far as that goes uh also uh was elected uh was a member of the select board the planning board the housing authorities I've got elective service here in town and you know some notion of how things have worked in the past uh and so forth as a uh Town Administrator U and as a member of the mass Municipal association's former government committee I had the opportunity to work uh and advise a lot of communities that were looking at their their structure sure their form of government looking at changes they could make and so I've got some experience uh uh with that I think uh as far as my interest goes I mean I've always been interested in government I guess it sort of goes without saying but uh uh I think the town has done a great job kind of growing organically over the years you know both politically and and so forth I do think that that we could benefit from some some more structure perhaps a you know better definition of duties and responsibilities and uh especially in in in how the uh the various offices work with the one another I know when when you know things have probably unded had changed over the years uh kind of looking at Jim here as a former Town Administrator here I I often felt that the the job could could have been better defined at at times it felt like you had uh all the responsibility and none of the authority to do things so i' I'd like to see I'd like to see that that uh you know reduce to writing at some point and it is that not a recipe for Success if only to uh you know uh so there would be fewer misunderstandings I think if there you know and and you know it's a charter committee it doesn't have to be a Charters you know it could it could simply be a you know a strong bylaw uh you know there are lots of ways to uh doesn't doesn't necessarily need to be a home rule petition but U so I'm interested in the process i' I've been involved in uh lots of committees here in town uh you know I'm happy to be a resource uh as alen said to this this committee if I'm not chosen and that's that's fine with me uh way way down the road when the the committee does uh bring a recommendation to town meeting you might have thought of this that as moderator if I were on the committee I would recuse myself I would need to step down and a temporary moderator would run that portion of the town meeting so as to avoid any I don't think there's really a conflict of interest but uh you know in an abundance some caution I think that's probably the way to handle it I think Town Council has agreed that that's probably the way to handle that but you know very much like to uh be a part of things and uh anxious to uh see what the board does thank you so do you think the town moderator should have more Authority well you say that and uh just just uh uh you may know in many in many towns the moderator appoints all of the members of the finance committee yeah and I've often thought about that there'd be there would be like World War II here littl you know if I I would to propos that you know I think our model actually works good because it's it's sort of less political when various yeah you know the school gets two you get two and then you know it's it ensures that uh you know some Rogue moderator couldn't you know Appo the finance committee of uh you know seven or eight crownies or whatever you know so I I like our model but you know that's something such a committee would look at and you know I know you know what my experience tells me but any questions no thanks Tim than thank you so um this is going to be a hard decision it's kind of like Beat Bobby F go Beat Bobby FL whatever it's called get behind the napkin so I I don't know how you want to start on this we decided Well first we were mentioning we could go between seven and nine yeah um I think in my opinion based on what we've heard today I think we have nine viable candidates at least so I'm fine with heading towards the nine number I don't know what others feel I would offer if if we do extend to nine anytime you the bigger you get the tougher it is to manage right and to hit quotas and that kind of thing but if we do go to nine I think that we should have a select board as one of the members or as a I think so or at least I mean we is on at a minimum but I'm fine with the well that's a I'm okay well let's talk about that part um so we can see how many we want do we want to have a voting member or a Le onto the committee in in my opinion I don't think we should have a voting member a select board as a voting member of this committee um and I'm I'd be sort of inclined to leave to leave us out of the even as a liaison process I'm okay with us being informed but I just I I think that this should be separate from the existing government structure as much as possible I think that's the point let me just offer a Counterpoint to that and and actually I'm more in line with that than not um depending upon who we select there are folks that have previously been on Littleton select board um but I think that that institutional knowledge is important to have as part of this committee obviously Tim Tim would bring a lot of that to the to the table on a bunch of different levels um but that would sway my decision if if we were to select some folks that have some institutional knowledge um that would influence whether or not I think we should have a voting member early aison to your point we could probably extend this to nine people um we've got a lot of folks that have put themselves out there and there's a lot of talent um and even the folks that weren't able to be here tonight are um excellent candidates as well yeah um and Brian Jeff and uh Pat so how do you want to proceed so I'm kind of I'm somewhere between Matthew and you I think we should have AAS on I don't think having a voting member is necessary I'm not going to die on that hill but um I think um first I think um it will be tough for a select board member to make all of meetings uh given that we are meet twice a month if this is committee is meeting twice a month you're when the last month we only that twice that's true given that this is our fourth meeting in eight days um um satday counts as three meetings yeah I think it will be hard for a select board member to commit to the number of meetings um this is going to involve but I think having aaon and an alternate is a good model so that um so that we have someone there that's um has the pulse of the meetings and can contribute but not um necessarily I'm I'm okay with giving up our vote I don't know um you expressed interest before Gary I don't know what your feeling is yeah I mean my interest um you know helping create the the charter itself what our charge was and the work we put into that but um my concern was we potentially wouldn't have um seven to nine qualified applicants um no we come you know when we we look at every meeting that we put on Jim reads off a list of you know open vacancies and board so I didn't have high expectations um but I recognize this is um this could be really big for Litton on many levels I'm I'm so glad that we got such a talent pool to come out um I would be willing to be a liaison for sure and um probably or any select board member that did it we' want to kick off the first meeting set the first meeting because there's not there's not a chair yet or anything get the ball rolling like that and kind of reiterate the the charge um and and maybe give a little bit of talk and introduce the Callin Center and things like that but um then try to be at as many meetings as possible so we kind of get a a direction of where the committee is going and we can re you know help report back if needed so um leaon for me would be most important I think okay no okay okay I don't know if Matthew we already heard from so M yeah Matthew Matthew you're okay with having leas on yeah absolutely and I think Chuck's point about having members with a existing town government experience is very important and that's that's the primary reason why I was suggesting that a sitting member doesn't participate so I'm good okay um and I'm and I'm fine helping out is like an alternate I mean we can do a Lee on an alternate so that like Gary if you want to be the primary I have no problem like attending meetings that you can't or or participating as well I mean we can always cover meetings sure so okay so now we're back to 7 to n um so nine the the problem with nine is more just making sure you can organize people to preserve uh quum so is that your concern Chu mainly with nine or well that and the larger any committee gets the the more difficult it is to manage it and you don't it's just not as efficient you have two hours slotted and you want everybody to have their input and it's just I wonder though if this committee also ends up with a lot of little subtasks that more actually make it easier so do you have a fuel for 7 to n um just throwing it out there what do we think of um appointing seven and two alternates I mean I can see folks you know if the committee decides to meet for example every other this thing on that's a no if the folks uh if folks decide um once they're appointed that they're going to meet every other Wednesday for example and somebody cannot make every other Wednesday period then um you know for example that might an alternate might be a good idea I think or if somebody needs to you know something circumstances change halfway through the process or I don't know it's a little tricky because then the alternate would still kind of be committed because they couldn't step in unless they've been to every meeting which is asking a lot only only Bo of appeals runs that way ideally runs that way but um with them let's say I were an aled on the zoning board of appeals and somebody were absent so I sat in on a hearing MH I have to sit on that that hearing to because I you know had the facts and I have to disseminate them and come up with if if it gets continued that kind of thing um and it if if an alternate on this committee were sitting in for somebody that had different views new I just I think I'd rather have the nine yeah I'm not thinking of like one meeting I'm thinking of like I'm thinking more of like a somebody if somebody has to professional commitment or something like that yeah I mean I'm just going to go back to when we when me personally we were thinking s to nine it was because we didn't know we were going to get such a great that's true so I'm very comfortable with having nine um because this is heavy lift um I would be surprised if I mean people have lives we we heard the diverse pup group we have and I think they're going there they're going to miss meetings here and there so you having that extra you know having that EXT don't give me out right away having but having five you know as a quorum I think is is a comfortable number to make sure that we always have five and nine gives us that flexibility and there's plenty of work for nine people to contribute to I think with with all we're trying to get accomplished so I'm I'm comfortable guess I guess I'd AR I'd argue against uh alter it's I think um the point of this thing has a through line from beginning to end and it doesn't seem fair to ask somebody to spend this much time on something and not have a vote on the board U so I think that everybody who wants to be on this should commit to doing it from beginning to end I I was going to push for a smaller like to close like seven instead of nine um but you know I could be persuaded otherwise I I just think my only concern is that just to make sure things get done in an efficient manner I think the fact that we're going to have some professional help kind of amates that to some extent so so I guess I would say nine with with no alternates would be my my my opinion Mr nox mind if I pick your brain a little bit how many were on the government study committee when you were out in high school this sound strange that we had eight that is strange don't ask the question was you know the answer right what okay talking about splitting the baby thanks it ran officially sounds like nine yes it did you have that many different avenues that you have to go and do research on yeah and eight still has a quum of five so correct okay so it sounds like we're going with nine um and how do we want to proceed from here we could all propose we could all propose our membership and see where we overlap is it going to be like American Idol or I mean I don't want to make it thumbs up thumbs down but we could all propose you know people that we believe are 100% we think they should be on the I'll text you you you tell them okay no or you put it on this and handed to I don't know with this sheet here all we need is that sheet this is the only form we need well Matthew's not here so we'd have to text Jim probably oh I see where yeah as we have the form um just you want do I'm just going to put this out there as a blanket statement obviously we've got 15 people that stepped forward and I think that would be well served with any of the 15 as members in the event that you are not chosen not pointing it anybody particular but in the event that you're not chosen it's you know there's it's very much appreciated it's difficult for us to sit up here and you know it's like getting picked for the the the basketball team on the schoolyard like pick me pick me right so um it's it's not an easy process for us to go through I I i' prefer to have some sort of not anonymity but um I think we can get to that point if we're if we all give our votes to Jim Jim tallies them and then we can say okay so candidate one got four votes the two that point you'd say the name well you say the names but I just didn't want to pick out a name because all he playing favorites so um before we do this I'd just like to well I'd like to thank everyone for putting their name in and if anyone of after hearing everyone else say I don't feel qualified or someone else's more and wants to withdraw their name before we vote feel free to stand up and do that um just so it's not awkward on that front yeah so so take the sheet I will I will need a clean sheet I took notes on my sheet do you do you have an extra packet I look around the room and say oh no not these folks go ahead and let us know Mark you okay with Matthew just texting Jim yeah did you get that Matthew all right so we're just circling doing this Jim is that correct yes nine names please or if they have seven they have seven I mean if you have I think we have that's like a bullet vote though I know this this is a great group doing mine and pencil in case we have to revote a couple people I want on other committees I'm already thinking yeah some redundancy right what the rule should be is that nobody can leave without some sort of appointment oh my gosh I know an appointment to something else yeah for about 20 years we have two is that right Sy this this is a this c s care yeah this isn't going to happen no cheating CH I'm trying to think I started to how do I I had a thought process about if we're not going to be on it I'm not going to let another elected Bo because it instantly brings politics in my brain potentially brings politics if you're on an elected board right now Joe but yeah Light and Water we have three people that are work that's not that's not a um um statory right no you can do anybody anyone can be on we could even have two SL on call said so what a great group we're why are these people on all Community right that's what I'm saying you want to sign their paper for the select board post g at the door Sor so we're going to post you at the door nobody leaves without some sort of appointment exactly it's not this committee it's another whoever doesn't sign my paper doesn't get the all right uh Matthew gave me his uh submission here's a couple you can start sallying this one from you Chuck fold the yes double fold that is not me why I don't need it yeah this is one more oh this is one who's this Karen well we're Anonymous right now I understand that but I need I you should have five members four plus the text right but I need to put a chart so I need to know who is which to put the row in just number them just number them just you know which one's mine just oh I see you're saying I see you're saying thank you I thought we were keeping it completely Anonymous blue pen yeah you're just you're just like tick marks right 1 2 3 four people on aart doesn't matter who voted for him he got four tick marks or five tick marks hey you know what i' like do you need me to sign your papers Joe you need papers signed so if nine people have three votes that's all it takes right you might be right that's way too if there's more than nine people that have free votes on we've got more to talk some deliberation or I guess you're going first off who had the most tick marks there'll be some of there'll be a few maybe that all five of us you know what I don't know I Me Maybe maybe you know somebody who maybe one person being in inexs with another you know no I nobody in this don't do that that's Gary Mark who did Black pen who did blue pen I black mine's blue I was black mine's a purplish blue yeah matches your eyes I think I circled M hey can I can I do something oh boy folks I'm just gonna and I'd like to do a little bio on us we we made them tell us who they were and when they came to town mind if I go for us sure um my name's Chuck de coost I'm on the select board um and my family and I moved to Littleton in 2007 and um I Echo what everybody that chose Littleton as their Community like five children that went through the school system and um best choice we made as a family and so uh I Echo and and feel what you're feeling it's just it's such a great Community anytime there's any challenges the whole the whole Community steps up and it doesn't matter if they know who you are they don't know who you are it's just uh it's it gives you like that that warm hug that's good um Gary Wilson um been on the selectboard for three years and fincom before that and a bunch of subcommittees um we're doing that too no I won't get into that um pretty much a lifelong resident uh of of Littleton uh came very young age my grandparents from third generation I guess in Littleton um with in the Army for 23 years uh got out worked for the state department Bureau councel Affairs uh for several years retired with the state department worked for the Department of Transportation before that DOD before that um so uh can't wanted to come back to Litton I have a special needs son with autism we wanted to get back to Littleton instead of traveling every 3 years moving my son to another another post um so we we moved back I knew Littleton was great I knew Massachusetts had great uh special education programs and Littleton was a great community so I moved back to my hometown and all three of my children went through the school system they're all in their 20s now and uh here I am I wanted to and I'll let you know growing up here leaving for so long and coming back oh my goodness the whole Community with the whole Community had almost flipped you know except for Joe but no it was it was like having to literally meet uh reinvent myself and meet new people and and and see it was amazing how the the town had kind of turned over um and and had to meet a lot of new people and get back involved I wanted to stay involved in the community and and uh public service and this is what A Better Way best way to do it is you're in your own Hometown really you can really contribute to so uh hi I'm Karen Morrison I moved here about five and a half years ago so I am also a recent spreadsheet Builder um we did the concentric circles more but uh but yeah di we moved here from Colorado uh where I had just gotten involved in politics um on a very very very small scale um but was interested in it and saw how much of a difference it can make um so when I moved out here um once I got over my cultural um culture shock um and understanding how everything works out here um and how different it is I uh I wanted to make a difference and wanted to bring a different perspective to to the board and so I ran and this is my first term Matthew do you want to say something introduce yourself sure my my wife and I moved to Littleton in 2001 about a year after we moved here uh with a we had a one-year-old son and our house burned to the ground and the support and outpouring of love from the residents was truly astonishing and I think it made us both fall in love with the place we we we raised our two kids here and uh as we have more time when as they're getting older and they're actually both out of the house we both decided to volunteer and try to give back some to the town and and I ended up on the select board yay me yay but uh I think it's a great town I mean you know it's all all the same things everyone else has said I I feel like I'm happy to have raised my children here so um I'm Mark granacher I moved here in 95 uh we drew the circles out going we lived uh in Winchester before we moved out here um after we both were working and we did the concentric circles to find a community that we could afford along the Route two Corridor and this was the first one we could afford to live in so we picked Littleton that way um I got involved in town government um when my kids were little we would come to the library every Tuesday night um and the library Ian were great um and at one point there was a vacancy on the library board and someone threw my name in there and said hey you should be on this committee um I st I'm trying to figure out which librarian is responsible for that um and that's how I got involved in the town I was on the library board for 16 years before I ran for the select board um I we I grew up in Ohio there's not the town meeting form of government my first real exposure to town meeting was when we were building the high school and everyone was all up in arms about whether to put in a pool or not and then after that there was the question of the override and I had no idea what was going on in town government and you go to a town meeting and everyone gets up and speaks poorly against they they go and complain about all the articles but then they all support them in the end it's the weirdest thing that ever happened right you you you're standing there and trying to read the vote and it's like oh this is going to go down in flames and then it's like 95% in favor and he's like how did that happen so um like everyone says it's the worst form of government except for all the others um so I'm happy to be up here and helping out and I'm really grateful for everyone else that volunteers their time um for this and all the other committees yeah we have in town so I just for were killing time while Jim was trying to do math oh well you need a calculator C my shoes off so okay we have eight eight confirmed positions on uh the ninth position uh the select board memb is not being counted as a ninth correct correct all right there is a tie a three-way tie for the ninth position do we have Mom Russell you can have Mom russle so um but I've got the eight eight names how would you like to propose it Mr chairman want just give give those three to us and we'll revote why don't we revote those three and okay but in the meantime do you want to hold on to who the other eight are or yeah we read them all once all right so eight eight got Le eight got the majority sure and three are I I understand what's happening I know look no um I'm just wondering the part that I'm wondering about is um not wanting to know the other eight before we vote on our last on number nine um in terms if for me balance and there's oh do you want to read off the the eight that we know I'm just I mean it's a consideration for me I don't know about anybody else I would kind of prefer to know where we're at before finalize what you what did you have the Matthew what did you say I said I'd prefer to know who we who we are who we have who we're voting on who's in the affirmative I this is what Karen's asking so if we know that it might have an impact on okay so I'll read off the or just share it if you don't want sh it or or you can just pass it with us the ones with the star next to it of the of the agent okay and then can you text Matthew sure um sure thank you actually you see that let me a picture and no this is Hightech actually I'll do that too I'll just take a picture that's brilliant technology yeah yeah I mean this isn't hard to remember TR come on I know what these are of course so oops hey keep a down out there Mr moderator Electoral College I heard je this is oh sorry um and this is yeah I already got it in my head so we're voting for one of those three yeah Okay C you want to text you a picture of it the other thing that's going around that's great thank you of course technology we need any discussion on discussion on E you pretty much I think we should just do it the same as we did the other can you text me that as well thought truing you with all pieces of paper that's true one yeah little ripping n found 154 right yeah where's lion when you need them what do you mean you have all these little cubes cut up for us I know here you you thank you thank you just all right Stars that's tough huh it is I don't like it I don't like it at all I know you almost want to make let's just make it 15 logistical challenges mine's not folded car oh my God it doesn't matter at this point you have Matthews right no I don't have his yet what I'm sorry I wasn't aware of Matthew text you need to text back one name out of the three did you do you know the three that no know the three I'll send them to you right now this is all public record right the text going back and forth um it is not it is definitely on the record I said that said it's all public record did you send the's he's going to he's going to submit the deciding vote well this oh really yeah this is on the record that's on the record all right so you send him a text with the three names that did you do that already no you were just doing it yeah but someone doing a fire request my phone yeah we're doing it we're doing a record it's easier if it's all on one chain dangerous just open as we can do it really so you can probably tell we've V right Matthew you're not on a beach somewhere are you no making sure I'm in a very small room okay B internet can you get out okay thank you rubber walls any this did he break the tie he did okay so you want to Mark the star of the other one I'm sorry star of the other one well that's I'm handicapping it what do you mean I don't know I'm just guessing God you do your thing I just you think it's easy you think it's easy oh no no we know it's not you get paid just fine oh 3 years with him's like 20 years with who's here me okay you have gotten more gr you're not kidding all right so so so hang on I'm sorry Jim sir like there were four names that had two votes not three oh boy they were and I think we need to do it again because of that y that's right I am sorry okay that's okay it'll be reflected is everyone still in yeah see what you get yourself in Jim with you're not on the committee thank you Matthew Jim yes where's your admin with my admin yeah she's in Florida okay we're hanging out so we know who the four are now right no no you don't know who the I don't yeah we do we get the total right is going to be putting the select board down to three that's what a is yep a lot of places are Westford West it's three isn't it I don't think so no it's five see there was somebody's that's really big is got it Matthew thank you y That's why I was confused I thought it was the next round the next number of votes down but Y no thank you the fourth was I can tell you on the bottom oh B the bottom I'm I'm changeing mind so you can stand yeah going to change your mind we're fine everyone Matthew changed Matthew changed it oh he did yeah that change things so correct there's uh two two and one okay so now we vote the two so the one's out unless Matthew wants to change the V so I'm sticking with my vote so there's four four there's four names there's five voting so there's two for one two for one and one for one okay so then we'll revote the twos it's the only way that's the only fairest way to do it we have to do it yes so just the ones that elimate the one that got one vote yeah and then it goes back now it has to now it has to resolve itself own this is why we have an electoral college rank choice so so it's a hanging chad hold on right so now it's done to two candidates Matthew so y I'm waiting for the names me too it's going to be a fight after this those are the two names Circle cired circled sending it to you now Matthew thank you I think I know but thank you w Now by just by the number of Select board members this has to be the end yes I'm going to vote for none of the above D what is this that's yours you you sent that out to us okay so now I have yes has one more coming oh okay bye thank you this is how government works brought out the clickers oh the clickers oh man I could have kept looking up at the screen Matthew's out of distance could them peer voting too the circle Stars Mr chairman we have a committee so Mr chairman can announce them right he can show Karen first we have to vote we'll have to vote on the committee and have it that's part of the charter we vote to appoint the committee correct right and then you have the option e either this meeting the select board can check can select the chair Vice chair and clerk if not you can do it at the very first meeting that's what I was um in which the call and Center will be there to outline the charta process and help facilitate initial discussions okay so we appoint the chair Vice chairman clerk you have the option if you choose to do that or you have the committee do that at the first meeting but if they if we do it and they want to change it from what the experience these people have gone through right now do there will be drink served well you'll never want you'll never want to appoint somebody that isn't doesn't want to do you don't want to read it no I I don't usually make motions I okay so this is just putting the committee together as in the form of a motion people will find out if they're on or not gotta all right um fancy I move to appoint the following individuals to the lifetime Charter committee to the lifetime the Wilton what are we calling this the charter the Littleton Charter committee Alan McCrae Betsy bowling Charlotte dolins Joseph Knox Kevin Brogan Kyle bu Karen melowski Robert RZ and Timothy Godard second moved by Gary second by Chuck want to verify just put was on the side of the table app we have to do a roll call vote since Matthew's uh online we'll start with you Matthew I yes Matthew votes yes Karen Karen yes chuck chuck yes Gary Gary's yes and Mark's a yes so thank you very much everyone for putting in your name um go to the now there's everyone has to go to the town clerk in the next um before before the first meeting and get sworn in um and yeah um and I don't know how we went to organize the first meeting if we went to allow them to do it or suggest dates or because they can't well I mean we can you want to vote you mean as far as putting well you want me let me I I'll nominate Gary to be the Le on the select board want to cify that and an alternate sure mark an alternate sure second uh Gary uh nominated as the um the leison and M as an alate uh Matthew in favor Matthew's yes Karen kind reading question chuck chuck yes Gary you accept yes and Mark say yes so so we can actually put out an email to the group to the individuals and with the we'll put out like a few meeting times to see what it works okay it might it might be worthwhile where this there some new folks and actually having some experience on it'll be good but to have like a an introductory how our government works open meeting law that kind of stuff just so folks aren't discussed in the first Dian Cy we have Dian Cy there the Callin Center um they're there for the first meeting so are we going to find out when they're available are we based on some other availability too or they at our if you want to as a Lea on if you want to let me know if you want to give me a date or two to that I can what's the what's the charter say when we were supposed to do it first I think I think it had it had a time frame in there it did start let me let me look that up sorry okay we can but that can that can take care it's not going to be next week I mean it'll be the end of the month I think or the first week of March it's it's I know it was supposed to be okay I think this process had to happen in February and then we hopefully can meet by the end of February we be so maybe we'll put out a doodle PLL when what days of the week and then figure out yeah what day of the week works for folks and figure out how to proceed so and then from that point forward once we have a chair the chair will be able to do that just put out the doodle pole and make sure everybody can meet on a regular basis I think that would probably the best way to work but the Callin Center will be driving a little bit of this first one correct yeah and they'll drive it as much as you want them to drive it I don't I think they can they'll drive it as much as you want them to drive it yeah I think the first meeting is that will be the the biggest part for us just to make we'll go over the charter and some of the discussion that we've had um and I guess some expectations from our our board um about working together and some of that stuff Diane will give you guys a quick briefing on um open meeting law and things like that just so you're aware of the how the meetings need to be run legal side of it um and then the Callin we'll just hand it off to the Callins Center and let you guys have had it and you can blast them with all the questions you need and um it'll be great come up with a schedule and time frame y we'll get it get yeah try to get a six-month schedule for you guys at least or 3mon chunks so you guys know what's coming so you can prepare for it and things like that whatever works whatever works for you guys and thank you all this is absolutely fantastic uh this is a exciting um could be some huge changes could be some very small changes I think but change like was said by a member here is a good thing so I'm excited hopefully we'll do a good job of implementing all the changes that are suggested right yes doubl on details right yes see in two years no what are you waiting for thank Youk thank you all thanks everyone everybody any questions please reach out to to through Jim's office so uh someone want to make a motion to adjourn so moved second move by uh Chuck second by Karen all those in favor Matthew hi Karen hi Chuck Chuck's ey Gary Gary's ey marks and I thank you everyone