Mary Byrne
In an effort to improve staff efficiency, programming, and services, the town is looking to reconfigure its Human Services Department by combining the Recreation Department, the Council on Aging, and Veterans Services under one streamlined organizational structure.
In short, the proposed reorganization involved identifying redundancies in administrative roles in the Recreation Department and Council on Aging and merging them so one office administrator serves both town departments. Each department, however, will have dedicated programming personnel and other relevant staffing to maintain operations.
In addition to creating efficiencies, the proposal has “clear lines of report” and improves customer service and programming potential. According to Select Board Chair Roy Epstein, the reconfiguration aims to address issues that have arisen from resignations and typical turnover in otherwise “thinly staffed departments.”
“The cost savings we do find, considering these budgets are not very large in the town, we want to reinvest into that department,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, noting geriatric care was among the possible uses for that savings.
As part of the reconfiguration, which Garvin proposed to the Select Board at a recent meeting, the Recreation Department administration will join the Council on Aging at the Beech Street Senior Center. This will allow seniors to access the building in the evenings when it is predominantly used for recreation programming.
Garvin emphasized that an existing memorandum of understanding, in which the senior center is granted priority in the use of the building, will still be adhered to. If both departments need the building at the same time for programming, preference will always be given to the Council on Aging.
This relationship also opens the door for more intergenerational programming, she added.
Finally, Veterans Affairs, currently housed at the Board of Health, will move to the Human Services Department.
Recreation Director Brandon Fitts, who is serving as the interim Council on Aging director, would be a likely candidate for moving into the role of Human Services Director, Garvin said.
“Since Brandon has been at the Council on Aging … he has brought to me some challenges with the management structure,” Garvin said. “I believe and know this will address a lot of those concerns we’re having to implement a strong management structure which will create efficiencies and honestly just provide better programming to the residents of the town.”
The transition, she explained, would take place over a year. No physical changes would be made until the library has moved out of the Beech Street Center, but the town will begin to look at how the space at the center is used – though strict adherence to the memorandum will be followed. Given the reconfiguration will require changes to job descriptions, union conversations will be needed before any major changes can be made. There will be no change to the total headcount, according to Garvin.
“In this day and age, you can’t be siloed,” said Select Board Vice Chair Elizabeth Dionne. “This will improve services and programming, but it also increases accountability. More importantly, in my mind, it creates some resilience. … There’s going to be cross-training across departments.”
While the Select Board appeared receptive to the proposal, members of the public expressed some concern.
Siobhan Gallagher said that the Recreation Department’s budget is roughly three times that of the Council on Aging. Additionally, when it comes to programming, the Recreation Department caters far more to the community’s youth than it does to the seniors.
“I guess I’m concerned that by merging these departments, you increase the disparity, for funding, energy, town resources,” Gallagher said. “In every way, you’re saying the Council on Aging is less than every other department in town … I’m proposing the Council on Aging should be on its own and not blended with recreation.”
Council on Aging Chair Karen Donelan said future conversations on the topic will be had with the council; at least one meeting was scheduled. However, she emphasized to town officials that the Council on Aging has been under considerable stress of late.
“Because of the override vote, folks were told their jobs may be eliminated; morale was terrible during that time,” she said.
She added that the library has “taken up a tremendous amount of space and caused a lot of wear and tear.
“I just hope you give us time to process this and to discuss it and to question it and to understand how the dollars move,” Donelan said. “Our people matter a lot, and we’re dealing with a population that has a lot of social and social care needs. … We have some work to do to build the trust that this will be a good thing for people and not just another way to rip off the population.”
Dionne said she agreed that the seniors cost the town very little in terms of the overall budget.
“There are a number of areas where we can and should serve our seniors better than we currently do, and that is sincerely the desire,” she said. “Nothing is going to happen immediately.”
