Mary Byrne
Before an audience of about two dozen seniors, town officials ensured residents at the Beech Street Center that Wednesday morning’s listening session wouldn’t be the last.
“We all view this as a first conversation, not the one and only,” said Council on Aging Chair Karen Donelan.
Previous Coverage
- COA Seeking More Say In Reconfiguration Plan
- Human Services Reorganization Plan Met with Resistance From COA
- Town Streamlining Recreation, COA and Veterans Services Departments
The listening session, which included Donelan, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, and Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne, followed months of controversy surrounding the town’s plan to create a Community Services Department by merging the Recreation Department, the Council on Aging, and Veterans Affairs.
The plan, which aims to address redundancies in administrative roles in the Recreation Department and Council on Aging, involves restructuring the departments so one office administrator serves both town departments. Each department, however, will have dedicated programming personnel and other relevant staffing to maintain operations.
On Wednesday, Garvin said her intentions were the same as they were when the Department of Public Works, the Recreation Department, and the Planning & Building Department underwent a reorganization.
“Things are so different now than when the structure was first created,” she said.
As part of the reconfiguration, the Recreation Department administration will join the Council on Aging at the Beech Street Center. Officials have emphasized, however, that seniors will always have priority for using the space.
“The Select Board does take responsibility for the breakdown in communication [between the Select Board and Council on Aging],” said Dionne after welcoming the group to the center.
She explained that a year ago, the board agreed there were too many commissions and committees for the Select Board members to get to as liaisons. There remained a connection between the two boards through then-Select Board member Mark Paolillo, but after he stepped down, that line of communication was dropped.
To resolve that, Select Board member Matt Taylor recently stepped up to serve as the board’s liaison to the COA board.
Dionne said that in her dealings with the Council on Aging, there seems to be a significant overlap in goals, namely, ensuring quality social services and addressing administrative challenges.
One attendee asked if there was any point in the listening sessions, given that so many decisions on the reorganization had already been made.
Dionne, acknowledging that the implementation has moved faster than anticipated, said that as vacancies came up, they needed to be filled.
Others had questions about budget impacts with the change, to which Garvin said the budget process is beginning.
“We are going to be looking at how the new structure fits in and making sure there’s no loss in head count,” Garvin said. The Council on Aging, she added, will be kept updated.
Karen Nichols, a Friend of the Belmont Council on Aging, brought up the issue of job descriptions, emphasizing that the the most important quality of the program director should be to be available to seniors. She also said that the name of the position, “Director of Programming” limits the scope of the role; instead, she suggested the title of Director of the Council on Aging.
“The whole purpose of the restructure is for that purpose,” Garvin responded. “It frees up people to focus solely on seniors, and another [person] to focus on staff.”
Nichols added that the job isn’t just “putting programs in place,” but about making connections with and for seniors.
Town officials reiterated that Donelan and COA member Judith Morrison would be brought into the selection process as soon as two finalists are identified. At least one Council on Aging member, Tommasina Olson, expressed frustration that the 11-member board would not be included.
There was also criticism for the lack of a job description for the highest position, the Director of Community Services, which will likely be assumed by interim Council on Aging Director Brandon Fitts. Garvin said this was a reflection of her limited staff and resources. Still, she noted that much of what Fitts already does is just in need of being codified.
People also questioned what role volunteers will play in the new structure, and one person asked that the organizational chart be posted at the Beech Street Center.
A past volunteer emphasized to town leadership that moving forward, seniors are asked about what does and doesn’t work.
Asked whether the Council on Aging had taken a vote on the reorganization or hopes to, Donelan said that a motion on the matter has yet to be made, despite her effort to initiate one. That said, much of what members have been requesting more of is information, and in more recent weeks, it’s been committed that the Select Board would reinstate the liaison and the board would have a say in the selection process.
“We’re still awaiting the opportunity to contribute in the budget cycle,” Donelan said.
Alex Pollock said that while everything “in terms of function,” makes sense, the issue is really one of appearance.
“People are feeling like they haven’t been consulted,” she said.
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