Board discusses lack of civic engagement

HOPEDALE - With the help of a local Boy Scout, the Board of Selectmen at its Monday meeting made another plea for residents to come forward and serve on the many town boards and committees with vacancies.

Selectmen Tom Wesley read a letter from Troop 21 Boy Scout Casey Goyette, an Uxbridge resident and Hopedale student working on his citizenship badge, which requires studying a particular local issue.

“The issue I have chosen is the lack of people interested in having a position in town government,” Goyette wrote in a letter to Town Administrator Steven Sette.

Goyette said he wants to know what is being done and how he can help.

According to a spreadsheet of board and committee vacancies, there are more than 50 vacancies. Only a small number of boards are fully staffed.

Selectmen Chairwoman Sandra Biagetti told Goyette, who appeared at the meeting, that she first began her civic service on the Zoning Board of Appeals when suggested to do so by the current Board of Selectmen.

“A lot of people think you have to have some type of experience of knowledge,” she said. “I had nothing. … It’s a scary experience.”

Biagetti, who still serves on the board as well as the School Committee, said people are forced to serve on multiple boards in small towns where civic participation is wanting.

“Other people are afraid to get on boards because it will take up too much of their time,” she said.

Selectman Bob Burns said participation in small-town government gives residents the best chance to make a difference.

“At this level of government, this is the closest you can get to a true democracy,” he said.

In other news, the board voted to appoint Edward Holland, Jr. to the Board of Assessors after being publicly called out as being disrespectful by Burns last month. At the board’s last meeting, Burns publicly apologized.

The board also approved the new job responsibilities for Sette, whose title was changed from town coordinator to town administrator at Annual Town meeting.

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.