TOWN OF
Chairman
Other
attendees:
Town Manager
Recorder:
The
following are meeting minutes, in brief:
MOTION: Move that the Board of Selectmen vote to take
agenda items out of order
Motion by:
When I made
the decision to run for selectman a year ago, I believed that I could make a
valuable contribution to the stabilization of our community.
I have years
of successful fiscal management experience in various business settings in
Provincetown, a solid knowledge of the property assessing principals, along
with municipal financial practices.
In addition, I
am one of the few individuals in town who have expertise in affordable housing
management and compliance administration, due to my employment as the property
management coordinator at Community Housing Resource.
This last point has indeed posed
potential conflicts of interest for me serving on this board.
This is why even before I was elected, I
contacted the state ethics board to obtain an opinion regarding what I can and
can’t speak to when housing policy discussions come before the selectmen.
I received a detailed letter from them,
which provided me with clear instructions on when I needed to recuse from
policy discussions.
To the best of my understanding, I have
followed these instructions thoroughly for the past year, and I am fully
confident that I have acted appropriately and respectfully of State Ethics
Guidelines.
Housing issues
continue to dominate public discussion, and with good reason. The list of households seeking affordable
housing continues to grow, and when faced with no options, many individuals are
leaving town.
The outflow of
year round residents from
It affects our
workforce, our schools, our senior population, and the very fabric of community
is being threatened.
Unfortunately,
the public discussion regarding housing has been filled with rumor,
misunderstanding, and in some cases outright lies.
I have found
this enormously frustrating because I care deeply about this town, and the
families that live here.
As I’ve
observed this conversation, I’ve realized that I cannot continue to remain
silent regarding affordable housing in
This is why I
ran for office and this is why I can no longer sit on this board. Therefore, I
am submitting my resignation effective immediately.
Before I
conclude, I want to say that this board has worked diligently to prepare a
level funded budget for town meeting.
This was no
small feat. We started with a deficit of
over $900,000. Countless hours were put
in by
There were
fixed costs over which we had no control, and we had to make hard decisions to
preserve valuable services, and the employees that deliver those services.
Valuable services are being presented as overrides so that the voters can
decide whether they want to pay for these services. I urge the voters to support these overrides,
as I believe these services are critical to the function of our town.
In conclusion,
I want to thank my supporters who believed that I could make a contribution to
stabilizing our community.
I now believe
that I can be most effective in our efforts to stabilize our community from the
other side of this table, and I look forward to continuing my efforts to
strengthen the community in this manner.
*******
Well wishes were
extended to Pam.
Other business:
Keith Amato
MOTION: The
Board of Selectmen vote to concluded that Keith Amato does have a conflict, and
should recuse himself from the discussion regarding
Motion by:
Yea 3 Nay 0
Abstain 1(
Discussion of
TOWN MEETING WARRANT ARTICLES for Monday.
Post meeting for
Motion to
adjourn by
Minutes
submitted for approval: Vernon G. Porter,