|
|
Selectmen interview candidates for Finance Committee
July 24,
2012 |
|
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.com
WILBRAHAM — The Board of Selectmen met and interviewed three candidates for the Finance Committee, which is currently attempting to fill its vacancies.
Finance Committee Chair Susan Bunnell told the board that the nine-member committee has three open positions and has had difficulty reaching a quorum.
"We are down three members and the bylaw states the definition of a quorum for the Finance Committee is five," she said. "We have actually had to exercise the remote participation option recently."
Nancy Piccin, Anthony Scibelli and Nicholas Manolakis went before the board individually, bringing with them a vast array of experience.
Piccin, a 20-year resident of Wilbraham, is a former journalist, having covered the towns of Hampden, Ludlow and Wilbraham 25 years ago. She currently works as an analyst and trade reporter.
"I've always been interested in town meeting government," she said. "I would like to do some service for the town, but am not interested in an elected office. I was approached about this position and thought it was something I could help with."
Piccin graduated from Colby College with a degree in economics, then later returned to school at Westfield State University where she majored in English and journalism and was eventually hired by a professor who served as an editor for a local newspaper where she worked for 18 years.
Piccin said she is ready and willing to engage in heavy debate, which Board of Selectmen Chair Robert Boilard said was a major part of the job.
Scibelli, who has been a resident for 12 years after moving from Springfield, recently finished a six-year stint as the town moderator.
"By being moderator, I got to know a lot about the town," he said. "It was fascinating because in Springfield, they spent the money, then told you what happened. Here, the residents have a very real say in how money is spent."
A Cathedral High School graduate, he received a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and finished his education at Suffolk College Law School. He has been practicing law in Massachusetts since 1970.
Manolakis was by far the youngest candidate.
Having spent his entire life in Wilbraham, he graduated Minnechaug Regional High School in 2008 and most recently completed his bachelor's degree in finance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass).
When asked by Selectman James Thompson what the town does well, Manolakis said the town's education was top-notch.
"The education is great. When I went to UMass, I was already head and shoulders above most of my classmates," he said. "My first year, they were basically just re-teaching stuff I learned in high school and while I was cruising, others were struggling to understand what I already knew."
Manolakis admitted he did not have any direct exposure to municipal finance, but had studied it in school. He also welcomed spirited debate.
"Debate is healthy and the only way things can be done successfully," he said.
The Board of Selectmen chose to take no action regarding any appointments to the Finance Committee in order to make sure anyone else interested in the position had an opportunity to interview.
|
  
Comments From Our Readers:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
