Appointments Committee

CITY OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES OF MEETING OF NOVEMBER 2, 2022 The Appointment Committee meeting was called to order by Chair Council George C. Tyros at 3:30 p.m. Appointment Committee Members Councilor Judy Mack, and Councilor James Walsh were present. Also present was Mayor Nicholson, Joshua Cormier, Director of Purchasing/Civil Enforcement, and Assistant City Clerk Faith Glover. ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPEN MEETING RECORDINGS: Any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session of a meeting, or may transmit the meeting through any medium, subject to reasonable requirements of the chair as to the number, placement and operation of equipment used so as not to interfere with the conduct of the meeting. Any person intending to make such recording shall notify the Chair forthwith. All documents and exhibits used or referenced at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the City Clerk, as they become part of the Meeting Minutes. This information is also posted on the wall by the door for review. Chair Tyros: Is anyone recording today’s meeting? Is anyone recording today’s meeting. I. Reading and Approval of Minutes of Prior Meeting. On a motion made by Councilor James Walsh and seconded by Councilor Judy Mack, it was voted to approve the Minutes of the meetings of October 12, 2022. II. Appointments: 10811- A Measure Confirming the Mayor’s Appointment of Joshua Cormier for the position of Director of Purchasing/Civil Enforcement expiring October 11, 2025. (In the City Council and Referred to Appointments Committee 10/17/2022). Mayor’s Statement: Mr. Cormier has served in this role before, this is a reappointment. I have been impressed and happy working with Director Cormier. Joshua has been in this role since I have been here for the past two years. Joshua has his MCPPO certification. Joshua has dotted every eye he can and every T which is what is exactly what the job is meant to do. I believe that has played a part in the past couple of audits that we’ve had, these audits come back with no recommendations. Everything is checked before the money is spent. This is possible because of Joshua, Treasurer, Jennifer Dymek, and our auditor John Richard. Joshua plays an important crucial role on that team. Joshua does it well and very enthusiastically. Joshua Cormier Statement: I was appointed in October of 2019; it’s been a fun ride. I have served under four mayors. Six months into my position as a purchasing director and practicing of normal Municipal purchasing, we needed to start purchasing PPE items to protect our police, fire, EMT’s and we purchased for various non-profits in the community to help with that process. Although it has been a very intense process it also has been very enjoyable. I have been around the city for about 20 plus years, although it is a different role, it’s a role I take a lot of pride in. As the mayor said, we have three major procurement laws we run by, these laws dictate how we proceed based on purchases or service or contract. As when as the City Charter. We have gone to a paperless process for purchase orders to make the departments more efficient. By doing this we have saved us about a thousand pieces plus in the last four months since the fiscal year started. We shifted to a DocuSign contract 11-2-2022 Appointment Committee Minutes Page 1 of 5  CITY OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES OF MEETING OF NOVEMBER 2, 2022 management system which eliminated the three copies of the contract and supporting documents. When it came back, we would sign it, then issue to different department heads, because there’s a six-signature block. The vendor, the department head the purchasing agent (Joshua), city solicitor, city auditor and the mayor. We have saved at least 10 pages of paper every contract we have done over the past three years. I am proud of the work we’ve done. Thank you! Councilor James Walsh: I happened to be acting mayor when the pandemic first presented itself in March 2020. The effort it took to get protective equipment and materials, it was a challenge to order because we did not know where to go. Joshua did a great job finding resources and coordinating with the officials that had to be contacted to get these kinds of items. Our civil defense director as well as coordination with them. I have had first-hand knowledge of the efforts in the tracking of these items. The mayor is the last of the persons to sign contracts, whether you are the acting mayor or the elected mayor, I am sure that the DocuSign has streamlined that process immeasurable, so congratulations! Joshua Cormier: Contracts that use to take weeks, we did one today that took 25 minutes this makes us more efficient as well as less paperwork. Councilor Judy Mack: Do you find that the purchasing process and what the departments are requesting is done in an efficient manner? I guess what I am asking are the people searching for the best price for the city. Joshua Cormier: It varies from department; some departments do a better job of it. Quarterly we send out information on the procedures we have in the department based on the credit card usage, surplus, property disposal and then the purchasing. We advise the departments if they are going to make a large purchase and they need help, please contact us first and we can help them find the best price. The credit card reconciliation is quite difficult for the city. There are 58-line items on this two-week credit card affiliation and a lot of the Amazon prices have since changed since the purchase order happened. Some of that is on Amazon, some of that is on the company we buy from. The reason is that the Munis process does take a bit of time. Entering a requisition, the approval process could take a couple of weeks, so it does change. I hope I have answered your questions. Councilor Judy Mack Yes, thank you! Motion on Recommendation: On a motion by Councilor James Walsh and seconded by Councilor Judy Mack, it was voted to recommend that the City Council confirm the Mayor’s Appointment of Joshua Cormier to the position of Director of Purchasing/Civil Enforcement for a term expiring October 11, 2025. Motion passes. 10830- A measure confirming the Mayor’s Appointment of Nicholas Maroni for the position of Deputy Chief of Police, Gardner Police Department expiring October 27, 2025. Mayor’s statement: Deputy Chief Maroni has been with the Gardner Police Department since 2010 working his way up the rank of Sargent in 2014 and the rank of Lieutenant in 2018. The work that he has been doing through his time as a police officer, let alone when he was heading up the community policing division of the police department. As in his lieutenant role, he is out there in the community, the people know who he is, if you talk to people from Alyssa’s Place, GCAT and different Community organizations that are out there they know who Nick Moroney is. That sticks out in the community, having someone who’s in the top level of the police department who really knows the community as well as these two gentlemen next to 11-2-2022 Appointment Committee Minutes Page 2 of 5  CITY OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES OF MEETING OF NOVEMBER 2, 2022 me know the community. Deputy Chief Maroney really complements Chief McAvene leadership styles. I am excited about this team that we have put forward to lead the Gardner Police Department. I believe that this has helped the department to grow and just become a true community police department. Chief McAvene: I have worked together with Deputy Chief Maroney since 2010 on different projects and on the streets through the years. I believe that DC Maroney has done great things with the community policing program in the city. The senior citizens police academy, DC Maroney created himself and he would like it to be ongoing. The Junior Police Academy that he has created for the community, is nothing short of spectacular. It was tough during Covid to keep these programs, but it worked out. We hear it from other communities, “how did you do that” or why did you do it like this? Maroney is forward thinking and progressive, the community will reap the benefits from this for decades to come. I could not be prouder to have him by my side. Deputy Chief Maroney: I am honored to serve with the Gardner Police Department. I came here 2010 from Athol Police Department, I felt right at home here, I spend more time in Gardner then I do in Athol. My son plays sports here in Gardner, I really feel proud of the community, I really enjoy working with the community. The programs are great, but the programs would not work if we did not have the officers that are working with us, they are willing to step up and help whenever I ask for it. I feel that speaks volume to the police department. Community relations are good, community policing is embedded in our department. The younger officers are out there in the community. They just had trick- ortreating, which we had a grant to pay for the extra officers that were out there in the community. There is a great relationship with the community and police dept. I am looking forward to what the future is going to bring to the city of Gardner and the Police department. Councilor James Walsh: 1) What has been you biggest challenge for you either in your “de facto role or in the temporary role with the senior management position? 2)What have you learned during that period. Deputy Chief Maroney: Making sure that we are following post procedures and getting everyone certified in a timely manner. There is a lot that goes into that. I have learned that there is a lot that goes into budgeting. That was my first time doing the budget. My biggest challenge is getting used to hearing people calling me Deputy Chief, that was weird. My biggest challenge is getting a handle on my time management. I still want to be involved in community, but I also want to bring a different look to the Deputy Chief position, more community involvement. Councilor James Walsh: One more question, the DC position has typically been a” hard Ass” position, how will you approach the position? Deputy Chief Maroney: I am a big component of communication, if I must be hard on somethings I will sit down and have a conversation so they will know where I am coming from. Sometimes I over communicate, but I feel that it is better to over rather not communicate at all. Councilor Judy Mack: I have had the pleasure of working with the Deputy Chief through 11-2-2022 Appointment Committee Minutes Page 3 of 5  CITY OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES OF MEETING OF NOVEMBER 2, 2022 the “Handle With Care Initiative”. The communication between the police department and the support systems of the public schools is very important, there is a lot going on in these children’s lives and I hope that initiative continues even though you are new in this role. That is key under the deputy chief’s tutelage. I want to commend the collaboration you both had during the vacancies at the police station. I have heard nothing but positive things from other officers during that time. Getting back to what council Walsh is referring to, never forget where you came from, working your way up through the ranks. I think it is great that you do not want to spend all your time in the office, you still want to be “out there”. Thank you for stepping up to this responsibility. Council George C. Tyros: I look forward to this appointment and I think that you were an excellent choice in our community to be Deputy Chief. Motion on Recommendation: Motion made by Councilor Judy Mack and seconded by Councilor James Walsh to recommend the mayor’s appointment. Motion passed unanimously. III. New Business Mayor: Now that we have both the Chief and Deputy Chief filled, we now have two open lieutenants’ positions in the police department. Still waiting on the legislature to act on the Civil service bill, it seems to be stuck in the house committee on the third reading. There are 32 other civil service removal bills statewide. It seems that the Civil Service Commission itself is the one who is fighting these bills. Chris Starzinski and Roger Cormier are going to be acting sergeants in the department. John Czasnowski, acting Lieutenants, will be overseeing the Community Police Department. Matthew Arsenault acting lieutenants, will be overseeing the Detective Bureau at the Police Department. We are preparing to pull a civil service list to fill the five vacant patrol vacancies that we have in the department. Detective Kolimaga will retire as of November 30th, 2022, and Officer Lawrence will retire in January of 2024. We have Angel Estrada, Gardner resident, in the academy, his temporary certificate has been submitted as well. If the legislature does not vote on Civil Service on the petitions that we have submitted by January 1, 2024, the process will have to restart from the beginning. Councilor James Walsh: Nothing to add. APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES OF MEETING Councilor Judy Mack: Nothing to add. Councilor George Tyros: On a motion by Councilor James Walsh and seconded by Councilor Judy Mack all agree to adjourned. Meeting Adjourned: 3:53 pm. 11-2-2022 Appointment Committee Minutes Page 4 of 5