Liz Christo Appointed to Mansfield Finance Committee

The Mansfield Board of Selectmen voted 5-0 to accept Mansfield resident Lis Christo’s application for a position on the finance committee.

Christo is the first appointment to the finance committee after six former members resigned in lay April after the town meeting. Their reasons were the topic of much debate, but essentially consisted of complaints of financial sustainability within the town.

Christo said she has worked in the finance department for many private educational institutions. She has also been involved with several Mansfield committees and institutions in the past and present, such as the Mansfield Elementary School Association, Mansfield Town Manager Search Committee and the Mansfield Scouts.

One of the main issues presented by the selectmen to Christo during the interview was impartiality.

“It’s very important on this committee to do the best you can to look at the entire picture; not to take sides, but to make a descicion that you think is the best for the town,” selectman Jess Aptowitz said. “You have to try to figure out what the needs and wants are and sift through that…you have to be able to really sit down and be as impartial as possible.”

Christo replied that, while she has a vested interest in the schools of the town, having three children in the school system, she has vested interests in many aspects of the town.

“I get involved with things that are important to me and that affect my life,” she said. “So yes, I have been involved in the schools because of my children. I am also an active member in this town. I know that doesn’t become as visible because people see me as very visibly in the schools. I get up and speak at the school committee,  I’ve been a MESA president, but that’s because my life is very school focused now. I would think that if my kids were out of school you’d see a very different side. So yes I’m a parent, but that doesn’t mean I’m a school person [in the political sense].”

Christo said she can bring her financial experience to the table as well as her definition of transparency. She explained that, since transparency has so many definitions, it’s hard to know what someone means as a private citizen when making important decisions for the town.

“I think we need to learn what the residents want, what the people want,” she said. “ We all have different expectations – transparent is such a broad word. What do you mean transparent? Numbers? Opinions? How something actually works? Processes? I’d love to see it all. I’m someone who has been paying attention for a long time and there’s stuff that I don’t understand.”

Christo admitted that her experience in finance has been in the private sector, as all the educational institutions she used to work at were private. Town Manager William Ross said there are workshops for just such information.

Ross added that before she can participate in meetings, she must first be sworn in by the town clerk and take an ethics exam from the state.