Mansfield Finance Committee Back at Full Strength

The Mansfield Board of Selectmen appointed the last two positions onto the Finance Committee last week.

James Ragazzo and John Scott Feely won the positions against one other candidate (Yogen Chemburkar). Both positions have a term limit set to expire in January of 2013.

This marks the first time that Mansfield has had a full committee since all but one of their . Committee members stated that the use of free cash (one-time use funds) for the operations budget was their main reason for resigning, and the colored the interview process.

Feely works for State Street Global Advisors and Ragazzo owns his own business. Ragazzo has also served on the Mansfield Planning Board.

Selectman George Dentino asked Ragazzo about his concerns on a town budget which is split between 80 percent going towards salaries and 20 percent in the operations budget.

“I have a lot of experience in corporate American,” Ragazzo said. “Any expense item needs to be thoroughly understood before you can make a determination clearly. I understand we’re looking at a highly weight situation on both the school and town side and on salaries versus operations.“

Ragazzo went on to say that minimizing expenses would his first idea for helping to slim budget gaps.

“We should look for possibilities of consolidation,” he said. “I know it’s a short answer to a long question. We should look to see if we can consolidate, merge and create more efficiency. Just because we have that huge amount of fixed items doesn’t mean those line items are untouchable. Everything needs to be looked at when you’re balancing a budget.”

Selectmen Kevin Moran asked what each member would do if, like last April, there was a disagreement between selectmen and the Finance Committee involving how the budget should proceed.

“In the corporate world, taking a dogmatic approach significantly reduces your chances of success,” Feely said.

Selectmen also asked the pair about what they would do in a budget override situation.

“I don’t think there’s any one answer,” Feely said. “I agree that there has to be an ongoing process. I don’t think you could put a budget together in such a short period of time. If we’re going to be successful in the environment we’re in.

Ragazzo agreed.

“Never say never,” he said.