Selectman's $2K Bonus Draws Criticism

Monday’s decision to give another selectman a compensation for his extra effort outside of board meetings has not gone over well for many in town.

Now-retired selectman George Infanti proposed giving chair Bruce Bowler $2,000 for filling in for town administrator Jim O’Mara’s duties during his paid leave, as well as his research efforts into fire/ems wages.

The motion passed 2-1, with Bowler abstaining from the vote. Selectman Dwight Brew opposed the decision, while selectman Brad Galinson was absent. The two had opposed the proposal when it was put to a vote in a February board meeting, which was shot down in a 2-2 vote.

“I absolutely acknowledge that Bruce did an awful lot of work,” said Brew on Monday. “I'm not comfortable compensating members of the board over and above for extra work.”

Infanti said that Bowler had spent up to 100 hours filling in during O’Mara’s month-long paid leave, and added Monday that he had also put considerable time into researching wages in other towns. 

“I’ve never known a chairman or a member of the board to go to the extremes that Bruce has,” said Infanti.

Bowler would not comment on the matter when asked on Tuesday.

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This decision has not gone over well for some, especially after the board had been hit with a wave of criticism for its mishandling of a DPW truck purchase.

Former Amherst selectman Bill Overholt was the first to criticize the board for their decision. He called for them to reconsider this “poor decision” in a letter on Amherst Patch.

“Now, I can tell you as an ex-selectman that I, and all of my colleagues, did a lot of extra work from time-to-time on one subject or another, such as the time when we were between town administrators, and did so happily. We knew when we ran for the job, that occasionally, it would be more demanding than we bargained for. I doubt if any of us would have considered, much less accepted, additional compensation.”

Another former board member, Marilyn Peterman, said on Tuesday that she was very disappointed that the selectmen would pay one of their own additional money for doing their job. She said that this has never been done in all of her years serving as a selectman, even when they have gone above and beyond in their duties. 

“If we got paid extra for extra work, we would bankrupt the town,” said Peterman.

She added that former chair Steve Desmarais took over town administrator duties for months during an investigation into a $40,000 embezzlement by former town administrator Dana Crowell.

“I am disappointed in the vote and disappointed in the selectman who took the money. I think he should return it,” she said.

Former selectman Reed Panasiti said that taking the vote in Galinson’s absence was wrong, and the vote should have been taken with a full board present.

“I think it was poor taste,” he said.