Barbs Fly Freely at Wild BudCom Officer Appointment Meeting

An eventful Budget Commitee officer appointment meeting Wednesday saw Dane Hoover, who has served on the committee for one year, elected as chairman.

Hoover saw a 7-1-1 vote approving his nomination, with Salem School Board member and committee representative Pamela Berry voting against him while regular member Paul Huard abstained.

Huard acted as chairman prior to the appointment after former Chairman Russell Frydryck was voted out on March 12.

Criticisms ran wild during the lengthy election process, starting with Berry, who slammed Hoover for what she referred to as poor attendance last year.

"I think he had a commitment issue getting here on time and that bothered me greatly," she said. "I thought it was disrespectful to the voters and disrespectful to the other board members."

While Berry said the criticisms were nothing personal, she also slammed Hoover for having learning curve issues last year. She said that he often asked questions that were more of a personal nature rather than broader town or school issues.

"I don't think he has the experience and I don't think he really understands his role as a budget committee member," she said.

In contrast, Berry praised committee member Robert Bryant, who was also nominated for chairman. She said he has the experience having previously served as chairman of the school board.

Hoover took exception to Berry's comments, starting with a response to his attendance record.

"I don't understand where you're going with that," he said, adding that he was only late for one meeting last year due to a commitment with his four kids.

"I've run multi-million dollar businesses," he continued. "I've had as many as 195 employees. I don't know what you know about me, but I'm perfectly qualified to run the meeting here."

Selectmen Representative Stephen Campbell also joined the fracas, saying that he thinks a chairman and officers should reflect the majority of the board, which he said is conservative given its three new members.

"I think it comes down to – Pam may like Bob (Bryant's) philosophy better than Dane (Hoover's)."

Berry immediately responded that she had a problem with Campbell putting words in her mouth.

"If this is going to be the tenor of this year’s budget committee meetings then I have a problem," responded Berry. "He has alrady characterized and criticized the sitting board members on their philosophy. There isn’t a more crude and disrespectful thing to do than that. As a board member I am horrified that he said that about all of you."

Regular member Barry Pietrantonio agreed with Berry, saying he took Campbell's comments as an insult and that he believes the entire board to be conservative.

Campbell countered that while Berry might be horrified, she started the negativity by criticizing Hoover first rather than starting with Bryant's good qualities.

Prior to Hoover's being elected, Bryant requested his name be removed from consideration.

Huard called Campbell's comments "outrageous," saying that if that were true, a president would have to be Republican every time there was a Republican-controlled House, and the Senate.

"If we're making this group political, then I'm very sad for Salem," said Huard.

Huard was also nominated as chairman, but he declined.

The election for vice chairman also saw sparks fly, as new members Martha Spaulding and Paul Welch nominated each other. Bryant was also nominated.

Berry suggested that the procedure must have been discussed ahead of time by all of the members, while she certainly didn't discuss it with anyone.

Spaulding was eventually removed from consideration and Welch was elected after Hoover split a 4-4 tie by casting the deciding vote.

By a 6-2-1 vote, new member Steven Plante was elected as committee secretary.