Aldermen Amend, Pass DPW Director Ordinance Changes

The Melrose Board of Aldermen on Monday night approved a change to the city ordinances regarding the director of position, after amending the proposal to re-insert the board's confirmation authority over the DPW director position and the length of the director's appointment, while adding alderman representation to the city's water rate setting board.

Mayor Rob Dolan asked for the ordinance change so that John Scenna, current Melrose DPW assistant superintendent, with current DPW Superintendent Bob Beshara stepping down into a city engineer and director of projects position.

The city ordinance had required that DPW superintendent role to be filled by a registered professional engineer, while Dolan sought to separate the director's role and the city engineer's role, as most other nearby communities have done.

Alderman at-Large Don Conn, Jr. to separate the public works director and city engineer's roles. However, the proposed changes would've also eliminated the aldermen's role in confirming the appointment of the public works director, and likewise would not endow the aldermen with any confirmation over a mayoral appointment to the city engineer position.

Also, the ordinance change would remove the three-year appointment stipulation from the public works director position, which Conn wanted to see reinstated.

Lastly, the proposed city ordinance establishes a Water Rate Review Committee that consists of the city engineer, the city auditor and city treasurer, similar to the current ordinance minus the DPW superintendent, which proposes rates to the aldermen. Conn expressed a desire to have alderman representation on the committee.

On Monday night, Conn said that he conferred with Melrose City Solicitor Rob Van Campen, who said that because the city engineer is not a department head position, it's not a position that would be subject to confirmation by the aldermen.

Rescinding his proposal that would add board confirmation to the city engineer position, Conn asked the board to pass an amendment reinstating board confirmation authority for the DPW director and setting the position's term for three years, and another amendment adding an alderman to the Water Rate Review Committee.

Amendments Both Pass

The amendment regarding the DPW director position passed by an 8-2 vote, needing eight 'yes' votes to pass, with Ward 4 Alderman Bob Boisselle and Ward 3 Alderman Frank Wright voting 'no.'

Wright said he did not oppose retaining confirmation authority over the DPW position, but had concerns with the three-year term because of the four-year term of the mayor, which he believed could result in a DPW director potentially carrying over under a new administration.

"I think it’s important the mayor have say over who his department heads are," he said.

Conn said that historically "many" of the city department heads created by ordinance were appointed for three-year terms and that he has not seen problems arise in the past.

Alderman at-Large Mary Beth McAteer Margolis added that while was "a little hesitant" to support because of the difference in term lengths, Mayor Rob Dolan wrote a letter to the board supporting Conn's proposed changes. She added that under the city charter, the mayor should still have power to remove department heads—despite term length—under certain circumstances.

"If there’s a change in administration, and an issue, I believe there’s a process where that person could be removed," McAteer Margolis said.

The amendment to add an alderman to the Water Rate Review Committee passed unanimously.

Conn also noted that the ordinance proposal includes changing the position title from 'superintendent of public works' to 'director of public works' and, in some spots, the 'superintendent' title was still in use. The board voted 9-1 to make those changes, with Boisselle opposed.

Finally, with the amended ordinances proposal on the table, the board voted 8-2 to approve, with Boisselle and Ward 7 Alderman William Forbes voting 'no.'