Dear Editor,

About two weeks ago I resigned from the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”). The three local newspapers covering the Tri-Town area all had articles about my departure.  In each of these articles portions of my resignation letter are quoted.  The reporters then apparently contacted the Town Clerk and provided her with ample opportunity to comment on the issues raised in my letter and to take a few shots at me.  None of these reporters contacted me or felt that I should be provided an opportunity to respond.  If any of them had felt that balanced reporting involved speaking with both parties in any dispute, this is what they would have heard.

I have been on the ZBA for over a decade.  This is a volunteer position that all members undertake in addition to their full-time jobs and other personal commitments.  In the past I have been sworn in by the Town Clerk when I have been re-appointed.  Naida Parker, the Town Clerk, states that in the past, I have never had a problem coming to Town Hall to get sworn in.  That is not true.  In the past I have gone to Town Hall on occasions only to be turned away because the Town Clerk was not there (even though the office was open).  On this occasion, I made two trips to town hall in an effort to get sworn in.  On both occasions she was not there.  I inquired if she was on vacation and was informed that she was not.  When I asked where she was all I encountered were shoulder shrugs and head shakes.  This is what I found frustrating.  Like every other member of the ZBA I work out of town.  I am told that I need to come get sworn so I take time from work to do so twice, only to find that the person we pay to act as Town Clerk apparently is busy doing other things.  

Since we had a meeting scheduled, and since three members needed to be sworn in, I then sent an e-mail to Ms. Parker asking her to come by our next meeting so that I would be able to have a quorum and conduct the board’s business.  Her response was “I will be there.”

The day of the hearing I had a commitment from four members to be there and two needed to be sworn in.  I called Ms. Parker to remind her about the meeting and her response was to inform me that she had no idea what I was talking about.  I reminded her that she had previously said that she would come by our meeting and she denied it.  She then informed me that she had a personal commitment in New Bedford at 7:00 p.m., but if the Board wanted to come to the meeting an hour early to get sworn in, then she would try to stop by at 6:30 p.m. before she left.  I could not make it that early (nor could the other unsworn member), so I sent her a copy of her e-mail confirming her promise.  I again asked her to honor her commitment so that I did not have to cancel the meeting.  Her response was that she had consulted with Town Counsel, and it now apparently was not all that important that I get sworn in, As she said, you can take care of it later!  So now our paid employee was wasting the time of our paid town counsel to convince this volunteer board member that the oath of office was not really all that important, and apparently not really needed anyway!.  Now I was furious.  If the oath is not important, then why has every member of every volunteer board in town had to go out of their way to get sworn in whenever re-appointments issue?  What has suddenly changed other than the fact that our town clerk has personal commitments which apparently conflict with her job duties?

Since she refused to move, I had no choice but to cancel the meeting.  Although I was frustrated with the indifference of this elected official I decided to try again.  I sent another request through our board’s secretary for her to come to our next meeting to swear in the members and was told that the ZBA members could either come one hour early on Thursday when we meet, or they could come by on Mondays when it was apparently convenient for her.  It really boiled to down to simple math for me.  What seemed more prudent, a slight inconvenience to one paid employee, or inconvenience to three volunteer board members who also worked full-time?  This is what Ms. Parker refers to as my apparent need to be “catered” to.  Can you imagine?  This is the same person who, while wearing her selectwoman’s hat, was against closing town hall on Fridays during the summer because the constituents deserve a certain level of service from their town employees.  Apparently this expectation does not extend volunteer board members in the community.  

Did I asked for an accommodation?  Yes.  Absolutely. But only after two wasted trips to town hall and her failure to honor her promise to come to our meeting.  She makes it sound like I woke up one day and decided that Ms. Parker needed to come to me.  If you or I did this in our jobs we probably wouldn’t have jobs. This is the same arrogant attitude Ms. Parker displayed during  the dog licensing fiasco of the recent past, and her ill-fated stint as Town Treasurer.  She is right, this is stupidity, I guess we just disagree on which side of the ledger the stupidity lies.

Ms. Parker also made the comment that I apparently have some undefined “personal agenda.”  That, I must admit, is true.  My agenda is to carry out the duties of my appointment.  To provide an expeditious, fair, respectful and legally sound hearing for any person who comes before the ZBA.  What I find difficult to reconcile is the fact that as Selectman Ms. Parker felt that I apparently remained qualified to serve in this role when I was re-appointed.  Then, as Town Clerk, she hindered the ability of the board to function and left the ZBA in a state of confusion and disaray.  My only hope was to bring the issue to a head by submitting my letter of resignation.  I had hoped that maybe the Selectmen would respond to my letter and the issue could be addressed in such a manner that the ZBA could once again function as it was mandated (with as little inconvenience to our Town Clerk as possible).  However, according to the meeting minutes, all that was mentioned was an acknowledgment of my letter and a motion by Selectwomen Parker to send me a letter of appreciation.  Can you imagine that?

Richard J. Manning Jr.

Rochester