Heath is in crisis — fiscal, emotional, and ethical. Heath is a small town with no industrial base. We are flirting with the tax levy limit but have limited tools to work with. While cutting costs is our only solution, few offer any constructive ideas.
In the past when a vote affecting the town was taken, whether residents agreed, they accepted the decision and moved on. When the residents voted down the purchase of the Mackey property on Main Street for a new library and additional Town Office space, the proponents of the proposal accepted the decision and moved on.
When the battle over closing the Heath school ended, those deeply disappointed accepted it and moved on. Not so when the residents voted not to give away a $3 million building for $250,000 to a venture capitalist.
Those that did not accept the vote launched a campaign of misinformation, conspiracy theory, and defamation, accusing the Select Board of underhanded behavior. I was shocked by the hard looks, the shunning of former longtime friends, the personal attacks on the Select Board members, and the misleading articles in the Recorder. This behavior turned normal disagreement over a town vote into a town schism.
One way of keeping the schism going is by taking something out of context, telling only part of the story, and by insinuation. A prime example is Michael Smith’s May 2 column “Right the wrong in Heath’s Highway Department.” Let’s add something factual to the column’s “facts.”
Changes in personnel positions or job descriptions are not brought to annual Town Meeting, they are under the authority of the Select Board. What is brought to ATM is any unbudgeted increase in salary. To add foreman responsibilities to the mechanic position description meant reevaluation and regrading of the position.
In November when Select Board member Brian DeVriese made the statement about bringing this to ATM, he was referring to the fact that the salary increase had to be budgeted and that had to be done at ATM.
As it turned out by the time the position change was actually made, it was determined that there would be enough funds in the highway salary account to give the employee a slight increase in pay, although the increase did not bring the wage to the new classification pay grade. The reason for the available funds is that there was a two-week gap between when a former employee retired, and the new employee began to work for the town.
All the current employees, when they were first hired, did not have all the required licenses, but were hired with the understanding that these licenses would be obtained as soon as possible. The employee in question did have his hoister’s license before being hired in Heath, but had not renewed it since it was not required for his previous employment. He is on the COVID backlogged list to take the test and regain this license as soon as possible. He does have his CDL, his certification for adjusting air brakes, and over 35 years of experience working with heavy equipment.
Neither of the skilled laborers applied for the original mechanic position job when it was posted. The job change was not advertised because it was not a new position. It was additional duties added to an existing position. Shortly thereafter, there was additional responsibility added to all the highway positions. These types of changes and adjustments by the Select Board have been going on regularly in the three years I have been attending.
I started attending the meetings to separate truth from hearsay. What I learned is that the Select Board members are hardworking, dedicated, and cognizant of their fiduciary responsibility. Are they working in the best interest of the whole Heath community of resilient and warm-hearted people that elected them? Hell, yes!
I have faith that those of us who want what is best for the whole town will not be misled by misinformation, but will check all the facts before coming to any decision on how to respond and act. I will be happy to speak with anyone on these topics. You are welcome to contact me to get the other side of the story.
If I don’t have all the answers, I will get them. Call 337-4078 or email pmcgahan75@gmail.com. To get agendas and Select Board meeting updates in email, go to heathconnects.org and click on Got Mail.
Pat McGahan lives in Heath.