By WHAV Staff |
Groveland Town Hall. (File photograph.)
Former Groveland Selectman Joseph D’Amore says the town has evolved greatly since its founding in 1850, but relatively low citizen involvement in recent years suggests more changes are need.
D’Amore, a force behind expanding the board of selectmen to five members, tells WHAV volunteerism may be up in some areas such as church and nonprofit work, but down in local government.
“This is not a COVID thing. This is a long-term trend that we are seeing across most municipalities throughout the Commonwealth,” he says.
D’Amore says today’s town government was largely shaped by a change in structure approved at Town Meeting in 1954, followed decades later by adding a finance director and then expanding the Board of Selectmen to five members in 2014. The next logical step is the hiring of a town administrator, he says, and voters will have a chance to weigh in on the concept at Town Meeting Monday, May 24, 7 p.m., at the Dr. Elmer S. Bagnall School, 253 School St. The two related articles are among nearly 40 articles on the schedule that night. He says the appointing authority would remain the Board of Selectmen, but the administrator would have an advisory role.