By Kim Siebert MacPhail
Out-going Selectman Cathy Cordes made reference only once to the fact that Monday night was her last meeting before Saturday’s town election when she said, “Almost down to the wire” near the end of the Selectmen’s agenda items.
Finally, after all the business had been conducted, Cordes said, “I have something to say: it is my last meeting and I just want to thank my colleagues for your wonderful camaraderie as we traveled through this path together. It’s been great working with each of you and I think you’re a great group and I think you’re going to do well for the town going forward. I don’t have any fears leaving that something is going to fall apart, because I know the town is in good hands.”
Cordes went on to praise the Town administration and staff, saying that they are outstanding—“from the top down to the bottom.”
“We should be very proud that people who work here, stay here,” Cordes said. “It’s not a revolving door. And that goes for Mr. Warrington who was here [at the meeting] earlier tonight and for Mr. Reed who has been with us almost 25 years. It is a credit to all the staff that the Town runs as well as it does. It has been a joy to work with all of you.”
Words of appreciation then came from Cordes’ colleagues. “I want to thank you for your service,” Selectman Mark Siegenthaler said, addressing Cordes. “You have been through a lot of issues—a range of issues that you have dealt with as chair and as a member—some very difficult and emotional issues and some just good government, good operational types of things like making things work correctly. I just want you to know how much I appreciate being a colleague of yours and I think we all appreciate the work that you’ve done and I know the town appreciates the work you’ve done for 12 years.”
Town Manager Rick Reed added that Cordes’ service pre-dates her role as Selectman because she served before that on the Finance Committee and the Capital Expenditures Committee.
“It pretty much covers my entire [tenure of] service to the town and I think Cathy has been an outstanding elected and appointed official and has been a great role model in a number of ways, particularly in areas like community preservation,” Reed said. “We probably wouldn’t have been able to accomplish as much and formulate the program if you hadn’t been there from the beginning of the adoption of that grant. Working with you as an official makes our jobs easier as staff members, so thank you.”
“I thought that the accolades would come at the next meeting,” joked Selectman Mike Rosenberg. “I’ve only been here five years so I don’t quite know the ropes yet of how we send people off. So, saving some of that for [the next meeting], I certainly would second everything that’s been said and thank you for not only the time and effort but also for such a great example of diligence and true affection for the place where we live. That’s such an important criterion for what we do.”
“What I will miss, as I’ve expressed to you before, is your corporate knowledge,” added Selectman Bill Moonan. “Everybody has a slightly different point of view and remembers things slightly differently and remembers some things and—as we get older—not others. So, I hope you’ll be there as a resource for all of us.”
Loading ...
