Wayland selectmen pitch draft town manager act at summer forum

WAYLAND -- July 23, 2019, Wayland selectmen pitch town manager act and appointed clerk at summer forum. Selectmen Lea Anderson and Chair Cherry Karlson walked roughly a dozen residents through a draft special act that would replace the town administrator with a stronger town manager serving as chief financial officer and chief procurement officer, citing Collins Center findings that Wayland's financial management is "severely fragmented." Anderson said the current town administrator has 20 direct reports plus six jointly managed department heads, far more than peer towns like Concord, Cohasset and Weston. The act would shift collective bargaining from the Personnel Board to the manager, centralize hiring, and let selectmen delegate contract signing authority up to a set dollar amount; one recent board agenda carried eight contracts as the office moves toward compliance. The elected town clerk would become appointed, but all other elected boards, including the Board of Public Works, would remain. "We love our Board of Public Works," Anderson said. The board is targeting fall special town meeting or spring 2020 annual town meeting.