On March 28, (The Landmark) ran an article subtitled, “Board stalls on election officer appointment.”
The appointment was for Nadia Kaminski to be an election worker. Mrs. Kaminski was nominated by the Holden Republican Town Committee, vetted by the town clerk’s office, and presented to the Select Board by the town manager.
(Select Board members) Thomas Curran and Geraldine Herlihy pushed back on the nomination, asking questions and suggesting they would vote “No.” Selectman Anthony Renzoni was quoted as saying, “If we want to find a way to get people not to volunteer, we should continue to shoot them down when they volunteer.” Selectman Bates agreed, stating how difficult it is to get volunteers. Selectmen Curran and Herlihy subsequently voted “No,” and Nadia’s nomination was defeated, 2-2. Selectman Stephanie Mulroy was not in attendance.
On April 1, the Select Board met again. I had been called by the town clerk on March 19, the day after the last board meeting. She called to tell me Mrs. Kaminski’s nomination had failed. I attended and spoke at the April 1 meeting. I noted the current ratio of election workers was 29 Democrats to 12 Republicans. David White, who has lived in Holden for 69 years and served on the Select Board for nine, also spoke. He said he could not remember any nomination for election worker ever getting voted down, nor could he remember ever interviewing such a nominee. He said he had no idea “what we would ask them that would sway whether we’re going to appoint them or not.”
Mr. Renzoni pointed out that Ms. Herlihy had voted 19 times to approve such nominees and had never asked to have one appear. Mr. Curran had done this six times without having the nominee appear. In response, Mr. Curran and Ms. Herlihy professed confusion and unfamiliarity with the process.
This seems less than credible, in my opinion. Ms. Herlihy has been on the Board for nearly 8 years. Mr. Curran for 1½ years.
Steve Cooley
Chairman, Holden Republican Town Committee
