Question of the Week #1 - Eric Haskell, Candidate for Hingham Selectman

Expanding our Board of Selectmen from three members to five is an important proposal that must be thoroughly discussed, with all residents participating in the process.

When the Advisory Committee recently considered this proposal, I recused myself to prevent the appearance that a vote would be based on my personal interests, rather than the best interests of the Town.

As a candidate for Selectman, I believe there are good reasons to expand the Board.

Of the twenty towns Hingham uses for benchmarking, only Weston and Westwood still use three-member boards, and they are half Hingham’s size. Towns that most resemble Hingham in size, budget, and demographics – places like Dedham, Needham, and Milton – have already chosen to expand.

These towns found expansion to provide greater diversity of opinion, more people to share in the workload, and less risk that personality conflicts will impede the board’s work.

Hingham has a special reason to reconsider expansion: Over the past two years, Town Meeting formally and permanently strengthened the Town Administrator’s role as day-to-day manager of the Town. Under this new arrangement, the Selectmen act like “board of directors,” providing guidance and policy that the Administrator then executes. With this new division of responsibility, it is more critical than ever that the Selectmen speak for the entire community.

Expanding the Board won’t change the need for the Selectmen to be cordial, civil, and open-minded to everyone who comes before them. But it would provide greater representation in a way that’s good for democracy.