It's good to see that, while Linda Sanders won't likely start as Rockport's new permanent town administrator until Jan. 1, selectmen and residents will officially welcome her to town tonight.
While Interim Administrator Edgar Gadbois seems to have steered day-to-day town operations without incident for the past four months, with some six weeks to go, after the exit of Michael Racicot, Sanders' hiring and her signing of a contract should bring the kind of stability that town employees, and residents deserve. With that in mind, however, selectmen should also use this occasion to firm up stability within their own ranks, and regarding their own leadership.
From the embarrassing cancellation of a meeting with representatives of the MBTA to his leadership on other issues, Chairman Sandy Jacques has drawn fire from his board colleagues, to the point that even his perceived allies on the board — Andrew Heinze and Ellen Canavan - have expressed concern. Canavan, in fact, noted that, "if we need to have a new chairman or some other type of arrangement, I think we will do that." And while Heinze expressed a desire to let Jacques try to address his leadership issues, he also conceded a move to revisit the chairmanship may be in the works.
If selectmen want to revisit the new policy for choosing a chairman and perhaps make a change at the top, they should get on with it, or make it clear that they will continue to stand by Jacques as chairman, as long as he addresses their concerns.
When they introduce Sanders as the incoming administrator tonight, they should also be able to make clear who will be leading the board when she comes aboard to start 2010.
