certain elected town positions
March 8, 2009
Paying jobs draw more on ballots [BOSTON GLOBE -- REGION]
By Christine Legere, Globe Correspondent (Christine Legere = christinelegere@yahoo.com)
Political fortunes always rise and fall at election season, but for those whose posts carry a salary, personal fortunes are also at stake.
"It's really very stressful," said Rockland's town collector, Lisa Clark, who faces two challengers in her bid to hold onto a job that pays $56,160 a year. "It's frightening. My husband's not working, so I'm the breadwinner for my family."
The annual salaries of some local elected positions make them particularly attractive in today's slumping economy, where unemployment is on the rise. That may account for some challenges that have developed in the upcoming spring election season.
In Milton and Halifax, longtime elected officials are retiring, leaving those fields wide open. Three have already filed nomination papers for Milton's treasurer-collector position - with its $78,000 salary - and three others have taken papers out. In Halifax, three candidates will vie for town clerk. The salary for that post has not been set but is expected to be at least $30,000.
In Rockland and Bridgewater, however, incumbents who have held positions for considerable amounts of time are be ing challenged for their jobs, which include pay and benefits.
Clark will face two opponents in the April 11 election: Carol Perilli and Judith Hartigan.
Perilli is past chairwoman of Rockland's beautification committee and chairwoman of the energy committee. Hartigan is a softball coach and program coordinator, as well as treasurer for Rockland's softball association. She is also active in her church's religious instruction program.
Clark has worked for 15 years in the collector's office and was appointed collector four years ago, when her predecessor left. She ran for the position during the next election season, successfully defeating a bid from Perilli.
Clark says the job of collector requires a great deal of specific training that a newcomer will lack. And whoever is elected will have to hit the ground running. "The only people working in this office besides me are my assistant, who is going out on a maternity leave, and a part-timer who works 15 hours," Clark said.
"I've spent my working career here," she said. "I am a certified tax collector and president of the education committee for the Plymouth County Treasurer-Collectors Association."
Perilli, a controller for a private company, has more than 20 years of finance experience. It was not the salary that prompted her to run for collector, she says. "I will have to take a step down in salary if I win," she said. "I believe I can do the job and do it well. For me, it is a matter of what's best for the town."
Asked whether she had any second thoughts about challenging someone for her livelihood, Perilli said: "You have to inspect your heart, and I've done that. I see very little difference between choosing to run for an office or going for a job in private industry."
Hartigan, a stay-at-home mother for nine years, sees the collector's position as a good opportunity to return to work. "I'm known in town and have a financial background," she said. "The salary is appealing, but it was not the driving force."
Hartigan said both the treasurer's and collector's duties match well with her training and career experience "Since it is my maiden voyage for an elected position, I decided to try the collector," she said. "The treasurer's job is a little more intricate."
In Bridgewater, Ronald Adams, one of the longest-serving town clerks in the state with 33 years on the job, will face Joseph Gillis in the April 25 election.
No newcomer to the local political arena, Gillis is vice chairman of the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee. He is also well known for his effort on the town's July Fourth Committee and his involvement in local Boy Scouts. He works full time in the computer technology field.
"I'm trying to keep the personal side out of this," said Gillis of his challenge. "I enjoy being involved in the community, so I'm applying for a job to the town. It's just a little different from the normal application. It's up to the voters to decide."
Gillis says he can update the technology currently used by the clerk's office and save the town money in the process.
Adams believes the current tough economy is bringing challengers for elected jobs. "The only reason I'm back out there is because financially I can't exist," said Adams, who earns $58,634 a year as clerk. "And people are running against incumbents for their salaries and benefits. As far as the clerk's position, it just happens to be elected, but in this financial crisis, are you going to put in somebody that needs job training?"
Another Bridgewater official, Town Collector and Treasurer Douglas Dorr, a 12-year incumbent, is up for reelection. While each of his positions is listed separately on the ballot, they have been held by a single person in Bridgewater since the early 1900s. The combined salary is $54,796.
This election could change that. Dorr is being challenged for the collector's position by political newcomer Andrew Harding. That part of the job pays about $31,000, said Dorr, who is a certified town treasurer and collector. "I don't know anything about this challenger, other than he asked for a job description when he took out papers," Dorr said. He added he will gauge just how active a campaign he will run once he sees what his opponent does.
Harding, who did not return several phone calls seeking comment, has not yet filed his papers with the required number of signatures. The deadline is Monday.
Randolph's town clerk, Brian Howard, narrowly escaped a challenge for his $75,000 job.
When the nomination papers of potential opponent Marcel Bittle were checked for registered voter signatures, they came up just two signatures short. Since it was the last day to turn in papers for the election, it was too late to gather any more names.
Howard, who has been town clerk for nine years, said fending off challengers comes with the territory. "It's a unique situation," Howard said. "When I was elected, I understood the dynamic. Here, you're judged daily by the voters on how they are treated when they come to your counter."
But Halifax's former highway surveyor Rose Campbell disagrees. Campbell had served as the town's highway surveyor for three years. She lost a race to keep her $70,000 job by 29 votes last spring to one of the department's employees, Robert Badore.
Campbell contends it's not what you know about the job, it's who you know. "You have to be a politician to do the job, and I can't be a politician," she said.
Asked if she will run when the position returns to the ballot in 2011, she said she most likely won't. "I think I've had my fill of politics."
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