Q+A with George Barringer, Candidate for Selectman
Groton Herald:
Some members of the community have expressed unhappiness with aspects of how the Charter is being interpreted and implemented by a majority of the Board of Selectmen. Do you agree that there are parts of the Charter that need some change? If so, what are the most important elements that might need changes? Please be specific but not exhaustive.
George Barringer:
The Charter should be a "living" document that is periodically reviewed, revised, and refined and the Charter, by its language, requires periodic review. A Charter review committee is being formed now and that committee's activities would be the appropriate place and venue to discuss the Charter and proposed modifications, if any. Having said that, town government works and appears to work within the bounds of the Charter, not always flawlessly to be sure, but it works.
Groton Herald:
Do you think a Selectmen should be allowed to hold more than one elective office in town? Please explain your reasoning.
George Barringer:
Yes. This is appropriate as long as boundaries between the functions and responsibilities for each office are observed and that the office holder insures that any conflict of interest between the offices is dealt with appropriately. I am in this position should I be elected but I am not the first.
Groton Herald:
If a majority of Town Meeting voters ask Selectmen to not renew the Town Manager's contract, would you follow the voters wishes?
George Barringer:
It would certainly be a factor but the decision should be and must be determined in the final analysis by objective analysis of how well the employee fulfilled the mission statement, goals, objectives, and performance metrics of the position. The duties of the Town Manger are fairly carefully described at a high level in the Charter. At a high level the Charter job description and the performance of the Town Manager seem to coincide but a careful performance review is required.
Groton Herald:
Is dissension necessarily a bad thing? What would you bring to the board to improve the Boards ability to work together for the benefit of the town?
George Barringer:
The role of the Selectmen is to set policy and strategy for the town and to provide such executive duties as required by the Charter and state regulations. There will be differences of opinion. Differences of opinion are not in themselves an issue. The issue is how they are resolved while moving the business of town government forward. The debate must be held in the open with transparency a foremost responsibility. One can hold clearly different positions and opinions provided that the underlying common good of the citizens is the priority and that the members of the board, no matter their position, work to that goal. Most important, the majority decision of the board in such matters must stand and the board must move on.
Groton Herald:
Do you believe that a Selectmen responsibility is first to fellow board members or to the voters who elected them? Please explain.
George Barringer:
The first, and perhaps only, responsibility is to the citizens of the town as a whole - to perform the functions of the office to the benefit of the majority of those citizens while responsibly addressing and responding to minority positions and opinions.
Groton Herald:
The recently completed Financial Benchmarking analysis has identified long-term spending patterns in town government that appear unsustainable. If elected how would you respond to these spending patterns? Please be specific but not exhaustive.
George Barringer:
The Financial Benchmarking analysis is a useful starting point but this subject needs more discussion and analysis before an informed opinion can be made on its conclusion(s).
