Three new residents were elected to the Barrington Committee on Appropriations at the end of Wednesday night's financial town meeting .
Josh Berlinsky, Cynthia Rosengard and Scott Douglas each …
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Three new residents were elected to the Barrington Committee on Appropriations at the end of Wednesday night's financial town meeting.
Josh Berlinsky, Cynthia Rosengard and Scott Douglas each earned the necessary votes to fill the three open seats on the committee. Appropriations is responsible for reviewing proposed budgets each year and making budget recommendations to taxpayers.
Mr. Berlinsky, Ms. Rosengard and Mr. Douglas received more votes than four other residents — Melissa Horne, Lisa Daft, Anthony Arico and Don Gralnek. Ms. Horne and Mr. Gralnek had been members of the committee running for re-election, although Mr. Gralnek withdrew his nomination just prior to the vote.
Longtime committee on appropriations member Geoff Grove chose not to run for re-election. The crowd at the financial town meeting offered a heartfelt applause to Mr. Grove for his years of service.
The three people voted onto appropriations each spoke as strong advocates to the local public schools at the meeting. They will join current members Chad Mollica and Richard Staples Jr. on the board.
A number of candidates submitted letters to the editor announcing their intentions to run for the committee on appropriations prior to the May financial town meeting.
In her letter, Ms. Rosengard said she had witnessed the strengths and weaknesses of the budgeting process.
"I believe that the process would be greatly enhanced through more intentional bridging of the interests of town, school department, and taxpayers using strategic communication, transparent procedures, and encouragement of engagement of all involved throughout the year (not just between March and May)," she wrote.
Mr. Douglas proposed the committee on appropriations adopt a code of conduct in his letter to the editor.
He wrote the committee should "Seek understanding not grandstanding by posing the key financial questions that are bedeviling the current debate in writing to the school committee over the summer, and post their answers on a rolling basis on a public website…"
He also stated that the appropriations' meetings should be live-cast and videos should be archived.
Final vote tally
(Top three earn seats)
Josh Berlinsky — 262 votes
Cynthia Rosengard — 234 votes
Scott Douglas — 222 votes
Melissa Horne — 192 votes
Lisa Daft — 179 votes
Anthony Arico — 55 votes
Don Gralnek — 8 votes