Adams Code Enforcement Officer Has to Doff One of Many Hats
ADAMS, Mass. — The town has a code enforcement officer but at the expense of shorting itself on Board of Health members.
The Selectmen on Wednesday ratified the hiring of David Rhinemiller as the new code enforcement officer after a long debate.
The problem was Rhinemiller also filled a number of other positions within the town — Board of Health, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and wire inspector — which officials felt set up potential conflicts of interest despite his filling out all the proper disclosure forms.
Selectwoman Christine Hoyt said she was grateful that Rhinemiller had stepped up to serve the town in so many capacities, including running for election to the Board of Health.
His confirmation had been tabled from the last meeting to allow the town to get legal opinions.
"My feeling is that even with the disclosures, to serve in both of those capacities, that it still puts the town at risk," she siad. "If Mr. Rhinemiller in his enforcement capacity were to issue any fines or issue any what's going on with the word I'm looking for here? Violations. ... And the individual wanted to appeal that decision, the appellate board for those violations, of those fines, would be the Board of Health."
Interim Town Administrator Kenneth Walto said he had spoken with both the town's labor and general counsels on the matter and had a letter from the state Ethics Commission's attorney "that Mr. Rhinemiller would have to follow the instructions in that very carefully, and if he did so, he should avoid conflict of interest."
"It is a fine line," said Rhinemiller. "But it would fall under the different category if ... code enforcement officer was employed by the Board of Health, which it's not. It's employed by building inspector. So it's a different entity from normal towns. This town is very unusual in that aspect."
Chairman John Duval read from the Ethics Commission letter that the Board of Health and the code enforcment officer work together to enforce health codes and develop regulations, and that to do both, Rhinemiller had to complete a disclosure from and have it approved by the Selectmen, which was in their meeting packet.
The board, however, was wary of approving the document, noting that if a violation he had issued was appealed to the Board of Health, he'd have to recuse himself. That would mean the three-person board would have two members to make a decision — and there's only two members right now.
Selectman Joseph Nowak said he didn't like having someone "wearing too many caps in a community."
"Thank you for all you've done, but to me, there's a lot of intermixing with all of these boards you're on," he said, adding how he had left the Conservation Commission when elected to the board. "I think there could be some conflict of interest."
He asked if there had been other candidates for the post; Walton said there had been a number but only two were qualified and the first choice had declined.
Fellow board members Jay Meczywor and Ann Bartlett also indicated they were uncomfortable with the situation, and residents John Cowie and Catherine Foster rose to give their own objections.
"There could be a situation that could touch all the those boards," said Cowie. "What happens when he has those multiple parties and they're not happy ... it's like you're asking him to walk on eggshells."
Foster asked how Rhinemiller could fill all the responsibilities he was taking on. "He's already made it clear he doesn't want to give up any of these jobs," she said, adding, "if it feels wrong it probably is."
Rhinemiller had said a couple times during the debate, "if you want me to step down for code enforcement officer, I'll consider it." But as it became apparent there were four votes against, he agreed that he would resign.
The vote was unanimous to confirm him in the position at $27.92 an hour pending submission of his resignation letter by Friday; his name was no longer listed on the town's website by Friday morning. The board thanked him for all he's done and Walto said the town's labor counsel said he'd "never seen such an interesting public citizen."
That has left Kathy A. "Skippy" Hynes as the lone member of the Board of Health. Duval said the town is accepting letters of interest to serve on the board and the selection would be jointly by the Selectmen and Hynes.
Tags: code enforcement,
