Hopkinton, May 27: The first order of business was reorganizing the Select Board, including nominating and electing the Chair and Vice Chair positions.
When the floor was open for chair nominations, Amy Ritterbusch nominated Shahidul Mannan, and Brian Herr nominated Joe Clark. With nominations closed, Herr gave each member the opportunity to speak.
Ritterbusch opted out of the discussion, stating that her vote was for Mannan.
Joe Clark said, “I’m humbled to be nominated. I’m very excited about this board working together this year. We had a productive last year; no matter how this shakes out, I know it will be productive.”
Brian Herr mentioned that the board accomplished much for the town this past year. “We got a lot of things done on behalf of the town, and we didn’t increase the debt—I see our CFO back there—by one penny. We’re going to borrow a lot of money, but we didn’t increase what we have to borrow.”
Herr believes we need to get a new generation of leadership involved in Hopkinton’s local governance. Someone who’s engaged in the community and has school-age kids, someone with a perspective that reflects Hopkinton’s future.
Kizner discussed the number one piece of feedback he received while campaigning: “It didn’t matter where they were on the [political] spectrum; people were looking to hear what the next generation of leadership in Hopkinton sounded and looked like and to see them taking a bit more of an active role.” The second piece of feedback he received was to make decisions grounded in the town before they are grounded in what can be perceived as partisan.
Mannan mentioned that he has proudly served the town for 12 years. He believes that experience is valuable and should not be discounted. The town benefits from experienced leadership just as it benefits from new perspectives. He acknowledged Herr’s years of service, and “always welcomed his prudence and wisdom.”
Regarding town governance, Mannan believes qualifications, ideas, experience, and energy all matter. He hopes that his commitment, demonstrated by his near-perfect attendance and active engagement on and off the board, reflects his dedication to serving everyone in the community. However, based on the vote count, Mannan supported the choice of the board’s majority.
With a unanimous vote, Joe Clark was elected Chair for the next year. The nomination of Vice Chair followed. Mannan was nominated and seconded without any other nominations. He was unanimously elected as Vice Chair.
Meeting Scheduling
Based on members’ availability and scheduling conflicts, the board considered summer meeting dates. They suggested that the group meet on June 3, June 17, July 1, and Aug. 5.
Some members said scheduling would be an issue, especially between July 1 and the week of July 8. The board decided to maintain the existing schedule for now, but will communicate via email to schedule dates to accommodate members’ availability.
Consent Agenda
The board unanimously voted to accept $13,110 in gifts from the Hopkinton Public Library Foundation to supplement programs in the library’s children’s, youth services, and reference and circulation departments.
Let’s break this down. The more qualified candidate, Shahidul, was sidelined because voters supposedly said they didn’t want the very person they were about to reelect? Are we really expected to believe the message was: “We’re voting for Shahidul—but make sure he doesn’t become Chair”? If that were the case, wouldn’t they have just elected Jeff Doyle instead? In what world does that logic hold?
I understand why Brian Herr supported his preferred candidate for Chair, but even his reasoning doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. He praised his own performance in the role last year, at an age notably older than Shahidul. And I don’t disagree with him; his leadership didn’t give me anything to disagree with. That’s how we operate—we don’t manufacture outrage for the sake of it. But it’s puzzling: last year, Mr. Herr claimed his experience made him the right choice. Now, suddenly, experience is a liability?
If Mr. Herr feels he needs a break, that’s fair. We appreciate his service. He’s welcome to retire if that’s his choice—but he doesn’t speak for all of us over 40, or for our energy and capacity to lead.
Mr. Herr also suggested that the Chair should have school-aged children. Shahidul does—his child is currently in the district, and he’s had children in the schools for years. Matt, on the other hand, doesn’t have children in the schools and even voted against the adaptive playground—an initiative overwhelmingly supported by parents in this community. That logic doesn’t hold either.
The coordinated storytelling from the two of them is, frankly, convenient. Ageism appears to be the rationale they landed on—likely because they feared the backlash from using any other.
Why not just be honest with the community? Residents deserve transparency about the criteria—explicit or implicit—now being used to disqualify capable, experienced candidates.