Henry Gale is leaving the Planning Board a second time. The 58-year-old mechanical engineer - who served more than 25 years on the board from 1981 through 2006, then was reappointed in August 2007 - is moving to Winchester, and will officially step down July 15.
The process to choose Gale's successor is just beginning, but one of the candidates to replace him is already miffed.
David Feyler is upset that the selectmen's office will not release the names of who else is applying for the position - and is irked by the prospect of someone being appointed who did not run for the Planning Board in this spring's town election, as he did.
"Where were they two months ago?" said Feyler, 45, pointing out that he answered questions at a candidates forum and went door-to-door talking with residents during the campaign. "This is going to be a handpicking by the Board of Selectmen."
Selectmen Chairman Philip Shapiro said his board will go through the same public process it has used to make previous appointments. Shapiro said that, following state statute, his three-member board and the four continuing members of the Planning Board will meet together to pick the best-qualified person for the job.
"We don't want to get into who they are and the pros and cons until Henry actually steps down," Shapiro said. "But we'll have a public meeting and speak with the candidates once he makes it formal."
Town Administrator Michael Jaillet said he and Town Planner Nora Loughnane would preliminarily interview the candidates, look at their experience and background, and rank the candidates for the Planning Board and Board of Selectmen, using a scoring technique developed last time around.
Shapiro said several people have informally expressed an interest so far, and a few formally.
Those interested in filling the expected vacancy are supposed to call the Board of Selectmen's office at 781-326-4172 by this Friday. Shapiro said that is not a hard and fast deadline, however, and that expressions of interest would be accepted next week as well.
In a four-way Planning Board race this April, six-term incumbent Steven Olanoff and previous seven-year member Steven Rafsky beat Feyler and Jason Lee. Rafsky had 799 votes, Olanoff, 738, while Feyler narrowly took third over Lee, 512 votes to 500.
Feyler first tried to get on the Planning Board in 2006, when he was one of seven candidates to step forward after Gale (who was then relocating to Michigan) resigned the first time. Another one of those seven was Joseph Toffoloni, who had lost to Olanoff in the town election that year by 38 votes. Referring to how Toffoloni almost won the position in the election, Feyler said selectmen "ignored the voters" when they (together with planners) chose to appoint Bruce Montgomery over Toffoloni.
