MASON — The town decided to keep the Select Board in charge of appointing the town’s road agent during a Special Town Meeting Saturday, in which voters deliberated on whether the system in place is working to correct the town’s much-maligned roads. Several personnel issues involving the position in the past year have prompted indignation from residents.

On Saturday morning, about 140 people crowded into the gym of Mason Elementary School for a Special Town Meeting to vote on the warrant article calling for the town to elect its road agent to a one-year term, beginning with the March Town Meeting.

Voting results yielded 31 ayes and 90 nays; therefore, the motion failed. Cheers erupted from the audience following this announcement, and many were slow to leave as they discussed what the decision might mean for the town.

“This is open democracy at its very best,” said Moderator Catherine Schwenk, referring to a good voter turnout. “It’s wonderful to see.”

“It was good to get the issues out in the open,” said resident Charles Moser, who added that he would not bring forth the warrant article again.

At the start of the meeting Select Board Member Peter McGinnity apologized on behalf of the Select Board for having let down the residents in its handling of the personnel issues surrounding the road agent position over the past year.

Moser, who gathered the petition signatures in July that prompted the Special Town Meeting, said the Select Board had failed to provide an environment conducive to maintaining the town’s roads.

He referenced what he called “the elephant in the room,” the turmoil surrounding the road agent position held by Dave Morrison, a former Highway Department employee who was demoted earlier this year and then retired early, and Fred Greenwood, the current road agent appointed by the Select Board.

After Morrison and other Highway Department employees brought up unsafe working conditions with the department’s equipment earlier this year, Morrison was demoted. Other employees saw their benefits stripped away. Morrison, Moser and others have said that these penalties were retaliatory actions taken by the Select Board. The Select Board said the personnel changes were implemented as cost-cutting devices.

Moser said the reason for the vote was not to call attention to either man’s work ethic or capability, or to denounce their handling of the situation in any way. He pointed out that the town’s roads have been in poor condition for many years, and that the town needed to examine the system that it uses to appoint the roads’ caretaker.

“I’m married to the elephant in the room,” said resident Deb Morrison, referring to Morrison. She said that the Select Board and Road Agent Fred Greenwood should be ashamed and embarrassed by their handling of the personnel issues in the spring.

“That aside,” continued Morrison, “I think that Fred Greenwood is doing the best job that he can.” Her comments drew applause.

At the opening of the meeting voters many discussed Morrison and Greenwood’s performance in their roles as interim road agent and road agent respectively, the length of the proposed term of service and the drawbacks of choosing to elect the road agent.

Pete Lecount said electing candidates for a three-year term of service would be better than the one-year term suggested in the warrant article.

Greenwood said that to change the current system would leave employees in a state of uncertainty about management. He indicated that he would support a term of service of three or five years. Moderator Schwenk said to change to a three-year term of service would require that the town vote on it at the March Town Meeting, as the warrant article for the Special Town Meeting specifies a one-year term.

Resident Kerri Griffith said Greenwood listens to issues brought before him by residents and will work to correct problems with the roads. Job security was an issue brought up by Chris Warner, who urged the town to consider what conditions those elected as road agent might face if the question of their continued employment was one that came up on a yearly basis.

David Baker pointed out that regardless of the means by which a road agent is hired, the individual would still be working for the Select Board. Other speakers indicated their support for Greenwood and also feelings of frustration over the poor conditions of the roads.

Select Board Chair Chris Guiry encouraged residents to attend Select Board meetings and to take part in their local government.

“It’s the only one that we have,” said Guiry.

This article appears in the Oct. 4, 2011, issue of the Ledger-Transcript.