Selectmen Mulls Employment Question on Application to Join Town Boards

New applicants for boards and committees will no longer have to list their current  employment in Mansfield after the selectmen voted to make the question optional 3-2. Chairman Olivier Kozolowski and Kevin Moran voted against the proposal.

The question, which asks applicants to list their current employer will now be optional as stated on the updated application on the town of Mansfield's website.

The issue was brought up by Selectmen George Dentino who thought the question was too intrusive for prospective board and committee members.

“I think that’s too private,” Dentino said of the question.

Chairman Kozolowski disagreed with changing the question, pointing out that the selectmen may not be aware of a potential conflict of interest if they do not know what an applicant’s job is.

“One of the issues that was raised recently is whether a particular applicant has conflicts because of their job. If we didn’t know what they did for their job, we could easily appoint someone who has lots of potential conflicts and we would never know,” Kozolowski said.

The selectmen also looked at whether they should change a question concerning what changes they would make to the board or committee they are applying to and another question asking if they have ever attending a meeting for the board or committee they are applying to.

Should applicants for boards and committee be required to give information on their job? Tell us in the comments section.