Above: Rec is hoping a character who earnestly sought to use her Town’s Parks & Rec Dept to serve her community will help motivate volunteers to look into supporting our Town’s dept. (images of cropped flyer)
The Recreation Department has asked me to share their call for volunteer to fill a new vacancy on the commission that oversees them.
To motivate volunteers to “help shape” their programs and services, they are reminding the public about one of the most popular public servant TV characters in recent decades. A flyer pitches channeling “your inner Leslie Knope” (of Parks and Recreation).
While I’m sharing their news, I also organized the current list of vacancies on other Town Committees.
Recreation asked me to share their message:
Are you passionate about making a difference in local government? The Town of Southborough is looking for a dedicated individual to join the Recreation Commission!
If you’re interested in making a positive impact, consider applying to be our next Recreation Commissioner!
The flyer details:
This 3-year appointed role is a fantastic opportunity to get involved, contribute to our community, and help shape recreational programs and services in Southborough. Time commitment includes a monthly zoom meeting.
PLAYING CRITICAL ROLES IN:
- Maintenance and upkeep of our community’s recreational venues inclusive of school fields & tracks, tennis courts, South Union/Arts Center, playgrounds, and neighborhood fields
- All Recreation Department offerings, including summer programming
- Southborough community events like Summer Nights, Heritage Day, Halloween Trunk or Treat, and the Summer Concert Series
- Much, Much, More!
Interested residents are urged to fill out an online Interest Form here. The appointing authority is the Select Board, but it’s fairly common for the committee with the vacancy to make recommendations.
It’s also worth highlighting that Rec’s seat on the Community Preservation Committee is one of that committee’s two vacancies.
(That seat is currently also by Select Board appointment, although CPC members hope the state will approve the change Special Town Meeting voters approved in September. It has been vacant since the Select Board refused to reappoint Rec’s choice, Kristen Lavault. Her term on CPC expired on June 30th.)
Including those openings, there are 20 real* opportunities to serve on Town Committees. (Unless otherwise noted, members are appointed by the Select Board):
- 21 Highland Future Use Committee
- Cable Television Committee – 3 seats
- Community Preservation Committee – Rec Commission Representative (plus a Housing Authority rep)
- Conservation Commission – 2 seats (read more about that job from a prior notice they promoted here)
- Economic Development Committee – 2 seats
- Golf Course Committee
- Historical Commission
- Master Plan Implementation Committee (MPIC) (Appointed by the Planning Board)
- Metropolitan Area Planning Council (Southborough Representative on regional committee)
- Open Space Preservation Commission
- Personnel Board (Appointed by the Moderator) – 2 seats
- Recreation Commission
- Southborough Public Accessibility Committee
- Taxation Aid Committee
- Trails Committee
- Youth Commission
For all of the Town’s positions, to express your interest, complete the form on the Town’s website here. You can also learn more about the opportunities by reading their sections of the Town website (here), recent agendas & minutes (here), and viewing meetings that were captured on video (here).
A couple of vacancies that I didn’t include above are for committees that are currently in limbo. Town Meeting approved changes that would replace them with new committees. But it doesn’t appear the state has approved those changes yet:
- Public Works Planning Board (seat Appointed by the Moderator) (Read more about the Town’s plans for replacing this committee here.)
- Southborough Housing Opportunity Partnership Committee (SHOPC) (Read more about the Town’s plans for replacing this committee here.)
*I didn’t list vacancies that are currently unavailable to be filled by new volunteers (e.g., elected positions, those designated to be filled by representatives from other committees that don’t have any current vacancies of their own, or seats on committees that are inactive).
(image of hand from public domain image by Karen Arnold)
