The Town of Southborough Personnel Board voted unanimously Jan. 14 to support presenting proposed amendments to the town’s Salary Administrative Plan at the April Town Meeting, including inserting the SAP text into Town Code Chapter 31 and adding an Assistant Town Clerk job description that would include authority to administer oaths.

Town Clerk Jim (last name not specified) told the board the SAP is referenced as “on file in the town clerk’s office” but is not printed in the town code. “It’s not printed in the town code itself and published, which is — I think that’s a bad idea,” Jim said, and proposed revising Chapter 31 to insert the approved SAP directly into the code. He also asked that Section 18 of the SAP — which currently says the plan cannot be amended at Town Meeting unless the personnel board has had the opportunity to act — be changed so voters have a clearer ability to propose amendments. Finally, Jim asked that the administrative assistant’s title be changed back to Assistant Town Clerk and that the job description include the ability to administer oaths to elected and appointed officials; he said this would not change pay grade or compensation.

Why it matters: inserting the SAP into Chapter 31 would put the salary plan text in the town code itself rather than merely keeping a copy in the clerk’s files; removing the Section 18 restriction would clarify whether and how Town Meeting members can propose amendments on the floor. Board members debated the potential operational and budgetary implications of allowing unvetted changes on the Town Meeting floor — including the possibility that a floor amendment could affect pay grades or stipends that would later require budget funding — before voting.

Board members asked for a legal opinion and additional review before final placement on the warrant. The board directed staff to follow up with the town’s legal counsel (Kate Federoff, referenced in discussion) and to compare how other communities handle SAP amendments. The personnel board then voted unanimously to support presentation of the draft Town Code Chapter 31 change and the Assistant Town Clerk job description for consideration at Town Meeting; the board said it will follow up with counsel and report back to the clerk on next steps.

Action details: The motion as recorded in the meeting packet was to support presenting the modification to Town Code Chapter 31 as drafted and to add the Assistant Town Clerk job description and adjust the position to Assistant Town Clerk in Schedule A, Grade 3. The motion was seconded, and the board recorded a roll-call vote: Dorianne — Aye; John — Aye; (chair) — Aye. The motion passed unanimously.

The board asked the clerk and staff to return with legal guidance and to refine the language before placement on the April 7 warrant.