Town of Lakeville appoints Robert Alford as principal assessor; board moves to executive session on abatements

The Town of Lakeville Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint Robert Alford as principal assessor and then voted to enter an executive session to review personal property abatements, officials said at the meeting.

The board's interview committee — which included the town administrator and the town accountant — recommended Alford after interviewing him. Town staff told the board they had received one firm response to the recent RFP for assessing services (RRG), but RRG withdrew because it lacked capacity to continue serving the town after more than nine years. The committee reported it received an application and resume from Robert Alford and that the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers (MAAO) contact Kathy Costello indicated he would be a good fit for a municipal assessor role.

The recommendation from the interview committee was that the board offer the position to Alford. A selectman moved to appoint him as principal assessor for the town; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously. Following the vote, staff said they would send a formal offer letter. Board members discussed whether to confirm references from Easton, where Alford had previously worked, but the board did not place an explicit contingency in the motion instructing staff to withhold the appointment pending those checks.

The meeting also included routine business: signing invoices, reviewing February meeting minutes (a motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously), and acknowledging completed statutory reports, motor vehicle and real estate commitments, and exemption reports.

For the abatements portion, the board moved to enter executive session "pursuant to General Law 30A ... specifically 59 62 14 1 b, to review and discuss personal property abatements." The motion to enter executive session was seconded and adopted by roll call: Oliveri, aye; LaBlanc, aye; MRO, aye. The board stated it would not return to open session at the end of the executive session.

No salary, contract terms, or effective date for Alford's appointment were specified during the open session. Additional details about reference checks, any written offer terms, and the outcome of the executive-session abatements review were not disclosed in the portions of the meeting recorded in the public transcript.

The board adjourned open session to conduct the executive session and did not reconvene in public session during the recorded transcript.