Warrant Committee forms working groups, presses for clearer KPIs and earlier capital review

The warrant committee agreed to continue two working groups—one focused on the Blue Book and resident communications and the other on drafting guidance for department presentations and KPIs—and to recruit volunteers by email. Committee members said last year’s groups made progress but left work unfinished and recommended follow-up over the summer and into the fall.

Marty and Gavin emphasized tightening deadlines and closing the feedback loop so departments produce consistent KPIs. Gavin noted that towns such as Natick use ClearGov to pull KPI data at the departmental level and suggested leveraging towns already using the software to learn lessons from their implementations. "We should not have to recreate the wheel," Marty said, urging contact with municipalities that have experience.

Members discussed that the Collins Center report provides a detailed inventory of assets and recommended earlier engagement with capital-budget committees so contested items (for example, the fuel island replacement and recreational facility improvements) receive more data-driven review. Dave said the report includes lists of vehicles and insured locations and could help identify replacement-value benchmarks to inform cost requests.

Administrative actions: the committee moved and approved the minutes from June 3 (roll-call vote: Mish yes, Gavin yes, Marty yes, Nina yes, Steve abstained, chair yes). A motion to adjourn passed by roll call at the end of the session. The committee set its next meeting for July 8, when staff expect to present any reserve fund transfer requests and to host a ClearGov demonstration.

Next steps: the chair will email committee members asking which working group they will join; Mona will compile committee-request items for Representative Kyle and Josh Tarsky to consider for near‑term appropriation/bond bill insertion.