Mello 'demoted' from BOH Chairman post
Published on July 18th, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - Apparently, the Board of Health is not the happiest department in Stoneham to work with nowadays.
During a regular meeting this Tuesday, the three-person board stripped Board of Health member Traci Mello of her Chairwoman status, just days after she superseded Health Agent Bob Bracey's order that the Bear Hill Country Club snack shack be shut down.
With the air charged with tension, Board of Health veteran John Scullin motioned to name rookie member Dan Doherty the chairman. The reorganization, which later led to Mello being named vice-chair, came nearly three months after she was initially handed the gavel.
Normally, elected and appointed boards in Stoneham reorganize on an annual basis, such as was the case in April when Mello was named chairwoman after the annual election that swooped Doherty into office.
The decision to change the board's leadership, which Mello later characterized as a demotion, was not explained or discussed at all during last Tuesday's regular meeting.
Although no explanation was given for the reorganization, the change in leadership came just days after Mello unilaterally reopened the snack shack at the Bear Hill Country Club, superseding an earlier order by Bracey.
The Health Agent had shut the establishment down just hours earlier for not having a permit.
According to Bracey, on July 11, he drove by the golf course and noticed that the snack shack, located along the pool area, was opened.
After learning that the establishment had not been issued a permit to operate, the Health Agent shut the snack hut down, reportedly promising to reinspect the premises the day afterwards.
"I felt it was my obligation, because it's a liability for the Board of Health to allow a food provider to operate without a permit, to do the right thing," said Bracey. "I told them that I would reinspect it [the next day], open it back up, and keep the whole thing under the radar. But apparently word leaked out."
According to Mello, she arrived at the country club later on July 11 to inspect the pool prior to a swim meet. When she learned that the snack shack had been shut down for lack of a permit, she contacted the Board of Health office.
Upon learning that Bear Hill Country Club officials had applied and paid for the permit two months earlier, but had not been issued the paperwork because of a backlog, Mello allowed the pool side station to re-open.
"[The food director] had dropped off the application in the middle of May and now it's the middle of July. So the Health Agent came and shut him down for not having a permit they applied for two months ago," the Board of Health member argued in her defense.
According to Doherty and Scullin, while they agreed that the backlog in permit applications was unacceptable, and that there had clearly been a miscommunication, Bracey's by-the-book shut down was clearly warranted.
The two board members also later insisted that if the Board of Health was going to supersede any of the Health Agent's orders, it should be done by a majority vote, not by the command of a single member.
"The fact that the health agent shut down a [place], where he was not aware of a permit, is, I think, a prudent action," said Doherty. "I think moving forward, we need to process applications at a faster rate and communicate with each other better."
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!