By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Elaine Silva has returned to the Board of Health after a brief stint over the summer as interim Health Director. She was reappointed last week to finish out her current term on the board, which ends in April 2022.
Silva, a registered nurse with long experience in the public health field, took over as Health Director for Wakefield and Melrose after Ruth Clay retired at the end of June. The two communities share a Health Director.
When mid-term vacancies occur on elected municipal boards, a joint meeting to the Town Council and the remaining members of the affected board appoints a new member. That appointee serves until the next Town Election.
Board of Health member Laurel Gourville told the Town Council last week that after Clay retired, the first round of applications yielded no satisfactory replacements, so Silva agreed to step in on an interim basis until a permanent Health Director could be hired. To do so, she was required to step down from her elected position in the Board of Health.
In September, Anthony Chui was hired as Health Director for Melrose and Wakefield, and the Wakefield Board of Health sought to return to full strength as a three-member board.
Four candidates, including Silva, submitted applications to fill the vacant position on the Board of Health.
Gourville noted that all four were strong candidates but wondered how many of them would have been interested if it meant running for election. She suggested that consideration be given to expanding the board and looking at whether Board of Health members should be appointed rather than elected, given the specialized nature of the work. A change to the Town Charter would be required to increase the the size of the board or to change the manner in which board members are selected.
In the meantime, she recommended appointing Silva to fill the current vacancy, due to her institutional knowledge of the Health Department and the fact that she had run the department following Clay’s retirement. The Town Council also had a letter from current Board of Health chair Candace Linehan recommending Silva for the vacant board position. Linehan was unable to attend last week’s joint meeting.
Town Councilor Ann Santos agreed that all four applicants were strong candidates, but she also questioned whether they would have been willing to go through the election process.
Councilor Edward Dombroski Jr. agreed that the candidate pool was strong. He said that he would like to have a discussion about increasing the size of the board in order to bring in more diversity of experience. He also suggested the possibility of a combination of elected and appointed members.
The vote to appoint Silva to the Board of Health was unanimous, with all six Town Councilors and Gourville voting in favor.
————
The Town Council also appointed two new members to fill vacancies on the nine-member Commission on Disability Issues. Katherine Staiti of Preston Street and Kristen Bardol of Harrison Avenue will be joining the Commission.
