SWAMPSCOTT — The Select Board voted unanimously to elect David Grishman as its chair and Katie Phalen as its vice chair until the end of the next fiscal year in June 2024.
In March, former Select Board Chair Neal Duffy announced that he would not seek reelection in order to better focus on his professional career serving as Salem’s director of sustainability and resiliency.
Grishman’s reelection to the Select Board in April coincided with Duffy’s departure. Having served as vice chair under Duffy for most of last year, Grishman took the reins as acting chair.
With Duffy on his way out, Grishman took a lead role in the Select Board’s recommendations through Annual Town Meeting in May. He also piloted the town’s procurement of the 12-24 Pine St. property for future use as veterans’ affordable housing and a renovated Veterans of Foreign Wars post.
At a board meeting Wednesday night, Select Board member Peter Spellios made the motion to elect Grishman chair, citing his recent and “seamless” transition into Duffy’s role.
“I really appreciate how you stepped in with Neal retiring and not running again,” Spellios said. “You [Grishman] stepped in at a really busy time with a lot of stuff going on, and frankly, I don’t know how you did it because you didn’t ask for a heck of a lot of help… You just owned it and you did it.”
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald said Grishman and Phalen could provide the “steady leadership” required as the town balances a number of significant projects, including the Hawthorne by the Sea development, Hadley School hotel planning, Pine Street veterans’ housing complex, and construction of a new elementary school.
“The work continues and there’s more projects in the pipeline than at just about any time, and I think that they both will be indispensable,” Fitzgerald said. “When communities can strike a balance between all of the critical priorities, they can succeed on all fronts. It’s not about just addressing one agenda, it’s about addressing all of the master-plan priorities, and I think both David and Katie really understand that.”
