Rehoboth Selectmen Expand Two Town Positions

Due in part to a growing population, the Board of Selectmen voted Monday to expand the roles of the Veterans Service Officer and the Town Nurse. Jake Kramer will now serve as Director of Veterans Services on a full-time basis until June 2024. “The veterans were disproportionately affected by the pandemic,” Selectman Michael Deignan said. “Especially in regards to medical care, mental health, and in some cases, increased food insecurity.” Expanding Kramer’s position will help to “mitigate” some of those problems.

Jaime Conlon’s position will also be expanded. Conlon will now serve as Public Health Nurse through June 2024. Kramer and Conlon will be working out of the Department of Human Services building at Francis Farm. The town bought the property in June. It will also serve as the new home for the Council on Aging. The former senior center at 55 Bay State Road was destroyed by fire last September.

 “The Public Health Nurse is an integral part of that new facility,” Deignan noted. “We’re putting in a clinic there for her with various medical supplies that she needs to service the public. We’re going to have posted office hours for her over there as well. (Conlon) is a valued employee here at the town and she’s a great fit for this new job.”

“It appears we’ve hit a tipping point in town where we’ve grown to the point where we have to give full-time services and more services to our population,” said Selectman Dave Perry. “These are going to be expenses going forward.”

Chairman Skip Vadnais pledged to be creative in finding the funds for the expanded positions. “We step out of the box whenever we can. That’s how you got the Council on Aging situation, that’s how we got the campus at Francis Farm, that’s how we got the Police Department building and that’s how we got the Town Hall building without increasing and relying on property tax to do it.”