Up Close and Personal in the Field: Cindy Kudlik

UP CLOSE &

PERSONAL In the Field

Cindy Kudlik

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Welcome to Up Close and Personal – In the Field, a regular column in New Hampshire Town and City dedicated to giving readers a closer look at staff from New Hampshire municipalities. In this issue, we hope you enjoy meeting Cindy Kudlik, a Selectboard member in the Town of Grafton. Cindy is a recent graduate of The Academy for Good Governance. Congrats Cindy!

TC: What are your duties and responsibilities as Selectman?

CK: RSA 41:8 says the Selectmen are to manage the prudential affairs of the town. This could be everything from hiring and firing employees to taking complaints about the roads or the dump to signing payment requests for everything from payroll to office supplies and being at the polls every election day. There is so much more to it than just going to a meeting or two a month.

TC: What is your biggest challenge in performing your duties?

CK: Getting people involved in solving their own issues. For instance, there are some people in our town that have been riling each other up on Facebook over broadband and complaining that “the Selectmen failed to bring broadband to Grafton.” After explaining the situation to them and pointing out that other towns formed committees years ago, we gave them our blessing to form their own committee to see what could be done. Not one person has taken us up on that offer. In a town like Grafton, of all places, people shouldn’t be relying so heavily on the government to take care of their every need.

TC: How has NHMA helped you to do your job?

CK: NHMA has helped me do my job in so many ways. It’s great that you can search on the NHMA website for just about any topic and find information. NewsLink always has useful information including upcoming training and events. The weekly Legislative Bulletin keeps me abreast of pending legislation. I’ve even used the Employment Hotline as well as having specific questions answered via telephone or email. But without a doubt the most valuable to me is the wide range of training, now mostly via webinar, to learn more about almost every aspect of a Selectman’s responsibilities.

TC: Give us an example of a problem you solved or a dilemma you faced and overcame in the line of duty?

CK: During deliberative session this year one of the Budget Committee members thought that the budget printed on the warrant was wrong. She thought the gross basis portions of several department budgets should not have been included in the town’s operating budget. It took a bit of a memory search to remember how the budget was created, but after a brief recess we finally got her to understand that it was correct and avoided having the budget reduced to an amount that did not include gross basis income sources which would have left us unable to spend those moneys as intended because they wouldn’t have been appropriated.

TC: Has your public position changed you personally?

CK: Yes, my skin’s gotten much thicker. Taking things personally can leave you running in circles and worrying about all the wrong things. I’ve also learned to offer more grace, to myself, as well as others.

TC: Has your job changed the way you look at the role of government?

CK: Yes, I think the government plays too big a role in many people’s lives and we’ve learned to be too dependent on others. What saddens me in our town, in particular, and probably other towns are going through the same challenge, is a lack of people willing to get involved. We have a very small group of people that are willing to run for any office, let alone do the work needed to be done. I’m grateful for the folks here in Grafton that step up to serve and wish more people would want to do the same.

TC: What lessons about human nature have you learned in your role?

CK: That most people just want to be heard. Also, that honest answers or admitting you don’t know something will garner more trust and respect than being a “politician” and trying to tell people what you think they want to hear.