L M aTTErS Officials speak to handling of accounts

Absence of treasurer cited for failure to shop for better rates

BY WILLIAM J. DOWD

Prompted by reporting by another local news outlet, Abbot Hall’s cash management practices and interest yields have become the talk of the town.

In a series of interviews, most town officials attributed the town’s failure within the past year to seize higher interest rates than those offered by National Grand Bank to turnover in the Marblehead

Finance Department.

The lack of a treasurer essentially made moving money impossible for months because state law vests the town treasurer with exclusive authority over where to deposit taxpayers’ money.

After the Select Board hired Amesbury resident Thatcher Kezer as town administrator in the middle of 2022, he made filling the treasurer and finance director positions a top priority.

Yet the positions remained vacant for months until the Select Board hired native Rachel Blaisdell in early December as town treasurer and Gloucester resident Aleesha NunleyBenjamin as finance director in early February.

But the turnover is just one of several long-standing issues, Select Board member Erin Noonan said.

“The absence of a town treasurer and finance director