Magicians outlast Pembroke

COURTESY PHOTOS/CAT PIPER

Marblehead boys indoor track senior captain Ryan Thompson is shown on the podium after finishing seventh in the 600.

Track

From P. A9 set at 5 feet, 8 inches — higher than a regular-season meet opening height — the pressure is on right away. Each and every miss plays a central role in a possible tiebreaker. Keira soared to the qualifying leap in her first attempt and cleared 5-2 on her second attempt to secure a podium spot. She also qualified for the New England Championship Meet.”

Marblehead girls indoor track senior captain Keira Sweetnam beams with pride after finishing eighth in the high jump during the AllState Meet at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center.

In the boys 4x200 relays, the Marblehead quartet of Harrison Curtis, Sebastian Pantzer, Tommy Carlson and Ryan Thompson bounced back from a disqualification at the state divisional championship meet to cement their names in the school record books with a final All-State Meet time of 1:33.60. The previous best time was 1:34.01. They also qualified for Nationals, but the field is already filled up.

“This was the first time Harrison and Sebby ran the 4x200 fresh without a 300 just before it, and they took full advantage to set up Tommy and Ryan with a solid lead that Tommy and Ryan were able to extend,” Raimo said.

In the girls 4x200 relays, Cate Trautman, Claire Davis, Devin Whalen and Le’Daisha Williams established a new school record of 1:47.43, besting the previous time by one second to finish ninth overall in the state.

“Ava Machado was unable to attend the All-State Meet due to prior commitments, but Le’Daisha subbed in without any practice on the handoffs to anchor the team,” Raimo said. “At first, it was hard to believe, but those who know Le’Daisha well understand that she is calm as can be in all situations, and that was on full display on the biggest stage.”

Raimo continued, “In years past, I would check in with the team two or three times before the race to make sure they were warmed up and had a baton, among other things. But nowadays, they are all genuinely true professionals, who I have full faith in to get the job done.” mind was, 'I went to Audubon day camp; I can do this,'" McCauley said. people. are not off the main roads, she said. But the neighbors who walk through the sanctuary regularly surely appreciate it, as does the birding community, given its status as a "stopover point" for many species of migrating birds, McCauley noted.

The quartet was also able to qualify for the New England Championship Meet back at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center on March 3.

McCauley can laugh now about how much she did not know. She followed up that Peace Corps stint by going back to school to study environmental science and fill in the gaps in her knowledge.

But now, things have come full circle for McCauley. She is back with Mass Audubon — not as a camper but as its North Shore regional director, responsible for the statewide conservation organization's wildlife sanctuaries from Newburyport to Nahant, including the one on Marblehead Neck.

McCauley has joined Mass Audubon after serving as engagement manager at the Crane Estate in Ipswich for The Trustees since 2018.

Prior to that, McCauley had been the outreach program coordinator at Northeastern University's Marine Science Center in Nahant from 2010 to 2018.

She is also a current member of the Marblehead Conservation Commission and is on the board of Salem Sound Coastwatch.

McCauley said Audubon's "action agenda" — its strategic plan — is what drew her to her new role. Specifically, McCauley liked that it succinctly outlined three goals.

"I went to turn the page, and there wasn't another page," she said.

The first of those goals is to make the land Audubon owns resilient, and not just to climate change but to other threats, like the one posed by invasive species.

"That goes for both socioeconomic variables and accessibility and just making people feel like they are welcome and belong in natural places," she explained.

The third and perhaps most important goal for McCauley is Audubon's broader focus on climate change, which McCauley calls "the most pressing issue facing our society."

Despite already seeing harbingers of the significant changes coming to society, development continues in floodprone areas, and lots of money is being spent on "solutions" that are not permanent ones, she noted.

"I'm really interested in how we communicate with the public about climate change and what we're doing as a model as a landowner and what folks can do themselves, either in their homes, in their communities" or beyond, McCauley said.

B. Hall, who were dismayed by the use of exotic bird feathers in women's clothing and hats, McCauley said.

The commitment to birds continues to this day, in part due to state and federal mandates and the organization's own interest in tracking certain species that are endangered or whose habitat is threatened.

But the organization has "spread its wings" — McCauley cannot resist the pun — in the decades since to encompass the conservation of land and natural resources more generally.

"You can't protect birds without protecting the whole ecosystem and the landscape in general," McCauley said. "Everything gets to benefit — not just the birds — by protecting vulnerable habitats and doing all that we can to keep them resilient."

There is a certain synergy to McCauley's roles as Audubon regional director, Marblehead Conservation Commission member and Salem Sound Coastwatch board member.

For one thing, as a volunteer herself, McCauley is sensitized to the need to engage meaningfully with those who offer up some of their free time to advance Audubon's mission.

"It's not just creating experiences for them to do work that helps us save labor hours but also building a community where we learn things together and we network together socially," she said. "It's really an honor that they want to come in the first place. How we nurture them and encourage them and impart skills and learn together is important to me."

McCauley said she is also pleased that she can continue to draw upon the relationships she has forged with school districts, nonprofit partners and local, state and federal entities during nearly 15 years living and working in and around the North Shore.

"It's really comfortable to slide into a glove and already know who's in the Rolodex," she said.

"We cut down some small saplings, for example, and asked for the ancestors' blessing and explained that it was important for us because we were going to build a structure that was important to our community," she said.

No part of the tree was wasted. Its pulpy interior was pounded and woven and dipped into wax to create string to bind a structure that would later serve as a sweat lodge.

"I'm sure we wouldn't be letting kids into a sweat lodge with fiery rocks these days," she said with a laugh.

But the experience continues to offer lasting lessons.

"I think a very logical way for people to think about their experience in nature is to imagine what it would be like to live in harmony with the land, in terms of what it gives you and what you give back to the land to keep it sustainable for future generations," she said.

Another summer, the region was contending with a gypsy moth invasion. Campers went around with cans of gasoline, scraping larvae into the cans to try to address an invasive species, an example of Audubon being earlier to acknowledge an environmental concern that has since come further to the fore.

McCauley walks around Marblehead's open spaces almost every day and credits her experience as an Audubon camper for laying the groundwork for her connection to and comfort in nature.

One of those habitats is the Audubon's sanctuary on Marblehead Neck, which McCauley calls a "real gem."

Audubon's second goal is to make nature accessible to more

Say "Audubon" to your average Massachusetts residents, and their thoughts likely turn first to birds. Audubon has remained true to its roots, having been founded in 1896 by two women, Harriet Hemenway and Minna

Many may not know about the "significant piece of conservation land smack in the middle of Marblehead Neck," in part because its access points

McCauley will also continue to draw inspiration from those bygone days at Drumlin Farm. McCauley said one of her most profound experiences as an Audubon camper was in a summer program in which she and her fellow participants were instructed to look at the land through the eyes of indigenous people.

Now, through her new position, she hopes to foster that same appreciation in others.

"We're very lucky to live in a place where there is so much protected open space, and that we value and commit resources to caring for it," she said. boards,” Marblehead Select Board Chair Moses Grader told the Marblehead Current. “You don’t want political influence involved. You want to have one person accountable for these decisions.”

The closest the Select Board gets to the town accounts is its authority to appoint a town treasurer.

“They don’t have the right to say anything about the management of accounts,” Blaisdell told the Current.

Jim Nye has been a member of the Select Board for 18 years and president of the National Grand Bank, which has been offering the town the lowest interest rates of any of the financial institutions with which the town has done business, which town officials have attributed to the fact that the town’s account at National Grand is a transactional rather than an investment one, with money flowing in and out constantly.

Asked whether his dual roles create a conflict of interest, Nye points to the state law.

“I didn’t tell John McGinn what to do when he was the treasurer and finance director,” Nye told the Current. “I didn’t tell Steve Poulis what to do, and I won’t tell Rachel [Blaisdell] what to do. None of the Select Board does.”

Last year, the Massachusetts Ethics Commission completed an investigation into “a concern about the town having numerous accounts at the bank where you are president,” explained Brian McWilliams, a special investigator in the Ethics Commission’s Enforcement Division, in a determination letter issued in April.

McWilliams concluded that there was no conflict of interest between Nye’s public service and bank leadership.

“Relying on what you told us and on any necessary follow-up investigation, we have determined that no further action is required on our part,” McWilliams wrote.

However, the Ethics Commission also encourages public officials to consider taking action even when there is merely an appearance of a conflict of interest. Actions officials might consider include everything from completing a disclosure statement to recusal to stepping down altogether.

Asked whether he thought he should recuse himself when matters like appointing the finance director and the town treasurer come before the Select Board, Nye said he did not. He pointed out those votes were unanimous. He also said the town is small, and there are bound to be conflicts.

Higher interest rates

In a series of recent articles, the Marblehead Beacon has pointed out that the town could benefit from moving its money out of National Grand Bank institutions with higher interest rates. In particular, it has highlighted the Massachusetts Municipal Depository Trust, which holds about $34 billion on behalf of cities, towns and other public entities. It offers public entities investment accounts with minimal transactional services.

In its financial analysis, the Marblehead Beacon calculated that Marblehead could have reaped $300,000 more in interest had the town’s money been deposited in an MMDT account instead of National Grand.

“Their math is correct,” Kezer acknowledged. “But the underlying argument is wrong.” Accounts at MMDT and the NGB accounts have been characterized as identical, but it is like comparing “apples to oranges,” Kezer said.

A more apt description would be that the account at the National Grand Bank is like the town’s checking account, which the town uses to pay its bills, payroll and vendors. In this account, the balance is constantly fluctuating as vendors’ invoices are paid, payroll checks are issued, and deposits come in from residents’ property and excise tax payments. The amount of the town’s money in the National Grand Bank oscillates between

$15 million and $25 million.

What MMDT offers is more of an investment account that traditionally provides higher rates because money is not leaving it at the pace of a checking account, according to Kezer.

According to Kezer and Blaisdell, MMDT does not offer the full suite of financial services that the town is availing itself of at National Grand Bank, which a representative of MMDT confirmed.

“MMDT does not offer accounts payable and payroll accounts in the sense that MMDT will not cash checks or send direct deposit files to employees,” Wayne Perry, the senior unit manager for MMDT participant services, wrote in an email. “We can do occasional vendor payments via wire, but it does not offer the full accounts payable and payroll functions.”

Marblehead does have some money — $13.1 million — in an MMDT account earning interest at a rate of 4.77%.

The Beacon juxtaposed the National Grand Bank with commercial banks offering higher interest rates, but Blaisdell and Kezer said those interest rates take into account other benefits that National Grand Bank provides the town, like no transactional fees. Unlike most transactional accounts, National Grand pays interest on deposits. It also provides a level of service that the town has come to value over a long period of time, Grader said.

The National Grand Bank is a 192-year-old institution, and Blaisdell said the town of Marblehead has had accounts with the National Grand Bank since the 19th century. Its accounts are among the Pleasant Street bank’s oldest.

Kezer and Grader said the town maintains a positive outlook. With Nunley-Benjamin expected to start work this week, the Finance Department will be fully staffed.

“In her interview, she demonstrated a strong strategic sense and a ready understanding of the elements needed to strengthen our Finance Department,” Grader, a former chair of the Finance Committee, told the Current after the Select Board hired Nunley-Benjamin.

“We seek to build our Finance Department into a stronger operating organization capable of more efficiently meeting the Government Finance Officers Association’s standards, providing Marblehead taxpayers more seamless visibility into the town’s finances and improving the delivery of its vital central services.”

The public attention to the interest the town has been yielding on its accounts comes as Marblehead marches toward a Town Meeting during which officials are expected to propose a general override of Proposition 2 1/2 to address a structural deficit, though the exact amount has yet to be determined.

The interest rate discussion is “distracting me from addressing the structural deficit and building a budget that sets Marblehead up for success,” Kezer said.