What was the rush?

That's the question three members of the Harvard Board of Selectmen need to answer following a vote they made to appoint a new member to the Historical Commission, a vote that resulted in the resignation of two longtime members of that commission.

At a meeting the morning of Thursday, Nov. 10, Selectmen voted 3-2 to appoint Barbara Hadad to the Historical Commission. Selectmen Bill Johnson, Ron Ricci, and Peter Warren voted for the appointment, while Marie Sobalvarro and Timothy Clark opposed it. Hadad was at the meeting; Historical Commission Chair Roseanne Saalfield was not, having been told the appointment was not going to be on the agenda.

And it appears it wasn't, not specifically, anyway. Selectmen Chair Sobalvarro had simply written the word "appointments," referring to, she said, a proposed appointment to the Council on Aging that carried the recommendation of that board.

Despite Saalfield's absence and despite lacking a recommendation from the Historical Commission for Hadad or any other candidate (Saalfield said the commission was not finished interviewing), Johnson, Ricci, and Warren used the agenda item as an opportunity to appoint Hadad.

According to the Board of Selectmen's written policies and procedures, the chairperson or another representative of the board or committee in question should be present when an appointment is made.

So what was the rush?

The Historical Commission does important work in town, but a vacancy on the commission is hardly an emergency that can't wait a week or two. If Saalfield missed the Nov. 10 meeting due to a miscommunication, what harm could have come from holding off on the appointment vote until a meeting where she was present?

Making appointments to town boards and committees is ultimately the responsibility of Selectmen, and they are under no obligation to rubber stamp whichever candidate a board recommends. But Selectmen could have still voted for Hadad and followed their own written procedure if they waited to do so when Saalfield was there.

She was there at the next meeting, and when Johnson and Ricci refused to make a motion to reconsider the appointment (Warren was absent), Saalfied resigned, along with commission alternate and former chair Johnathan Feist.

Johnson, Ricci, and Warren ought to explain why they were in such a hurry to fill an empty seat on the Historical Commission that they ignored their board's own policy and procedure. If they think that procedure should be changed, they ought to propose a new one.

Otherwise, stick to the usual way of doing things and let board candidates and board members, all dedicated volunteers and many experts in their fields, have their say before carefully considering and making an appointment.