One or two hard feelings, well-preserved

The December demotion of Preservation Commission member Dennis De Witt from full to non-voting member after 25 years of volunteer service on the board has raised eyebrows over the Board of Selectmen's method of making board and commission appointments.

The controversy also threatens to strain relations among the selectmen, whose ranks include De Witt's wife, Betsy.

An architectural historian and board member of the Massachusetts Historical Commission , Dennis De Witt has served on the Preservation Commission and its predecessor for 25 non-consecutive years. In the latest wrinkle in the controversy, Town Meeting and Advisory Committee member Stanley Spiegel said last week that by not reappointing him as a full commissioner, the selectmen may have violated state and town laws.

The selectmen are responsible for appointing volunteers to roughly 30 boards and commissions. The Preservation Commission is unique in the number of federal, state and local guidelines and laws that govern its appointments. Federal guidelines state that Preservation Commission appointments shall include, if possible, professionals in history, planning, arch eology, and related disciplines. The selectmen, in December, appointed architects, two realtors, a lawyer/architect, and a contractor to the seven voting positions on the commission. De Witt was the only applicant with historical credentials.

"I thought Dennis deserved reappointment, but if you are going to kick him off, at least replace him with someone of similar expertise," Spiegel said.

Selectmen chairman Robert Allen, who voted against De Witt, dismissed Spiegel's assertion, saying the guidelines give the board wiggle room on appointments.

"We do the best we can with the applicants we have," he said. "We tried to follow the spirit of the law, and I think we have, short of making this a 15-member board."

Besides, Allen said, De Witt is still on the commission, as a non-voting member.

Sheri Flagler , current chairwoman of the commission, agreed on that point.

"He's still there," she said. "When I need his input, I get it. When a voting member is not there, which is often enough, I can appoint him to vote." Flagler added that she would have liked De Witt to remain a voting member.

Allen was joined in the 3-1 vote against De Witt's reappointment by Nancy Daly and Michael Merrill. Betsy De Witt abstained; both she and her husband declined to be interviewed for this article.

All three who voted against De Witt said in interviews that they have the utmost respect for his expertise and feel his handling of developments has been fair, including the conversion of St. Aidan's Church into condominiums.

"The Preservation Commission played an important role in that conversion," said Allen. "Dennis helped the various interests come to yes."

In the month since the selectmen's vote on De Witt, letter-writers to the local weekly have contended that the move sprang from developers nervous he might block planned building or tear-downs. In the past three years, De Witt has supported the creation of three new historic districts in Brookline, which add regulatory hurdles to demolishing, renovating, and building.

All three of the selectmen who voted against De Witt deny they were influenced by pressure from developers. Two of the three -- Allen and Daly -- point to a shared concern about him: complaints from homeowners.

"Individuals before the Preservation Commission for renovations to their house felt his approach was arrogant and high-handed," said Daly . "He doesn't mean to, but he has a way of talking to people that upset them."

Daly added that usually the board and the complainant came to an amicable solution.

Allen said he thought it was time to let someone else take a turn on the commission.

"I have always tried to keep the faces fresh" on boards and commissions, Allen said, adding that the board had replaced volunteers on the Park and Recreation and Human Relations/Youth Resources commissions. "We have the wonderful problem of having so many super-intelligent people who want to devote time to the town. If we reappoint the current candidates, the rest are disenfranchised. I felt we should let them have a chance."

As for the suggestion that the matter had strained relations among the selectmen, four out of five on the board would not comment publicly. The sole exception was Gilbert Hoy, who cast the sole vote for De Witt.

"It sure would bother me," said Hoy, "if it were my spouse not reappointed to a position where they'd done a good job and deserved reappointment."