Letter: Remembering Kevin

from Paula Rizzi, Secretary to Board of Selectmen

There is always a bit of a grieving process when someone you know and admire is no longer a part of your daily life. In an effort to make that grieving process a little bit easier, I would like to tell you what it was like working with Kevin Mearn these past five years.

When you spend five days a week with people in a work setting, often times you become like family, or you hate each other and you move on. I have had a taste of both and I am happy to say working for Kevin was like being with family. We had our moments, like any family does, when we disagreed, but we always managed to laugh in the end. Kevin always appreciated a good sense of humor especially when things got busy or tense.

Kevin always credited his wife for the success of his children, an admirable trait as far as I am concerned. I have listened to too many bosses complain about their significant others. He also told everyone that we ran the office, he just showed up. He thanked us all the time for what we did. I was happy to get a paycheck each week for my contribution to the Town, a thank you from your boss made you feel that you mattered and were really making a difference.

Kevin loves children and no child ever left the Selectmen’s Office without a treat (that he consistently supplied to the office). Cookies and lollypops were just another order of business for the youngest residents of Milton. He welcomed many residents to our office and guided them into the conference room to sit and voice their concerns. Even if they did not get the answer they wanted, they were treated with respect and left feeling that someone had listened to their concerns. In my experience, that is what most people are looking for.

When Kevin was appointed Town Administrator he told me that we would have “fun”. Well, I have to admit we did have that.

We all have our good and bad days and who wouldn’t want to be able to afford to leave the work world behind. But if you have to work, isn’t it just a luxury that you work with great people and have a boss you feel supports you in what you do?

We will miss, you, Kevin. Who couldn’t love and miss a guy who gets as excited about ice cream and cookies as he does about the satisfaction of helping people and doing a good job. In the last thirty years of my employment with the Town, these past five years have been the best. Thanks, Kevin.

Paula Rizzi
Secretary to the Board of Selectmen