Personnel Committee recommends Tomanac, Porten for Board of Health and Planning Board

MARLBOROUGH -- January 30, 2023, Marlborough Personnel Committee advances two mayoral appointments on unanimous votes. The committee voted 3-0 Monday to recommend Richard Tomanac, former general manager of the Embassy Suites Marlborough and a 33-year Hilton Hotels veteran, for a three-year term on the Board of Health, and 3-0 to recommend retired Marlborough firefighter and licensed Massachusetts general contractor James Porten for a five-year Planning Board term expiring Feb. 1, 2027, filling the seat of former Councilor Matthew Elder. Tomanac, asked about food-safety oversight of the city's hotel and restaurant sector, said sanitation standards are "pretty standardized" and credited Health Agent John Garside with consistency. The committee chair told Porten that few outside training programs exist for municipal board members and that the city solicitor is running in-house Planning Board and Zoning Board training, with an additional session deferred about a month to seat new members.