CHESHIRE, Mass. — The town has a temporary town treasurer after longtime Treasurer/Collector Rebecca Herzog abruptly retired last week. 

 

Ben Gelb, part-time treasurer for Rowe, was appointed on Friday during a special meeting of the Board of Selectmen

 

Herzog's departure after 28 years was in response to an executive session scheduled last Tuesday  "to consider the discipline or dismissal of a public employee and/or to hear complaints or charges brought against a public employee."

 

The board had three issues with her office: failure to payout accrued time and benefits for a laid-off employee, concerns over bonding documents for the new fire truck and for not responding in a timely manner to requests from the board and the town administrator. 

 

Herzog blamed vacation and sick time accrual mistakes on the town's software system and said she'd been following the schedule for the bonding process and didn't see anything unusual.

 

She proffered her retirement letter to the Selectmen after requesting an open session. 

 

"I am retiring effective tonight. I'm done. You know, what a shame that this is the way my career ends over a mistake," she said, adding she had assumed she was being fired. "It was just to humiliate me."