words of wisdom from a former selectman

[towncryer]

The Worst Six Months of My Life
by
Dick Neal

Updated 8/24/08

At the October 21, 2007 selectmen’s meeting, Jim Driscoll announced he was resigning his position as selectman, effective January 1, 2008. After thinking about it, I decided to run for the balance of Jim’s term which would have ended June 30, 2008. I thought that, with my experience of being a selectman from 1989 through 1998, I could help my community. I soon realized that the problems concerning the town’s administration and politics were more than I could have ever imagined. The election campaign turned very nasty with Mr. Driscoll and Pat Hannon sending out malicious emails and letters with lies about me. I won the election on January 8, 2008 and took office on January 9th. It wasn’t long, before I realized that I had stepped into a hornet’s nest and into a very hostile work environment. It became very clear right away that the selectmen were not running the town; the Town Clerk/Tax Collector and the Treasurer were “calling the shots.” I felt confused, frustrated and embarrassed. I had been a selectman for over 9 years and knew what my job was. Having subordinate employees constantly telling the selectmen (their supervisors) what to do and what not to do was mind boggling to me. I found myself, not only disagreeing with the subordinate employees at times, but also with my fellow selectmen who were allowing this situation to happen. I soon realized that I had become a considered threat to the Town Clerk/Tax Collector and the Treasurer. The Selectmen’s Office was also being plagued with malicious emails and unsigned letters that were saying untrue things and trying to cast a bad light on some of the actions of the Selectmen.

There were so many outstanding issues that needed to be resolved and actions taken. Another selectman, Mr. Conway, was still being investigated due to Mr. Driscoll’s filing of criminal charges against him concerning an abatement of his real estate valuation. Also the assessing records were being audited by the town’s auditor upon a request of Mr. Driscoll. The conclusion of the audit and criminal investigation showed no wrong doing on the part of Mr. Conway. The audit of the assessing records did show some major weaknesses of the town’s assessing system. The record keeping was very shoddy and it appeared that the selectmen as assessors had abdicated their responsibility to the assessor’s agent. It was pointed out by the auditor that the elected assessor’s are the ones that are legally responsible for the changes to the property valuations. The assessor’s agent is only contracted to do the field work and make recommendations to the assessors. Not one single selectman in the last ten years has received any training in assessing. I wrote a set of guidelines for assessing which was adopted at the March 4, 2008 selectmen’s meeting. There were also 18 requests for abatements that had been held up since October 2007. Another major problem in assessing was the incompatibility of the assessing software programs between Briteside and TRIO. The assessor’s agent was putting new valuation data into the Briteside program while the tax billing was using the TRIO program. The Briteside data had to be manually entered into the TRIO assessing program with the potential for errors. This continues to be a major problem. To make matters worse, Trio has been bought out by the JK Harris Co., which does not have any assessing knowledgeable technical support staff.

Prior to my taking office, I drafted a list with 54 questions or areas of concern that I had with administration, finance, and assessing. Before I knew it my list grew more than I could research and get answers for. Problems kept coming up more and more on a weekly basis. I soon found myself working 30 – 40 hours a week. It was very difficult and frustrating in trying to schedule the time with the other selectmen to act on these problems. The other two selectmen had other jobs and were not available to work on these problems. When we did get together, we were constantly interrupted and advised by the town clerk or treasurer that we were meeting illegally.

Before long it was budget time. The budget process turned out to be a fiasco. I prepared a memo from the selectmen to all department heads and committee chairmen outlining the budget schedule. Budgets were supposed to be turned in to the selectmen’s office by March 10, 2008 for their review and preparation of the town meeting articles. The final budgets and town meeting articles were due to the warrant and finance committee by April 1, 2008. Most of the budgets were presented directly to the warrant and finance committee without being reviewed by the selectmen. It became a very trying, stressful, and embarrassing situation. I also took the initiative and wrote most of the non-budget articles for the town meeting.

While trying to address the day to day problems, I spent time researching and developing job descriptions for the town clerk/tax collector, registrar of voters, treasurer, and administrative assistant. The main problem that I had was my inability to get the other selectmen to take the time to review them so that we could formally present them to the employees. I also spent time revising the Personnel Policy to make it more encompassing. This was also presented to the other selectmen for their review but I never did receive any feedback from either of them.

During this same period, there were malicious attempts by certain local people to discredit the selectmen and others that have attempted to point out the weaknesses in the administration of our town government. These same persons were aided and abetted by employees working in the Town Hall. I do not consider employees that have been allowed to conduct themselves in this manner to be an asset the town. These same employees have been allowed to do what they want and continue to tell the selectmen what to do and how to do their job. The Selectmen need to regain control and provide the leadership that I feel has been lacking for a number of years. During this time, I felt that there was a lack of leadership from the Chairman. As a matter of fact, most of our overall problems with our town government can be attributed to the lack of leadership over the last eight years. In my early days of management, I learned that there are two types of managers. One is a leader and the other is a follower. The leader is trained, knowledgeable and is aware of the problems facing him/her and has a plan to resolve the problems; takes necessary action and follows through to see that the actions are carried out and the problems resolved. This is called pro-active management. The other manager, who is a follower, sits back and only reacts to a problem when it is brought to his/her attention. Many of the problems have not been addressed or resolved in a timely manner and have been allowed to remain as open action items over time. We, not only need strong leadership, but also a strong commitment to provide the necessary time and effort to resolve these problems/action items.

Some of the things that have come to my attention during my six-month tenure as a selectman which are in need of prompt attention and action are the following:

1. There is no schedule of events that provides a timetable for certain actions that need to be taken at certain times of the year. This can be an important tool to ensure that certain critical events are not forgotten or overlooked.

2. A need to review and adopt job descriptions for all employees.

3. A need to conduct meaningful performance appraisals.

4. Adopt revisions to the personnel policy to make it more comprehensive. A revised “Personnel Policy’ has been written but not adopted.

5. There is a need to increase administrative support to the selectmen’s office and provide proper funding. Currently, there are no budgeted funds to provide the necessary support.

6. Bills, not approved by a Committee Chairman or Department Head, are not being reviewed and approved for payment by the Selectmen prior to going on the warrant.

7. Time sheets for employees under the direct supervision of the Selectmen are not being reviewed and approved by the Selectmen prior to going on the warrant.

8. The Treasurer attempts to establish policy. She can recommend, but the Selectmen are the ones that establish policy. We have instances where the Treasurer has refused to pay individuals because they did not have liability insurance or had not filled out a W-9. The gentleman, who shoveled the walkways this past winter was not paid until the end of the fiscal year, even though the three selectman have signed his request for payment and directed that he be paid. Others have been told by the Treasurer that they would not be paid unless they have insurance.

9. The Selectmen have been unwilling to take the time to attend training courses in Assessing, General Assistance, Indoctrination for Municipal Officers and Basics of Municipal Accounting.

10. Need to develop a new “Financial Policy and Procedures Manual”. I wrote one, which was adopted in 1996. After I left office in 1998, it was put away and ignored. It needs to be revised and updated to reflect the present accounting system and procedures.

11. There seems to be a problem with appointing a Deputy Treasurer and a Deputy Town Clerk/.Tax Collector. Shelley Blaisdell works for both, but has not been appointed as an official deputy. We should have an official deputy in both offices to be able act in an official capacity, if the Town Clerk/Tax Collector or Treasurer is unavailable due to vacations, sickness or other reasons.

12. The Treasurer is presently maintaining “Personnel Files” on all Town employees, including “Disciplinary Action and Performance Appraisals”. As Treasurer, she should only have personnel info that pertains to employee pay records. The other personnel info should be kept in the Selectmen’s Office in a secured cabinet.

13. The Town Clerk is presently being paid an extra 3 hours pay/week for maintaining the Town of Acton’s website, whether she spends the 3 hours or not. It is not being kept up to date and has questionable facts concerning the history of Acton.

14. Need to adopt and implement a “Drug Policy”. It has been discussed a number of times and has been budgeted for. What are they waiting for?

15. Need to address the assessing procedures for assessing “Personal Property”. The present system is discriminatory and not inclusive.

16. The Town Clerk/Tax Collector is presently being paid an extra 8 hours a month as a Deputy Treasurer to do Tax Liens for the Treasurer. Why doesn’t the Treasurer do her own Tax Liens, which is part of her job? I feel that this is just a ploy to give the Town Clerk/Tax Collector extra pay.

17. Need to take another look at “Health Benefits”. The Health Benefits were under budgeted by 4%. Need to look at increasing the employee share or adopting an alternate plan, which is cheaper, overall.

18. During budget deliberations with the Warrant & Finance Committee, the “Equipment Rates” for the Road Commissioners were discussed in length plus the cost of the overall Road Budget. It was agreed that after the start of the new Fiscal Year, that a committee would be appointed to look into the matter and make recommendations prior to the next budget cycle.

These are just some of the pertinent things that I came across in the last six months. People need to be held accountable for their actions and their inactions. It is up to the Townspeople as to how they want their town to be run. The citizens of Acton deserve better. In 1990, one of my first acts as chairman of the Board of Selectmen, was to institute “Acton Pride Day”. Every year, we spent a whole day celebrating our pride in the Town of Acton. We no longer celebrate “Acton Pride Day”. I am not sure that there are that many people who still have that sense of pride in their community. We do not all have to agree on everything, but, once again, we should strive to work together to make our community a source of pride. I am willing to help, but others have to be willing to recognize their weaknesses and/or the extent of their abilities and to be willing to accept help from others. The time for action is now, not four to six months from now.