BLANDFORD – A citizen’s petition submitted last month by Anthony J van Werkhooven with 99 signatures will force once again a vote to reduce the town administrator’s salary to $1.00, effectively eliminating the position. The position of Town Administrator is currently held by Angeline Ellison of Sturbridge. Ellison started on the job in September, 2016, at a part-time salary of $40,000. Her salary is in the FY18 budget for the same amount.
The warrant article reads: To see if the town will vote to reduce the Town Administrator salary line to $1.00 by transferring the current balance in excess of $1.00 to Free Cash.
An identical article, submitted by resident Don Carpenter was on the Annual Town Meeting warrant on May 1. After a spirited debate at that meeting, the town voted 72 to 30 to postpone the vote indefinitely.
Tony van Werkhooven. (WNG File Photo)
Van Werkhooven, a former member of the Finance Committee who resigned last fall, said he brought the petition forward because he kept hearing about personnel problems in the town. “I ended up doing the petition, (because) I kept hearing that everybody is so upset with the Town Administrator,” van Werkhooven said. He said last month the newly appointed town treasurer resigned. He said there is a pattern of putting people on probation and recommending that they be terminated. He said he raised a similar issue at the Annual Town Meeting, but since then “quite a few more people have had experiences with her.”
In a recent letter, van Werkhooven listed several resignations in the town due to altercations with and accusations by the TA. He also referred to a meeting of the Board of Selectmen on November 6, at which chair Adam Dolby criticized the petition. “Essentially he (Dolby) said that he did not consider the petition the appropriate means of dealing with the situation and that individuals should have approached the Board with their concerns. The indication by Mr. Dolby was that this had not been done. This assertion is absolutely false!” van Werkhooven wrote.
At the conclusion, he said while he agreed with Dolby that a warrant article is not “my favorite way” to approach the problem, “the hostile work environment in the town hall is a problem! It appears that the Board is not willing to address the problem head on. What other options exist?”
Blandford Select Board chair Adam Dolby. (WNG File Photo)
Adam Dolby, chair of the Board of Selectmen said that there is a higher threshold of signatures needed to get on the Special Town Meeting warrant, so this was a “pretty concerted effort.” He said the vote puts the town in “quite a spot,” because, by eliminating the position, he said he had no idea how they would ever hire another Town Administrator. He also said the principal complaint about the Board of Selectmen is a lack of communication on the issues raised. He said he will not talk about employee matters outside of executive session.
“My concern is that if it happens, the town is undoubtedly going to be sued for breach of contract. We signed an employment agreement for one year,” Dolby said. He said if it passes, they might as well give the money to legal instead of Free Cash, “because we’ll need it.” Dolby added that he also is not managing the town “in fear of being sued.”
He said the town has taken many steps forward this year on the financial side, and on the people side. In a letter to the editor in response to the petition, Dolby states that Ellison came into town hall on the heels of management letters from the MA Division of Local Services, with such “sterling comments as these (excerpted but all available online):
•”environment devoid of accountability, town employees are allowed to believe that rules need not be followed or, for some, that town responsibilities need not be a priority and can be relegated to incidental status”
•”fiduciary responsibilities are neglected and corrective action has been virtually non-existent”
•”a very loose brand of government where town employees, whether elected or appointed, are not held to any standard of performance. In some cases, they act based on what’s convenient for them”
•”a shared, but fully empowered, town administrator to whom all employees report is one component of the solution”
Dolby continues in the letter that while it is true that the town has progressed toward the proper financial accounting outlined in the same reports, it is equally true that the last step was the proper management of the town staff. “We knew this would be the most challenging part of the process: numbers are easy, people are hard. Addressing staff behavior and job duties is a significant part of Angie’s job and I believe she’s doing an admirable job,” he wrote.
Dolby said that he would much rather be talking about the other, more important articles that will be voted at the Special Town Meeting on Monday, such as the $283,000 to transfer from Free Cash or borrow to purchase a mini-pumper, “the first new (fire) truck in 20 years,” or the $231,250 to purchase a 2018 Mack GU713 for the Highway Department. He said the town has also made great strides toward obtaining broadband services.
Blandford Town Administrator Angeline Ellison. (WNG File Photo)
In a public statement, Ellison added to the accomplishments of town government in the past year. “During the last year, we were able to get a small bridge grant for $500,000, streamline and create processes for more effective management of the town offices, boards and committees. We cut the accounting services cost well over two thirds by negotiating contracts outsourcing resources. The Board of Selectmen and the Town Administrator have now been included in the budget process for transparency and accountability of town finances. We have increased the highway and police staff to assure better service to the residents. We have cross-trained staff. We have proposed acquisition of a fire and highway truck. Moreover, we collaborated with other towns to create a regional Economic Development Director position, and received a Green Community designation and funding,” she wrote.
Ellison went on to say that other projects are in the works, including broadband services, a 5-year plan for Blandford roads, and a capital/strategy plan for replacement of operational departments equipment and vehicles, among others. “Please note that the Town Administrator is a part time position,” she said, adding that eliminating the TA position would “go against all the recommendations of the State Department of Revenue in its August, 2011 Financial Management Review Report…”
Dolby said residents are not aware of the other side of these issues, and sincerely hopes the Town Administrator question doesn’t pass. “To claim that this is for the benefit of Blandford is ludicrous,” Dolby said. The Special Town Meeting will take place on Monday, November 20 at 7:20 p.m. in Blandford Town Hall.
