A chart prepared by the Town Manager Herb Durfee sheds light on Selectboard concerns regarding his job performance. By a 3-2 vote, in January, the Selectboard decided not to negotiate an extension to his contract that expires at the end of April. However, the Selectboard will meet Monday to further discuss that action. Town Manager Durfee will make a public presentation.
As a personnel and contract matter, discussions occurred in executive session. No public discussion occurred prior to the 3-2 vote. Unless the Town Manager releases his job performance evaluations, residents won’t know what the Board put down on paper.
However, in a document in the Selectboard packet beginning at page 19, Town Manager Durfee lists “Area[s] of Improvement Identified by the Selectboard,” as part of a draft chart of Deliverables/Milestones/Schedule for Town Manager. I don’t know if the chart covers all of the issues.
The areas of improvement, reformatted from the chart, are:
- The TM has not provided monthly written reports for the second half of the calendar year. The TM has not been able to recognize their importance in identifying potential issues nor understand the reports as an opportunity to offer strategic planning.
- The TM does not currently have the ability to spot accurate vs. inaccurate financial reports and in 2019 has not developed a keen eye for mistakes. The Board sees this as potentially harmful to the Town, especially since the BEC scam of August 2019. Board member questions relating to financial reporting have been met with obfuscation or excuses. Multiple suggestions or requests for managerial or policy improvements relating to financial reporting (e.g., changes in accounting software, layouts or customization changes of reports, delivery dates of internal control procedures) have been left unaddressed.
- The Board would like to see the TM develop a stronger understanding of financial spending in “real time”. When overspending occurs on a certain line item in the operating budget, the Board would like the TM to work toward cultivating the ability to offer an explanation without extensive delay or follow-up from individual members. Similarly, the Board would like to see the TM have a stronger recall for Designated Fund spending.
- Collective bargaining negotiations have faced an unusual number of delays and cancelled meetings. Although the TM has updated the Board representatives on one occasion, the process has been unduly prolonged. On other legal issues, the TM seems to take a casual approach to legal issues resulting in unwarranted delays and fees (BEC scam).
- Critically, the Board has often been made aware of unprofessional remarks or comments of elected and appointed Town Officials by the Town Manager. This conduct creates an atmosphere of distrust in Town Government. The TM is often fixated on power and authority in ways that have ceased to be educational to the Board and have instead limited meaningful collaboration.
- The Board needs more insight on how the TM prioritizes his work. The TM frequently, if not consistently, agrees to individual Board member requests or timelines that he may or may not be able to fulfill, resulting in Board member frustration, or else Board priorities left incomplete or undone. Office efficiency sometimes suffers from an apparent lack of time management skills and a dependence on paper. The Board welcomes insight into how we can all better communicate expectations and become efficient in ways that better serve our community.
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