Back to Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
September 8, 2009
Special Session 9:00 AM
Ms. Burns, Mr. Rabuffo, Mr. Riley
Interviews for Superintendent of Public Works
Randy Sylvester informed the Board that his management strengths include the ability to address problems and being unafraid to make decisions and instruct people what to do. He said his weaknesses are the paving and the technical aspects of the job but the department currently has an excellent engineer and highway supervisor. Mr. Sylvester said that when making decisions he goes to the right places and get answers. He has gone to classes and will keep going to classes to become more knowledgeable in the area of paving.
Mr. Sylvester told the Board that his greatest professional achievement was when the Aquarion treatment plant was built he was asked to get it up and running efficiently. He characterized himself as being very adept at working in emergency situations. While working for Aquarion Water he was responsible for treatment of water, personnel and operations and directly supervised nine employees. He said a second accomplishment of which he is quite proud is the transfer station. He spent many hours assessing the personnel and operation of the facility as well as the DEP regulations. He slowly began implementing changes. He put a system in place to stop non-residents from using the transfer station. These enforcement rules were accepted by the DEP. There are also waste bans for recyclables and/or hazardous items. The new enforcement regulations allow for ticketing residents. If a violation occurs, the resident receives a letter, a second infraction requires the resident to come in and sign an acknowledgement, the third violation results in a one year ban on use of the facility.
Mr. Sylvester said the customers of the DPW include all the residents, other departments and the Selectmen. In his opinion the Department should respond to the most crucial needs at the time. If there was a tree down over the road DPW would respond immediately to allow the free passage of traffic; if there is a request to plant bushes in front of town hall that work would be scheduled. Mr. Sylvester has created Excel spreadsheets to track customer requests. Initially everything was in notebooks. Now when a call is received it is written in down in a notebook, then into a computer spreadsheet. The calls are tracked as they are received - who takes the call and when it is addressed (within 48 hours). The needs go onto a priority list. Whoever takes the call then takes responsibility for tracking. The DPW software just purchased will create a work order as soon as the information is received and will allow better tracking and generating reports. The work order system is capable of taking care of all DPW needs including vehicle maintenance tracking as well as inventory and asset tracking. It will also be a project management tool. This is a DPW program that will meet the needs of the department.
Mr. Sylvester said that if there is a need the DPW goes out and gets the work done. He said if the department has the money it can and will do the projects. He noted that the department has good personnel who are willing to work in emergency situations. He said the weakness is that they need to become a Department of Public Works rather than the separate divisions - working as a unit is important.
Mr. Riley asked how the response time to snow and ice situations can be improved and trucks out on the road faster. Mr. Sylvester noted that it is hard to predict icing, etc. but the department is usually prepared well in advance. Response time depends on when the call is received. If the call from the police is late, the response will also be late. He suggested that the police could be trained on when to call. He also suggested the possibility of split shifts. Certain personnel could be on during the late night hours and patrol the roads. This split shift would be an 11-7 shift and weather dependent.
Ms. Burns asked Mr. Sylvester to discuss his ideas about the reorganization at the Landfill, goals for the department and the reaction of the employees. Mr. Sylvester said he envisioned a supervisor at the transfer station, a highway supervisor and shop supervisor. Additionally he suggested division foremen. Mr. Sylvester noted that the employees could be used in a more efficient manner. He advised that he has a great relationship with employees and, if there is a problem, he addresses it right at the moment. There have been no grievances during his tenure as acting superintendent. He has reinstituted safety meetings and these are now done as a group instead of by division. Most employees like safety training.
Mr. Rabuffo asked what issues the DPW would be facing in five to ten years from now and how he would guide the Board of Selectmen to address those issues. Mr. Sylvester said the main issue would be equipment since the equipment is getting old and it will come to a crucial point where it is more costly to repair these items than to replace them. Mr. Sylvester suggested this would be best addressed by
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looking at the cost of the DPW doing something versus outside contractor, the quality of the service and deciding where it would be most effective for the town to spend its money.
When asked to compare Hingham to other towns Mr. Sylvester said he had not had a chance to look at it, but when traveling through other towns and he thinks Hingham is doing pretty well. In his opinion Hingham is above average in that regard. He explained that the DPW can do the work but it depends on what is available for money – they can not repave a road if they don’t have the money.
Mr. Riley said that when the Board asked Mr. Sylvester to go over to the Department of Public Works he were asked to do many things. He asked Mr. Sylvester to share those directions. Mr. Sylvester said he had looked at the highway end of things and saw a lot of things that were deficient, especially the budget. The budget had not been changed in ten years. Money was be spent form one account to cover costs in another account. He found historically funds had been used from other accounts. He instituted a tracking system for the budget so that he can tell where things are at any given time. Previously, the department had always relied on Accounting and their numbers are not necessarily up to date. He also noted that safety training was lacking. There was a program in place but never utilized. The tracking systems were also lacking. Mr. Sylvester said he looked on the internet and spoke to vendors and ultimately purchased a program. This dealt with the need of addressing customers in a timely fashion and avoiding things falling through the cracks. There was no tree inventory or evaluation of trees. Now, when time allows, the department inspects and rates trees.
Ms. Burns asked what systems would allow the Board of Selectmen to evaluate how DPW budget dollars are working. Mr. Sylvester said the new computer program would generate readable reports and give an up to date evaluation of what is being done. Over a period of time this program would allow Mr. Sylvester to estimate how many people hours are needed versus how many people hours he has. The work order program will tell how long it will take to do something.
Mr. Rabuffo asked Mr. Sylvester what would you attribute the change over the past two years. He explained that he has listened to all the committees in place, asked what the needs were and told them up front what can be done and what cannot be done.
Mr. Riley questioned if there are problems in certain areas, e.g., Hersey House, and there is no money in the budget how he would respond. Mr. Sylvester said If there are special needs, he would evaluate it, do what has to done and, if the department can’t, he would tell someone that the DPW cannot do it. If at all possible, they will make it work.
Ms. Burns asked how can to get a match between what the DPW is requested to do and what the Selectmen are asking. Mr. Sylvester explained that the supervisors fill out a report on a weekly basis and say what their priorities are. Priorities can then be evaluated. He said that they will find the time somewhere and make up the best they can later on down the road.
Philip Genovese
Mr. Genovese informed the Board that he was from Westfield, MA where he had been in the Department of Public Works for 32 years. He said he worked through every job in Westfield up to and including the position of Director for six years. He then went to Millbury where he was the Interim Director for 11 months. He characterized his management strengths as communication, which is a key to being a manager, and listening. He said he is a good listener and likes to communicate on a daily basis. He told the Board that his weakness is that he gets frustrated when he sets a timetable and it is not on schedule. Over the years he has learned that things come up and he has to step back.
Mr. Genovese said his greatest professional achievement was a consolidation of the Department of Public Works under his supervision. The Parks Department was put under the Department of Public Works and then solid waste was sent over to Public Works. There was workers compensation problem and Mr. Genovese looked at privatizing the solid waste collection. The bid came back in the same amount as the budget. To go with this option meant a layoff of 22 people, leasing trucks and barrels and with negotiating. Implementation took a year with notification through cable, newspapers and door to door flyers. The result was that workers’ compensation claims went from $500,000 to $50 and the staff was reduced to the level necessary.
Mr. Genovese said anyone with a phone is a customer of the Department of Public Works. He said he had to reprimand people because of the failure of mid-management to return phone calls. He instituted
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a complaint log. The clerk takes the complaint complete with address, phone number and time. The complaint is given to road foreman to investigate, then the foreman recommends a plan of action and the final solution. Mr. Genovese said mid-management is key because they are the ones taking the calls. The deputy superintendent looked at complaints daily, the superintendent, weekly.
Mr. Rabuffo asked what Mr. Genovese would consider to be the future of DPWs. He replied that the problem is going to be staff and doing more with less. Mr. Riley noted that Westfield is a large community with a large budget. He asked why Mr. Genovese decided to leave. He replied that the mayor was leaving and he had been recruited to go to Westfield State College. The mayor offered severance packages to certain key employees, Mr. Genovese took a package and then the Westifled State job was not funded. He then accepted a position in Millbury. Mr. Genovese said Millbury was a disaster in public works, the sewer and wastewater supervisor was running the show. It was a mess and heI righted the ship. There was Chapter 90 money that was not being spent. Millbury was one of the only communities able to sign a contract with no escalation clause. He also met with contractors each Thursday so that everyone was on the same page.
Ms. Burns asked about the reorganization in Westfield. He said there was a problem because of a work slowdown. He then went to the workers and said that this has to be done. When people called in sick Mr. Genovese took people from Highway and sent them over to collect trash. He explained that Public Works is one big operation and the employees have to be ready to move from one job to another. There was a union but moving employees over to help out was not a problem.
Mr. Rabuffo asked what changes he anticipated in public works. Mr. Genovese said that the DPW will be more of a maintenance department rather than a construction department. As public works downsizes it is maintenance rather than construction. In snow plowing most work will be contracted out and any lawn on mailbox damage will be the contractors issue not the town’s. GPS units are important.
Mr. Riley asked how long an assignment he was seeking. Mr. Genovese said he had applied for this position because he wanted it. He said Hingham is a nice community, the budget is great and a he would like the new venture in consolidation. He also said he would consider getting a place out here because he is looking for a long term assignment of at least 12 years.
Ms. Burns what kind of systems could he put in place to allow the Board of Selectmen and Advisory Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the Town’s dollars. Mr. Genovese said he used to do quarterly reports to the city council and mayor on how many potholes, sidewalks, etc. and the cost. He developed a formula to determine a cost factor including contract plowing, sand, salt, etc. for snow removal for each storm. He said his experience with tracking on-going costs and expenses was that the day to day guys have to be able to plug in the numbers if you utilize technology. To that end, he had people come in from one of the local colleges to do training. He also noted that he is a big fan of municipal lease programs for DPW vehicles.
Mr. Rabuffo asked the key measures of success for DPW. Mr. Genovese listed customer service, complaints, response time, and call backs. He noted that phone calls should be stopped at the department and should not go to the Selectmen or Town Administrator. In his experience once the complaint sheet was instituted the call volume decreased considerably.
Mr. Riley asked how Mr. Genovese would handle a “bad apple” in the organization. First, he would make sure that it is really a cancer, not a rumor. He would ask mid management about performance, attitude and personal problems and then talk to the employee one on one.
Brian Gilbert
Mr. Gilbert advised the Board that he is a former Hingham resident, has a Masters of Public Administration and formerly operated a service company on the South Shore. He listed that service background as adding to his management strengths. This customer service aspect of his management style causes him to look long term at what can be done, not to be satisfied by the way things have always been done. His three goals are public safety, customer service and continual growth and he continually asks himself “how can we improve what we are doing today?”
He said is weakness is that he is not an engineer. He said he has built his career on administration, looking at what might be wrong with the organization and how he can make it better. Mr. Gilbert said
he tends to take on a lot and not delegate as much as he should but he has learned to do better on that.
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Mr. Gilbert said his greatest professional achievement is being able to commit to an organization and commit to a cultural change in that organization. He does this through cross training and other techniques to build an organization. This is best exemplified through the water treatment plant upgrades, sewer expansion and treatment plant upgrades that he achieved in previous assignments.
Ms. Burns asked what the response of the DPW should be to a customer request. He said people often call because they are upset. The DPW should have a “we deliver solutions” mindset. The first thing is to take the name, the information, and tell the caller it will be passed on and to whom. If it is a Public Works responsibility the caller should be given an expectation as to when the request will be resolved. Mr. Gilbert said it is important to be fair with people and tell them if it will take a some time. He said he would hope to capture the information coming into the department in order to be able to plan the work. For example he would track potholes - when the information comes in and when they are repaired. He would hope to create a centralized data base so that problems can be tracked.
Mr. Rabuffo asked what Mr. Gilbert saw for the DPW in five to ten years from now. Mr. Gilbert noted that from an infrastructure standpoint all DPWs are dealing more and more with stormwater and that might need some closer evaluation. He also noted that there are issues in terms of culture and personnel and that takes a lot effort to make those changes.
Mr. Gilbert said that in Amesbury his department served a population of 16,000 residents. He oversaw water and sewer budgets of $4 million apiece and supervised 32 employees. In Tewksbury there is a $9 million enterprise fund for sewer and water. There he had oversight of the water distribution system for 30,000 residents. The budget in Tewksbury, exclusive of water and sewer, was $2.5 million and he supervised 30 employees. Lexington has a population of 30,000 and the DPW budget including
mechanics, solid waste, highway, public grounds and snow removal was $6 million, not including the $7 million enterprise fund for sewer and water.
Ms. Burns asked about the reorganizations he had implemented and the employees’ reaction. In Amesbury there were two different departments and by working with them and communicating everyone worked together to create a Department of Public Works that has credibility. The communication helped. Mr. Gilbert said he was trying to achieve efficiencies. He explained that during the winter the Water Department staff had a lot of down time and those individuals could be used in other areas of DPW. He said he made the changes that needed to be made so that they were working as a group. In Lexington, sometimes instituting change meant digging in your heels and saying “this is the way it is going to be”.
Mr. Rabuffo asked how Mr. Gilbert measured success and what key performance indicators he used. Mr. Gilbert distributed a budget he had brought with him. In both Amesbury and Tewksbury the emphasis was on numbers. He said he provides those numbers and his goals as well as what he saw down the road. He said the real success is the feedback from the residents. In Lexington he did a survey. They would leave a card and ask the resident to fill it out and return to the Town Manager’s office. He also went to all the Recreation Commission meetings to get feedback and dealt directly with the school athletic director and sports groups. He had a diagram that shows system needs, customer needs and how those work through the system.
Mr. Riley asked the reason for change from Amesbury to Tewksbury, why he was interested in this position and how long a tenure he would seek. Mr. Gilbert said that he moved from Amesbury for personal and professional reasons – it was closer to home and they offered more money. Tewksbury is spending more on capital improvement and less on operation. The desire to move from Tewksbury to Hingham is because it is Hingham. It is well run, there is continued investment to the town and he has an emotional attachment. The consolidation and reorganization is what I likes to do and it is professionally stimulating, If he were chosen for the position it would be his intention to move. He said he would like to find a situation where he would be able to spend some longevity in town. In his opinion the successful reorganization and change of culture would take at least five years.
Ms. Burns asked what kind of systems he would put in place to evaluate the effectiveness of our DPW dollars. Mr. Gilbert said he would collect data, understand history and match data and history to the needs of the system. He explained that he would have to attach the budget to goals and objectives and outputs.
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In the budget process Mr. Gilbert said he would provide numbers and a strategic plan to the Town Administrator. The Town Administrator and DPW Superintendent would then bring this to the Board of Selectmen at a public meeting to go over it, find out where the holes are and where the opportunities might lie. It is important that employees and people understand that some things are going to fall off the plate.
Mr. Gilbert explained that one constraint in the transition from Amesbury to Tewksbury was that there was a highway supervisory and a tree supervisor but it needed to be one division. The opportunity came that one retired and one person took over both groups and has continued to be responsible for both groups. This reinforced the idea to take advantage of opportunities. Mr. Gilbert said he meets with supervisors every Monday to review what needs to be done the week. He said it is necessary for the superintendent to be out there.
When asked about goals and objectives Mr. Gilbert said that he achieves buy in by asking the employees to come up with the goals and integrate them. When confronted by a “bad apple” he has had many discussions about performance, what they were doing, what he perceived them to be doing. There were many disciplinary meetings: warnings, suspensions, etc. One employee had an issue with attendance and sticking with a task. Mr. Gilbert assigned him to jobs that he would be successful at because of his buy in. He recommended reforming employees so that they can be productive and to do it in a way that respects the person and they will respect you.
Mr. Gilbert asked the Board about what resources were available to capture data for the department and what the Board’s goals were for this position. Mr. Rabuffo noted that the DPW has been at the end of the food chain and the Town needs to refocus so the department is more efficient. The DPW needs someone who is not afraid to speak up so that Board does not overreach. Mr. Riley said the new superintendent has to be a good listener both to the Board and other departments. He noted that there is some complexity in the town because people have high expectations. Ms. Burns said her goal is a manager who will take this department into the 21st century and someone who can say “I can only do such and such with the amount of money I have”.
Paul Keane
Mr. Keane said he was a Civil Engineer, a graduate of Northeastern and had 30 years experience, half in the public sector, half in the private sector. He said his strengths are that he puts a lot of time and effort into positions, takes it very seriously, pays a lot of attention to detail, follows up where necessary and has the sense that you need to take the long view. He said his weakness is learning to communicate with people and that he has grown better at that and listens and values other opinions.
Mr. Keane said his greatest professional achievement was to be named Commissioner of Public Works in Dedham. He was the first professional engineer that the Town had. He made a lot of effort to organize and structure the department and spent a considerable amount of time organizing the GIS system.
He said the customers of the Department of Public Works are the residents, taxpayers and public safety. In his position in DPW he has worked closely with other departments. In his experience if something is a public safety issue that has to be handled – you do it. It is necessary to prioritize. There is a hierarchy of streets and problems. He believes in tracking the requests and the timeliness of the response. Mr. Keane noted that this is also a budget tool because by tracking how many calls, what kind of calls, etc. he could use the information to target preventative maintenance.
Mr. Keane said that towns need to make the dollars as productive as possible. He sees a trend away from large Public Works Departments. He said departments have gotten progressively smaller and the ability to deal with certain items has lessened. More work is contracted out and the DPW is more of a program or project manager. By using contract labor the Town can reduce the effect of layoffs, etc. The days of the 40-50 person public works departments is over. Public works is more of an immediate response and program management rather than a construction organization.
He characterized himself as honest, straightforward, one who does not play games. He said that he is tough but honest and fair. If something is note done right it will not get paid until it is done right. Mr. Keane said that Dedham took over American Water Works. He knew the company. He said the acquisition was extremely expensive for Dedham the infrastructure was in very poor condition and the Town is burdened by significant debt because of this. It was a very difficult transition and after twenty years they are still trying to work through it. The Dedham-Westwood Water Company was a separate
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entity but Mr. Keane did coordinate with them as far as projects to be done so that the road would be dug up once and the details would cover both projects at a shared cost, etc. Mr. Keane suggested dealing with the legislature to create some mechanism for forcing utilities to do necessary work when a road is open.
In Dedham, it department was essentially a highway department that evolved to a Department of Public Works. Mr. Keane said he recommended restructuring, rewrote the collective bargaining agreement, worked with Town Administrator and Finance Committee, set forth clear lines of authority and responsibility and defined what the duties and responsibilities were. He noted that some employees accepted the change and others fought it at every turn. There were serious personnel issues around attendance, substance abuse, and the lack of proper credentials and licenses for the jobs. During this time health insurance contributions were reduced from 90/10 to 75/25.
Mr. Keane said that after 6 years in Walpole he was not using his engineering license so when an opportunity presented itself he decided to go into the private sector. He feels that from a customer service standpoint private sector experience is important. In the private sector he learned the importance of making payroll, being on time and on budget. In this regard private sector experience was very helpful. When the Dedham position opened up he went there for 10 years and then a decision was made to break up the position and I disagreed with that decision because he felt it was not in the best interests of the community and decided not to stay.
The Dedham position was a case of what he felt to be an institutional mistake and he gave almost a year’s notice. Mr. Keane said he was not looking for a stepping stone. He is looking for a capstone. He brings 30 years of experience and has developed contacts so that if he doesn’t know something, he knows where to find it. He said he would be available 24/7 but feels that if the Director of Public Works is the first person on call for snow and Ice that is a problem – there should be someone trained to deal with that.
In order for the Board of Selectmen and Advisory Committee to determine the productivity of the town’s dollars, Mr. Keane suggested the first would be a needs assessment. Once the needs are identified the work can begin. Street and roads should be evaluated and listed on a spreadsheet. He recommended that once the needs assessment was done the Board could work with community leaders and prioritize those needs.
Mr. Keane said he has dealt with several “bad apples”. He said there is probably not much going on that he has not had to deal with, and he has dealt with it.
The Board said the next question is how to proceed before making a decision. The Board decided to talk about the candidates this evening after the scheduled executive session and determine how to proceed.
Voted - to recess until 6:30 pm when the Board will reconvene.
Special Session 6:30 pm
The meeting resumed. The Board discussed the appointment of a Naming Committee. Mr. Rabuffo said that he would try to reach people again this evening. The Board will attempt to resolve the issues by 8:00 this evening and, if successful, reconvene at that time.
Mr. Rabuffo reported he had just returned from a meeting with the Housing Authority and he had learned that DHCD has committed to replacing boilers in two buildings. Work will be done this year for the two most serious conditions. DHCD has an engineering study that indicates there is no need to do other buildings this year. They do have a portable boiler that can be brought in if there is an emergency situation. If the engineering study is incorrect, DHCD will sign a letter to commit to funding of the project. This letter will allow the Housing Authority to get a loan from a bank. Ms. Burns said that if the commitment were made by DHCD the Affordable Housing Trust should be able to make that loan immediately. In year two, next year, DHCD will likely commit to replacing the remaining boilers. Ms. Burns thanked Mr. Rabuffo for pursuing this matter and getting it resolved.
DPW Candidates
Mr. Rabuffo remarked all four candidates were well qualified. He thanked the screening committee for moving these candidates forward. He noted the Board had received a recommendation from the committee to hire an individual as the new superintendent and he would move another candidate forward. He noted that by moving an existing employee forward and not filling the position that would then be left empty the Town would save some money. Mr. Riley said he felt the candidate the screening committee recommended was not one he felt as strongly about. There are two other candidates that had the possibility of filling the void at the department of public works. He agreed with not filling a slot and trying to save the town some money.
Ms. Burns said that she, also, did not agree on the candidate recommended was the strongest but felt that there were two other strong candidates. Mr. Genovese was least appealing. Mr. Keane was not as appealing as the other two. She said she did agree with the comments of the committee that the best thing for the town would be to hire someone with more experience that could train Mr. Sylvester for the future. It was her opinion that he has not had the best opportunity for learning the craft. He has done a fabulous job as the interim superintendent but some additional training would be helpful. Mr. Gilbert has deeper experience and background and he is a practiced superintendent. Ms. Burns said that for those reason she would prefer that candidate of the two. She noted that she liked Mr. Gilbert’s attitude about customer service – “How may I help you?” This could set a new tone for DPW. Ms. Burns also said she was impressed by the budget document he produced. She also remarked that she had learned at a course that DPW is a great department for setting goals and objectives and measuring outcomes. Ms. Burns said that Randy Sylvester has her full confidence and support but she feels it would be in his best interest to hire someone like Mr. Gilbert for him to learn under.
Mr. Rabuffo said that clearly Brian Gilbert had a way of dealing with DPW issues. He said he had done it in one location. As far as key performance indicators, Mr. Gilbert had wandered but later produced that. Mr. Rabuffo also noted that getting buy in, rolling up his sleeves, etc. were important. He liked Mr. Gilbert’s approach in that he asked questions. He was talking about a cultural change but Mr. Rabuffo said he was not too sure that the cultural change had not already begun under Randy’s leadership. The customer focus is there but the system is not in place. The commitment the Board got from Randy and Roger is that “we can do this”. Mr. Rabuffo said that Randy has demonstrated that he can pick things up quickly. He does not know the technical aspect of road paving but he will learn it. Mr. Rabuffo said that Mr. Sylvester’s strengths are somewhat significant. And the Town would not need to replace him and that is important in this budget season. Mr. Rabuffo said that he wasn’t sure that the Town Administrator had spent enough time in the DPW to fully assess the issue. Mr. Rabuffo said he would go with the home person.
Mr. Riley agreed that Mr. Gilbert is a formidable candidate but said he did not hear anything different from him than I heard from Randy Sylvester. The people interviewed today did a lot of hopping around. He agreed with Mr. Rabuffo that Randy has done well on two tests - the Landfill where he was given the charge to correct that situation and throwing him into the lions’ den in terms of a dysfunctional DPW. He earned respect from the people who work at the Landfill. He put programs in place to retrieve money for the Town through accountability. Mr. Riley noted that on this last venture as interim director of the DPW Randy has shown that leadership. There is a lot of respect for him. His concern should be to deliver to the town a group of people who are going to be there when we need them in terms of service, snowstorms, and a functional Department of Public Works. He has accomplished a lot. He is a proven leader although he may not be as polished as others. Mr. Riley said never heard anything negative about him. He also said that he is not a person who feels we should do on the job training twice. It has been done.
Ms. Burns said there is a lot you can learn about public administration when you earn a Masters’
Degree. You could can get it in school, or you could learn it from the guy you work for. Randy does not know how to create a budget from goals and objectives. This is not about anything lacking in Randy’s work. We are doing on the job training and asking him to do things beyond what has been done before. Mr. Gilbert came up from the bottom, he can talk to DPW guys. Ms. Burns said that she thinks that in a complete reorganization outside eyes would be an advantage. We would have the inside and outside eyes on this project. She said she did hear Randy say about customer service “ We take care of our needs first and then, if we need what their needs are, we can take care of that project.” That is left over from the old regime. Ms. Burns said that she felt that to make this decision based on money would be extremely short sighted. This is for the long term. The one other difficult question is that then Randy would be the boss of his brother. How will can this be dealt with? Mr. Paicos had said that having the head of the highway department not reporting to the superintendent was not a good idea.
Mr. Rabuffo said the plan would be to reduce staff by eliminating the assistant superintendent and making the project engineer a part of the Department of Public Works. Harry would then report directly to the project engineer. Ms. Burns said she has not seen any reorganization plan. Mr. Rabuffo said that the Town Administrator had seen the plan but not given Mr. Sylvester or Mr. Fernandes any feedback on the plan. Ms. Burns said she did not understand the plan was done.
The Board voted, by roll call vote, to go into executive session for purpose of discussing real estate
Mr. Riley – yes
Mr. Rabuffo – yes
Ms. Burns – yes
Open session recessed at 7:25 pm.
The Board did not resume open session.
Betty Foley, Clerk