http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140514/NEWS02/705149933
Published May 14, 2014 in the Rutland Herald
Springfield will ‘partner’ with League to find new manager
By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — The Select Board agreed Monday night to have the Vermont League of Cities and Towns coordinate a search for a new town manager.
Despite objections from Selectman David Yesman, the board agreed to have the League start the search to replace 16-year veteran Robert Forguites, who wants to step down as full-time manager by the end of September, and leave completely by the end of December.
Forguites, 75, gave his notice two weeks ago, saying he felt the time had come for him to retire.
Yesman said he thought the town Select Board, along with some townspeople, could manage the selection of a new manager.
But Forguites said League officials had told him Springfield could anticipate receiving as many as 60 resumes for the job.
Forguites said he was willing to help the board as much as they wanted, and was willing to stay out of the selection process as well.
“We should go with the VLCT,” said Selectman Peter MacGillivray. “It’s been 16 years, and we have no experience doing this. If we’re looking at 60 applications, we’re going to need some help.”
Forguites distributed a copy of a 1997 job description for town manager, as well as the job responsibilities outlined in the town charter.
But Kristi Morris, chairman of the Select Board, was joined by board members MacGillivray and George McNaughton in agreeing to have VLCT get the ball rolling.
Forguites is paid $78,000 a year, but has refused a pay raise for the past six years.
What to pay the new manager wasn’t decided at Monday night’s meeting. Forguites said the League would have a statewide survey of town managers’ salaries within a couple of weeks, which should help the town decide on a pay scale.
“I’ve been here for a while,” he said.
Initially, the board wanted to meet with League representatives at its next board meeting, but even delaying two weeks is putting the town behind schedule, in hopes of having someone on board to work with Forguites before he departs.
Having the League handle most of the legwork for the screening will cost about $5,000, with additional money to cover the cost of advertising.
Once again, instead of taking control over its own destiny, what supposedly serves as the town's leadership elects to "punt" and let someone else who is totally unfamiliar with the town and its challenges just hand them an answer.
ReplyDeleteThe VLCT will not be picking a new town manager, they will be organizing the search. Even if the VCLT was to pick the new town manager, I would have significantly more faith in their decision than David "conflict of interest" Yesman's. He would believe that the board and a few towns people could appoint David Yesman as Town Manager.
DeletePossibly, or they approved having a contract with the Vermont League to handle the advertising, search and background checks. Is the article accurate about the voting, from what I saw it doesn't accurately report what happened as to who objected to what or who moved what.
DeleteGreat point. I would suggest that the leadership form a committee of "mixed" town folk to interview and offer suggestion on final candidates. That mixed group should include but not be exclusive of homeowners, businesses, mature and younger residents, etc. It would not include any person or group paid by public funding, i.e. police, fire, town employees. In other words put this decision making process in the hands of the folks that pay the bills. Before you react I know that all those public service folks pay taxes too, but I don't want them to help choose their boss. We need a leader, not a puppet.
ReplyDeleteOk, so the police, fire and other town employees are tax exempt. When did that happen?
DeleteRead the last paragraph.
DeleteFinding a replacement who is as incompetent as Robert Forguites was will take a lot of searching. Seeking outside assistance will give the local "leaders" an excuse to blame the future bad results on someone other then themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe article says "coordinate a search" not make a selection. A search of this type is a quite an undertaking and would be nearly impossible for people who may have regular day jobs on top of being a selectman. It is most likely that a committee will be formed and the people on the committee will make the final choice. Anonymous at 9:14, you should definitely ask to be on the selection committee since you are so certain that our select board is shirking their responsibility. That way YOU can be certain that the best possible person has been selected.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 9:14. You are wrong on this one. The final decision should and will rest with the selectboard. These processes are unwieldy and having someone with experience help you to "sift" through some of the resumés is critical. This process is not being "exported" to the League. They provide professional expert help in these searches and we will benefit from the process.
ReplyDeleteTony, Tony...use all the semantics you like, but in the final analysis it's just spoon feeding the outcome to the board - who can't possibly be expected to review "60" resumes!!! Oh my gosh, that might involve higher math or something! No, best let them keep their bibs on and wait for the "airplane" to fly in the strained carrot candidate! And as for the projection of 60 resumes, come on, we're talking managing a prison town. I know the economy is bad, but does anyone really expect 60 applicants for Springfield's town manager position??? Seriously, this board ought to be embarrassed at outsourcing this action and wasting $5k.
DeleteIf every time they open a Walmart up to 23,00 applicants show up willing to work at minimum wage with all of the Chinese junk that they can steal thrown in as a perk think about how many applicants might show up for a job that pays $70-80,000 where you can be allowed to spend up to 16 years doing nothing useful and no one cares like the previous job holder has done. Rest assured that no matter what ruse they pick to hire someone that it will end badly just like everything else in Springfield. How is that new Springfield High School Football Program shaping up? Surprised they didn't recruit a Pop Warner Football coach to rebuild the team after the last few years disaster.
DeleteOh my God. 9:14 is right on. The Select Board has 'no opinion' on the biomass plant and chooses to let an outside entity decide what's best for springfield. Here we go again. Let's let some panel from who-knows-where decide who our next town manager should be. Come on Select Board - grow a pair and make a decision!!!! You're as bad as Obama voting 'present'.
ReplyDeleteI would like to think this is troll, a person can't be this dumb, can they? Never mind it is a real person's thoughts, I forgot this was Springfield.
DeleteMaybe one of the board members can make a motion to unincorporated the town and return all within its borders to the state for caregiving and feeding. Since it's all but happening already in the way the town defers to outside entities on matters bearing on its wellbeing, this should be an easy "AYE" vote by the members, who can then go home and wait for Montpelier to issue its decrees...along with a state appointed caretaker...I mean manager...
ReplyDeleteVLCT can be a great asset in this process; they will not be making final decisions on hiring. And David Yesman needs to be recalled.
ReplyDelete9:14 are you really considering all of the issues? VLCT has a little more experience in conducting a search and will assist the select board. I don't see that they have been contracted to make the decision. The hiring process for this type of position isn't your average job search. Especially given the time frame to get someone in here for the end of September.
ReplyDeleteOh, right, I forgot, this is a "special" case, so "special resources" need to be applied. We're Springfield, where there's a "justifiable exception" for every action taken by the selectboard. It's too important. It's too complicated. It's too risky. It's too hard for us to do it ourselves! We'll just write a check and retain plausible deniability.
DeleteHere is the problem that the town now faces. If they hire an experienced and competent town manager that the first thing that person will do is to get rid of all the leeches that are bleeding the town dry. That unfortunately is the dilemna for the town since many of the leeches are also the ones making the decisions. We can only expect another mediocre selection that will continue the policies of the past that will allow the town to be fed upon by the blood-sucking leeches. Commitee or not the end result will be the same, a selection of someone who can be controlled to allow the continued fleecing and destruction of the town for the benefit of a few.
ReplyDeleteFriends, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, a non-profit resource center for Vermont municipalities has helped with recent Town Manager searches in Brattleboro, Northfield, Putney, & Wilmington. I think we're smart to invite their expertise. It increases the chances that we'll learn from recent experiences in other Vermont locations.
ReplyDelete"VLCT is owned by its member municipal governments. A 13-member Board of Directors is elected to represent the general membership and govern the organization. Board members must serve as a selectperson, mayor, manager or clerk in a member municipality and all VLCT members are welcome to attend Board meetings. An Executive Director is appointed by the Board and manages the League’s day-to-day operations."
ReplyDeleteCertainly sounds like a cozy little way to hire from a tidy little pool of inside contenders. Now, let's see, are any of the town's 1:53 mentions knocking the cover off the ball economically? Budgetarily? From a tax perspective? Thought so.
Hang on to your hats Springfield. You're about to be taken for another ride -- and your town leaders have taken their hands off the wheel (again)!
The Selectboard chose VLCT to facilitate the advertising, search, and background checks . No decision has been made as to the selection process. In some cases governmental units use citizen committees to interview candidates in order to get additional perspective, sometimes they use committees to narrow the number of potential candidates. Whether a committee will be used at all in this case has not been decided.
ReplyDelete