This is not
NOT a fake news story. It may be old news but sometimes history is worth looking at.
This is from the Town of Warwick, MA annual town report of 2007:
Selectboard Report for Fiscal Year 2007
Personnel: The year saw many changes in both elected and appointed personnel. Ken
Alden, who had retired effective July 5, 2006, after forty-four years of service to the Highway
Department, died July 14, 2007. On August 14, 2006, Marcel Varney, who had been made
acting Fire Chief on April 2, 2006, was appointed Fire Chief. A new town accountant, Tracey
Baronas, was appointed and resigned after a brief tenure. The position of treasurer also
became vacant in the spring when, after five years of devoted service under trying
circumstances, Mary Neville Wall accepted a better-paying and less stressful position in
southern Worcester County. Dana Robinson and Janice Barrett, respectively, were
appointed to fill the treasurer’s and accountant’s positions. Terry Kemerer was appointed
to a three-year term as Tax Collector and Rosa Calcari to a three-year term as Animal
Control Officer.
The board negotiated the resignation of Administrative Coordinator John
Columbus.
after reading the released executive session minutes, one quickly learns it was not really a mutual business as usual type of resignation.
Town of Warwick
Selectboard
May 14, 2007
Minutes of
Executive Session
Present: Rick
Abbott, Patricia Lemon, Jim Toth, Town Counsel Fernand
DuPere
I. Call to
Order: Executive session called to order
at 4:05 p.m.
DuPere told the
Board that Columbus had offered his proposal
unsolicited,
indicating that he didn't enjoy working with the Board and
that the
inclusion of Petition Articles 8 and 9 in the Town Meeting
Warrant had
prompted his proposal. The proposal
(attached) included:
* Mutually
amending his contract to end on November 30, 2007, rather
than June 30,
2008, which period was chosen to give him 5 months' salary
(one for each
year as Town Coordinator) as severance pay (which Lemon
reported as
$8,631.45=1726.25*5, based on an annual salary of $20,715)
* Continuing the
Town's 75% share of his benefits until the end of
the amended
contract (which Lemon reported as $292.12/month for Health
Insurance and
$6.03/month for Life and Disability Insurance, totaling
$1490.75, according
to information received earlier from Treasurer
Robinson),
* Taking his FY
'07 vacation time (not cumulative) beginning on June
11 (which would
be his last day in the office),
and
* Nothing in
writing to prevent him from collecting unemployment
after the end of
November.
Upon questions
about the cost of the severance package, Lemon replied
that Columbus
demands would add up to $10,122.20 in FY '08. Toth noted
that Hurlburt's
unemployment had increased the Town's cost from about
$1000 to about
$7000, an increase of about $6000, but that considering
the salary
differential, Columbus' unemployment would most likely
increase it by
more like $4000, bringing the potential cost of Columbus'
proposal to as
much as $14,000, vs. completing his current contract
through June
30,2008 for $24,292. Toth
noted that allowing him to
complete his current contract could leave the Town
exposed in the event
of a serious error, whether innocent or vengeful on
Columbus' part.
Lemon noted that
any unemployment claim might be complicated by
Columbus' second
job as a convenience store clerk, and DuPere added that
he believed the
current period during which unemployment could be
collected is 26
weeks, lacking a disability claim, which could be up to
39 weeks.
Lemon offered the opinion that Columbus could be fired
for cause, citing
a number of instances of mal- and non-feasance. DuPere agreed, but
warned that
unless the Board was prepared to be sued - probably
successfully and
certainly VERY expensively - it would be a long, draining
process, starting
with a formal evaluation resulting in specific,
written
complaints and specific steps for curing them and that given the
individual in
question, the curative period would require constant
monitoring on the
part of the Board, and even then his departure could
not be
guaranteed.
Lemon MOVED that
the Board authorize DuPere to offer Columbus 5-months'
severance pay,
beginning July 1, 2007, and including benefits, but
specifying that
his resignation was both voluntary and irrevocable.
Abbott
SECONDED. With a roll-call vote
required, Toth voted "aye,"
Abbott voted
"aye," and Lemon voted "aye."
DuPere said that
the vote had been unnecessary, but that all the Board
had needed to do
was give him a sense of their wishes, which he now felt
he had.
DuPere then
retired to the SelectBoard office to confer with
Columbus. Upon
his return to the Boards room, DuPere reported that he
had finally
persuaded Columbus to accept the Board's terms and that he
could now draw up
an iron-clad agreement that would protect both parties
from litigation
on the subject but warned that Columbus could take up to
21 days to review
the agreement before signing and that the only
guarantee that he
would do so was his spoken word, which had already
proven unreliable
in this matter as well as previous ones.
Lemon assured all
in attendance that in the event he withdrew from the
agreement, she
was prepared to begin the evaluation and reevaluation
process
immediately.
Lemon and Toth
both affirmed that they would be available to take over
Columbus'
contractual duties between his departure on June 11 and the
hiring of a
suitable applicant for the position, Lemon from June 11
through Toth's
return to town in late July or early August, and Toth
after his
return. Both expressed their
determination to be in the
office as often
as possible to be sure they get the necessary computer
passwords and
know how Columbus' filing is organized. There was
inconclusive
discussion of appropriate actions in the event Article 8 of
the Town Meeting Warrant
were to carry as written, and the Board agreed
on the wording of
the statement Columbus had agreed to read during
discussion of the
article, to wit: "I have reached an
agreement with
the Board of
Selectmen that my last day of employment will be the last
day of November,
2007."
Toth MOVED that
the Board direct DuPere to prepare a severance agreement
and release of
all claims consistent with the previous motion with
regard to John
Columbus' employment by the Town of Warwick.
Seconded by
Abbott.With a
roll-call vote required, Toth voted "aye," Abbott voted
"aye,"
and Lemon voted "aye."
DuPere agreed
that with time of the essence, he would fax or e-mail a
draft to Board
members for amendment or approval at the earliest
possible date,
possibly Monday or Tuesday, but certainly before Friday,
and that once it
was finalized the Board could either call a Special
Meeting (with
48-hours' notice) or go into executive session with him
and Columbus at
the regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, May 21 to
sign the final
agreement.
Lemon MOVED that
the Executive Session adjourn. Toth
seconded. After
receiving advice
from DuPere that it was necessary to go back into open
session long enough
to adjourn that, the necessary roll-call vote was
taken: Toth
"aye," Abbott "aye," and Lemon "aye."
At 5:20, Lemon
called open meeting to order, whereupon Toth immediately
MOVED that open
meeting be adjourned. Lemon
seconded. Unanimously
approved. Minutes
taken by Lemon for review by Abbott, Toth, and DuPere.
posted for your reading pleasure by Jeff Bennett
