[RP TownTalk] I'm very concerned too

[Ken Laureys]

I am very concerned about the nature and number of town missteps that
Jonathan Ebbeler has pointed out in TownTalk and the Town Crier.

Mayor Archer did say publicly “the current town administrator's cont[r]act
[sic] expires June 30 and I have told her that I will not support renewing
it.”  I agree with Jonathan that this plainly appears to be discussing
personnel matters in public.  Even if unintentional, this breach could put
the town at jeopardy to be sued for breach of privacy.

This concerns me further because I never knew about another lawsuit
Jonathan brought to light:  Greg’s Towing suing the town for unfair
business dealings, with charges of racism as well.  Something is seriously
wrong here, and the Mayor and Council need to give an accounting to the
residents.  While it is understandable that they may not and cannot comment
on ongoing litigation, the pattern of putting the town in a position to be
sued in the first place is unacceptable.

I also  share Jonathan’s trouble with the Town Manager  legislation never
being vetted through the Legislative Committee.  Why was this legislation
rushed without proper debate through our legislative committee meetings,
which the public could have attended to give valuable input?  And why do we
use citizen advisory committees to study many issues which might need to be
addressed by the town (like a traffic study committee), yet no such citizen
body was ever established to study something as important as a
constitutional change to a town manager government?  Yes, that would have
taken time, but well-spent time deliberating the pros and cons.  I’d be
much more comfortable if we had had such a citizen’s constitutional
convention rather than having this change be initiated and driven from the
top down.

I have to wonder if Jonathan is right in speculating that the change of
financial responsibility from the mayor to a new Town Manager was rushed
through to divert blame and responsibility for the coming problems we face
from the structural imbalances in our town finances.  Remember what CM Alan
Thompson explained (April 2016 Town Crier):

>From the perspective of the residents, there is likely to be at least a
small loss of direct accountability. The mayor is currently the chief
executive, and residents can talk to him directly if they think something
is not going right. Under the council-manager form of government, residents
would need to talk to the town manager, and the town manager answers to the
council (including mayor) and not to the residents.

Our General Government budget has increased 58% over the past five years,
apparently to pay for the significant increase in town administrative
employees.  But in addition to these increases, we are incurring future
obligations (currently $3 million and growing) because staff pensions and
retiree healthcare are unfunded.  This could be a ticking time bomb, and
remember that henceforth the town manager will be the chief executive where
the responsibility rests in fixing these structural imbalances (with tax
increases or budget cuts), not the mayor anymore.

I’m as troubled as Jonathan is by the increase in town staff in the name of
“professionalization.”  Why have we advertised for a Finance Director at
$80,000 annually if we will soon hire a town manager too?  Weren’t we told
a town manager would be more experienced with financial matters as a
justification for transferring financial responsibility from the mayor to
the town manager?  We already have on staff someone listed as an HR/Finance
Manager.  I believe our town is going overboard in “professionalization” of
our staff.  We are a small town of 7,266, and probably have one of the
largest per capita expenditures for town personnel in the area.  I’d like
to know how many people the town employs presently and how much the line
item for staff compensation has increased in recent years.  The budget
listed on the website only lists totals and there are worksheets not being
made public that list out expenditures by position.

The timing and rationale for the Mayor’s recent emergency order on all
expenditures is also suspect for the reasons Jonathan revealed  --  We
don’t actually have an emergency because our budget will still be in the
black this year (due to other income sources) despite the loss of the USDA
property taxes.  This fact was not mentioned by the Mayor when he announced
there was a pressing need for him to have emergency budgetary oversight.
Why did Mayor Archer not tell us the whole truth in this matter?

I’m also upset that the Mayor tried to deny the swearing in of Jonathan
Ebbeler for his Ward 1 seat.  That seemed to be due to personal friction
rather than any legitimate reason, as did the removal of CM Ebbeler from
the town’s pension board.  This makes me wonder whether my councilmember
was being unfairly ostracized because he doesn’t toe the majority party
line, but asks tough questions and blows the whistle on wayward policies
and practices.  Now we Ward 1 residents will have no councilmember until a
new one is elected.  And I’m concerned that the new member will be more
acquiescent and not skilled as Jonathan, who has a wealth of professional
experience.

All these factors add up to a pattern that troubles me greatly.  I will be
attending council meetings regularly now to keep a closer eye on what’s
happening.  I suggest other concerned residents become more involved too.

Ken Laureys​
301-661-6682
Laureys.Ken at Gmail.com
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