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Date: 5/7/2015
LONGMEADOW – Selectman Alex Grant renewed his assertion that there should be a “mutual parting of ways” between the town and Town Manager Stephen Crane during his May 4 performance review.
The review was Crane’s second, taking place to assess his progress in year two of his current three-year contract after receiving mixed reactions from the board, an improvement plan, and a 4 percent raise from his original salary of $105,000 in his first review.
Grant said he attributed Crane’s low performance grades in year one to the town manager’s attitudinal issues and felt those could be addressed and improved. However, now, a year away from the end of Crane’s contract, he said the issues remain and criticized Crane for “attempting to break the terms of his contract by seeking employment before the end of that contract.”
Crane was a finalist for the town administrator position in Tyngsboro in October 2014, but was not offered the job.
He said the town would have little recourse to pursue damages if Crane were to accept a position elsewhere, adding, “now is the time to begin that transition.”
Crane responded that he appreciated Grant’s position, but challenged the notion he was operating outside of the parameters of his contract by seeking employment elsewhere.
“He did suggest that I breached my contract and I don’t know what section I breached, but it does contemplate that I can terminate with proper notice and I didn’t forfeit my rights to pursue better economic opportunities that most Americans enjoy,” he said. “Similarly, the board can terminate me without notice at any time for really any reason and I would be paid a severance package.”
Public officials seeking other positions prior to the completion of their terms or contracts has not been uncommon of late in Western Massachusetts.
East Longmeadow Town Administrator Nick Breault was recently selected by the Wilbraham Board of Selectmen to take over the same position, starting June 1. Breault was also in the running for the Sturbridge Town Administrator position.
Westfield Mayor Daniel Knapik, who recently announced he would not run for another term, was also a finalist for the position in Wilbraham, but withdrew his name from consideration prior to final interviews. He also attempted to gain employment as Walpole's town administrator.
Crane also noted significant differences between how the board evaluated him and how those he oversees saw his job performance.
He said the average scores from each individual Select Board member ranged from 5 to 1.3. Crane said he also gave the same evaluation form to the department heads that serve under him to be completed anonymously. Of the seven returned, the scores were 3.8, 4, 4.9, 4.3, 3.9, 4.3 and 5.
“So which guy am I? Am I the guy who those who work most closely with him evaluate minimally in the high threes, or am I the guy who I am rated very low by the people I don’t work all that closely with?” he said. “I spent some time thinking about that [and] I think I know which person I am.”
Crane later noted in reading a letter from former Longmeadow interim Town Manager Barry Del Castilho, Crane’s immediate predecessor, that the same issues raised in many of the selectmen’s reviews were the same criticisms they had of Del Castilho. In addition to serving Longmeadow, Del Castilho was the longtime Amherst town manager.
“I was honestly relieved to that a highly-regarded, well-respected longtime veteran in my profession had the same problem I have in meeting the group satisfaction of the board,” he said. “I take this work very seriously and I am very sincere in trying to do the best I can to present the board with good information, comprehensive information, answer the questions before they get asked and serve the needs of the town and I certainly consider myself far from the source of a democratic crisis in local government.”
Beyond Grant’s opinion regarding his continued employment, Crane heard a fair amount of praise and concerns regarding his development as the town’s chief executive officer from the board.
Grant said in going over board members’ first evaluation of Crane to compare with his job performance in his second year, he found little difference, with Select Board Chair Richard Foster’s evaluation being the exception and raising Crane’s average score from a 2 to a 2.92, or just below meeting expectations. The grading system for the review was based on scores of 1 – not meeting expectations – to 5 – exceeds expectations – for 10 criteria.
“I guess the thing that I fail to see is what the dramatic difference is,” Grant said, pointing out Foster’s rating of Crane in some areas jumped from a 1 in 2014 to a 5 in 2015. “Some of the things you saw last year are things we’re still seeing.”
He later added, “I’m not sure Stephen would even say he’s dramatically different.”
Grant also expressed concerns over the lack of action on Select Board directives such as expanding Adult Center director’s hours.
“I guess that’s the concern that I have – that there are situations where the town manager acts contrary to what the Select Board has voted on,” he said.
In addition, Grant criticized Crane’s capital planning approach, in which he claimed Crane would not look beyond five years.
Addressing Grant’s concerns about his scores, Foster explained his dramatic changes in his assessment of Crane were the result of Crane’s own actions.
He said as chair he has spent “a considerable amount of time with the town manager,” meeting at minimum for up to two hours during a standing weekly meeting.
“We’ve spent a lot of time discussing performance-related items and how to best deal with the board [and] what was the best approach to take with the board, realizing that oftentimes there was not one approach that was going to gel with the entire board,” he said. “I can tell you Stephen has devoted a considerable amount of effort towards trying to improve how he interrelates with this board, how he communicates with this board, and the execution, also, of his duties.”
Foster also acknowledged the challenges associated with attempting to develop strong relationships with five different managers.
Foster also suggested in the second year of a contract, gains should be made. He said assessments should reflect those improvements and when they do, it should not come as a surprise.
He also praised Crane for advancements made in town in asset management, capital planning and project management.
“He’s never going to get credit for everything he does because a lot of these things aren’t brought out in the open,” Foster said.
Selectman Marie Angelides also had high praise for Crane and lauded him for his improvement in several areas in year two.
“I know the last year was a little rough, but I feel like we’re starting to blend [and] we’re starting to work a little bit more as a team,” she said. “As they say, it’s messy making sausages at times, but the final product I’ve been really pleased with.”
Angelides voiced appreciation for an increase in professionalism, organization and follow through regarding standards and procedures established by the board.
“A lot of the things I was concerned about, I’m seeing they’re getting done,” she added, noting progress on developing a new municipal website, a greater social media presence to boost communication with residents and improved dialogue with the public regarding building projects. She also commended Crane for his hands-on approach to road projects, which has, in her opinion, expedited their completion.
Angelides also admitted that while the Select Board at times takes a while to determine a proper course of action for significant issues facing the town, such as the arrival of MGM Springfield, when given a directive, Crane has followed through. She specifically commended his ability to navigate tough contract negotiations and intelligently manage any resultant savings.
“Even though you do battle with us sometimes, I really feel like you’re our bulldog,” she said. “When it comes down to it, we can point you in the right direction and you’ll fight for the town.”
Angelides said she did offer recommendations for further improvement under each category of the evaluation form to ensure continued progress.
Selectmen Mark Gold said he rated Crane “at various levels throughout,” anywhere from a 1 out of 5 to 4 out of 5.
“There are areas that I think we’ve done a lot better in and we’re doing well in,” he said.
Gold said he felt communication between the board and Crane improved “marginally,” and remained “formal” and “stinted.”
Stating there were other examples in his written evaluation, he said, “The one thing that kind of struck at me that there’s still a difference between us and we’re not working as a team yet … is that we found out [and] I found out about the retirement of our police chief through the periodic bi-weekly message that came in our Select Board packet and I would think that when a major department head retires, even if it’s on a Thursday afternoon or a Thursday evening and we’re getting our packet later that week – it wasn’t even that situation here – it would certainly be worthy of an email message or phone call or whatever.”
Gold also criticized the timeliness of some information provided to the board.
Gold commended Crane for his budget preparation, explaining that as a member of the Finance Sub-Committee there was “good back-and-forth,” but expressed disappointment that the board didn’t receive a copy of a finalized capital plan until the day of the budget review.
He also called Crane’s relations with the public and media as “bi-modal” – the town’s relations with the media have been “good,” however, communications with residents has been “mixed.”
Addressing goal setting, Gold echoed Angelides, stating, “Our failure is his failure … because we didn’t elucidate the goals as well as we might have early on.”
He noted many items were addressed, there was still a long list of outstanding needs that needed attention, and there were items addressed that were not identified on the priority list by anyone on the board.
He also credited Crane with achieving high marks in working with other government agencies.
Selectman Paul Santaniello stated it was his feeling “the town manager is still invoking the charter and doesn’t see the need to work with all of us equally.” He added the evaluation process was flawed and as a result, he felt the board and Crane failed in developing cohesion.
He added in the past year he had one phone conversation with Crane.
“Over the course of a year, I don’t know if that’s communication or not,” he said.