| August 2, 2012 | ||
| 3:00 pm |
Editor’s note: In his statement on Monday Mr. Mearn referenced his bringing “irregularities” to the attention of the Board. A brief summary and link regarding that have been added to bottom of this post.
At last night’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen they voted not to renew Town Administrator Kevin Mearn’s contract. But as reported in Boston.com Your Town Milton, Mearn returned to work at Town Hall today. The article states, “Mearn’s attorney, Ken Kurnos, said that because the motion did not specifically call for his termination, Mearn was free to return to work in his role as town administrator if he chose to do so.” (You can find the full article here.)
The Selectmen have scheduled an open meeting for Thursday at 3:00PM at the Council on Aging. The single agenda item is “Discussion of employment dates for the Town Administrator and Assistant Town Administrator”
Keohane has cited communications issues and morale at Town Hall as issues he had for not renewing Mearn’s contract; particularly as they relate to the police chief. The chief is also likely the deparment head Mearn was referring to in his remarks on Monday night regarding “irregularities” that he brought to the attention of the selectmen. The situation at the time prompted the Selectmen (not the current sitting Selectmen) to commission an investigation. The report was released the report last April. You can find that post here.
I think it is appropriate to ask respectfully if the two newest Selectmen have bothered to familiarize themselves with the Board of Selectmen’s handbook of rules and procedures.
If this current succession of “emergency” Selectmen’s Meetings is an indication of the lack of studious understanding of those rules and procedures what might we expect of them in the selection process and search for a new town administrator – if such a search becomes necessary – and to the direction and oversight of any individual who might take on and accept the position of town administrator in the future.
Will the selectmen follow specific,legal rules of procedure or will they attempt to direct the operation of the town administrator position on an ad hoc, create the rules as you go, seat of your pants manner. If that is the direction the new selectmen plan to follow they are dooming a town administrator to certain failure. You cannot and must not have the daily operation of this town sitting on shifting sand.
Every Milton citizen must demand specifics from the selectmen on this subject not only during a potential search process but moving forward to the daily responsibilities of the town administrator.
In the final analysis, the Milton Board of Selectmen and the Town Administrator answer to us and not to other department heads.