HADLEY — Whether to move to a Select Board/administrator form of government that would give the town administrator more authority over hiring, firing and disciplining municipal employees, as well as in contracts and collective bargaining, may eventually be a question placed before Hadley voters.
But any move toward having a strong town administrator will likely be part of a multiyear process.
“Personally, I think this is somewhere, a direction we should go in,” Select Board member Molly Keegan said at the board’s Oct. 4 meeting. “It wasn’t my thought we should do it that expeditiously, because I think we need more input.”
Keegan’s comments came following a presentation by Human Resources Director Troy Brin on the rationale for changing the current organizational structure, observing that for town employees to be successful, they need to know who their first and second line supervisors are and what expectations are in their role.
After four months of research since taking charge of human resources, he discovered there is lack of clarity in reporting structure.
“I found that through development of employment contracts, reporting criteria shifted and heavily weighted to the Select Board, boards, commissions and committees, which further added confusion to the reporting structure,” Brin said. “In a sense, there were two reporting structures: one that is factually defined and documented, and one that is individually perceived.”
Brin said he met with Town Administrator Carolyn Brennan when he began his role, charted the current organizational structure and researched how Hadley government has developed, examining the state laws being followed, town reports and town bylaws, and finding there was no consistency, clarity or direction in certain ways employees interacted.
Brin said it is understandable why there has been some confusion. For those appointed by the Select Board to work with a board or committee, for instance, Brin said that person would logically have the perception to report back to the boards, rather than the town administrator.
The strong town administrator form of government has been discussed in the past, including in advance of the 2017 town election, when the concept was supported by Keegan but opposed by candidate John Mieczkowski Sr.
Keegan, who returned to the Select Board in 2022, offered input to Brin during his research, She said the next logical step is for people to educate themselves now that Brin has completed the foundational look.
Brin’s report could serve as the basis for the Select Board bringing an article to Town Meeting that would seek special legislation from the state Legislature. It also comes after the Select Board adopted a code of conduct for employees and committee members, while Brin has been examining existing employment contracts.
Select Board member Joyce Chunglo said her observations from 20 years on the board is that the chain of command isn’t always followed and disgruntled employees don’t understand the appropriate process.
“I think we have not done a good job on that as a Select Board, in telling people, ‘Did you go to your supervisor, did you not get results from your supervisor, well then you need to go to the TA (town administrator),’” Chunglo said.
Chunglo, though, said there will be concerns from the public about any change to the government structure.
Select Board Chairwoman Amy Parsons said members of the Select Board need to make sure they are not directly overseeing employees. “In my understanding, is that all town employees are under Carolyn, and by us talking to them, or giving directives or anything like that, we’re really undermining her authority,” Parsons said.
With the strong town administrator, there would be no change to the elected boards, committees, commission or officials, and the Select Board would appoint executive staff, including the town administrator, police chief and fire chief. Brennan would then appoint all staff with exception of those hired by the police and fire chiefs. The police chief would hire officers and emergency dispatchers, and the fire chief would hire firefighters and EMTs. Both of those positions would report to the town administrator, while all subsordinate staff would report to their department heads.
The strong town administrator would also serve as chief procurement officer and chief fiscal officer, in addition to handling hiring, firing and progressive disclipine, employment contracts and collective bargaining.
The only public comment in response to Brin’s report came from Assessor Dan Zdonek, who said he is concerned about what the change in government structure might mean for his position, as well as others, such as library director, health director and perhaps a future town planner.
“It causes a major conflict between if I work for the Board of Assessors, but now I’m appointed by Carolyn — there’s a major issue there,” Zdonek said.
