Outgoing Moyer says town is ‘hungry’ for change

Dec. 10, 2015 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

East Longmeadow interim Town Administrator Greg Moyer, seen here in a file photo taken shortly after he took the job, submitted his letter of resignation with the required 30-day notice and returned to his home in Broken Arrow, OK, on Dec. 4.
Reminder Publications file photo

EAST LONGMEADOW – Outgoing interim Town Administrator Greg Moyer believes residents are “hungry” for “common sense, moral, tells-it-like-it-is government.”

Moyer made these beliefs known in a discussion with Reminder Publications on Dec. 7, just days after he abruptly announced his 30-day notice in a letter of resignation and drove back to his home in Broken Arrow, OK, on Dec. 4.

He also opined that the town could benefit by introducing “new blood” to its elected and hired positions.

“I think everybody knows as far as people and what needs to be done, but they just don’t do it,” he explained.

Moyer admitted he didn’t begin the job “on the right foot” due to the position originally having more similarity to an executive secretary to the selectmen rather than allowing for the typical powers of a town administrator and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) approved by the Board of Selectmen granting Moyer more authority was not as effective as he would have liked.

“All departments don’t report to the town administrator, MOU or not,” he explained. “It’s very difficult to set tone [and] vision for one town ... I found it very frustrating to do things there. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do policies and procedures.’ There’s a lot things that either [the selectmen] said we had a policy on and we couldn’t find it because it was done in one place, but we need to have a policy on something. The thing is the policies don’t extend to every [town department].”

Moyer also refuted Selectman William Gorman’s comments in other media reports that identified a poor relationship with department heads as the reason for his departure. Rather, he said the relationship was amicable and he believes the department heads are vital to the town.

Moyer said his departure had nothing to do with being offered a similar position in another community, he noted. When the selectmen renewed his contract to April 12, 2016 in October, they allowed for him to work remotely from his home in Broken Arrow.

“I have nothing in the works and I’m going to go home and spend time with my family over the holidays,” Moyer said.

He added, “It just concerned me, ‘What could I get done in three months [before the 2016 Town Election] given the current frame of government and the current people?” he explained. “I just decided that this would be a way to save the town some money.”

Moyer stated in his letter of resignation the most important issue facing the town is to create a new form of government during the April, 2016 Town Election, namely to create a town manager position “with the responsibility and authority to manage the whole town under the direction of the [seven-member at-large] town council.”

The Charter Commission is proposing the council-manager form of government.

He said if a town council is established as the new legislative branch of town government, he believes public input should be a priority during meetings.

“That’s one thing that was missing from the selectmen agenda,” he noted. “They had these appointments where people could come and speak with them. They need to have a section in their agenda that basically is [an open forum]. Maybe a couple times a meeting at the end anyone can speak on any subject.”

He also stated that he would like to see Town Counsel James Donahue be more proactive and “start recommending things to the manager and the board instead of sitting back and waiting until there’s a question to be asked of them."

Board of Selectmen Chair Paul Federici said he’s always been impressed with Donahue’s work and “there’s no reason to change that.”

The Board of Selectmen plans to interview interim town administrator candidates at its Dec. 22 meeting.

Federici stated during the board’s Dec. 8 meeting there are already candidates who expressed interest in the position.

“We have candidates from [previous interviews],” he noted. “I don’t know what they’re doing. I know that we’ve got a couple new candidates coming expressing interest.”

He added Longmeadow Town Manager Stephen Crane sent an email with a suggestion that he could temporarily work part-time as a town administrator for East Longmeadow until the selectmen hire a new interim town administrator to fill that position.

Selectman Angela Thorpe said she believes “there’s enough going on here that we need to have somebody of our own,” in regards to Crane temporarily taking the position while maintaining his existing job in Longmeadow.

“I also think that we should look at some of those candidates that had applied prior ... to expedite this process,” she noted.

Gorman said he’s received phone calls at his home from candidates wishing to apply for the position.

“One would take [the position] for the other half of Greg’s pay for a month,” he added.

Gorman said under “emergency conditions” it might be possible to hire an interim town administrator on a month-to-month basis.

“We’re in a budget right now,” he explained. “We’re kind of hurting right now.”

Thorpe made a public statement via social media on Dec. 11, expressing confidence in the town's ability to overcome the new challenge and throwing support behind department heads.

 
 

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