After completing a three-year contract as Wilton’s first town administrator, Matt Knickerbocker is stepping down to again pursue public office in Bethel.
Knickerbocker exits amidst a storm of issues that unfolded under his watch over the past year, including the issuance of tax credits without proper approval, management issues relating to at least two construction projects, process concerns related to the Finance Department, and most recently the confusing revelation of how Wilton’s CFO, unbeknownst to Knickerbocker and First Selectman Toni Boucher, has held a second in-person job as CFO of a town in Wyoming since May while working for the town virtually.
Former First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice pushed for the $190,000 position of town administrator throughout 2022, even lowering her own salary in the process, arguing that it would relieve the first selectperson of day-to-day responsibilities, allowing them to focus on economic development efforts and regional- and state-level advocacy.
She also thought it would be valuable to have someone who knew the ropes in place with the administrative transition when Boucher entered office at the end of 2023.
“This job has evolved into an extremely large commitment, much more so than when I first started,” Knickerbocker told the Board of Selectmen on Monday, Aug. 4, after having notified them previously in a letter of his intention to leave the position.
BOS Foregoes Evaluation of Position
Foregoing any steps to even assess whether the town administrator role has been an effective or even necessary one during the past three years, the BOS immediately decided to form a search committee to find Knickerbocker’s replacement.
The selectmen hope to find someone for the role prior to Knickerbocker’s exit at the beginning of September, though Knickerbocker said he would be on hand to help with the transition as needed.
Simultaneously, in response to various issues at Town Hall, a newly appointed Process Review Committee — a joint venture of the BOS and Board of Finance — is looking to find an outside consultant that can conduct an independent assessment of functions and operations within Town Hall and, ideally, make recommendations that Boucher’s administration can implement.
The PRC has been the focus of its own controversy, but officials from both boards hope its work will ultimately lead to healthier functioning with Town Hall.
Knickerbocker himself shared some suggested changes he made to his own job description with the BOS on Monday, highlighting the need for expanded skillsets in the areas of municipal capital management process and capital project approvals, as well as financial, grant, contract and land-use administration.
“This is greatly expanded, maybe in a very ambitious way, but I think it’s important that you take a look at that,” Knickerbocker said of the three-page description.
“There are a lot of functions that have evolved over three years that I’ve been here,” he said.
Asked if he thought he would qualify now for this position, Knickerbocker said he didn’t think he would.
“Especially if you look at the financial, you’re really looking for somebody who can step in behind the CFO and say, alright, I’ll take this over, I’ll run the audit and I’ll do this and I’ll do this … I would not even put my name in … You’re really looking for someone who has two sets of skills,” he said.
Knickerbocker also made a general recommendation that one of the town attorneys regularly sit in on Board of Selectmen meetings, and possibly others, in order to monitor and insure that procedures and laws are being properly followed.
“I know it costs money to do this, but I would strongly recommend that this board consider having one of our town attorneys sit in on a meeting,” he said.
“A Significant Position”
According to the job summary, the town administrator serves as a professional manager responsible for staff management and administrative functions relative to the daily operation of departments under the supervision of the first selectperson. Responsibilities include budget development, performance evaluation, financial accounting, project management, purchasing and more.
“It almost looks like you’re trying to hire a joint CFO-town administrator,” Selectwoman Kim Healy said. “That’s a lot of finance.”
Boucher emphasized that, though the job description represented a sort of wish list of an ideal candidate, the town would need to be flexible in who they consider.
“You don’t always hire someone who has all of the qualifications,” Boucher said. “You want to get as close to that as possible. This is definitely the ideal situation.”
“This is a significant position,” she said. “It pays very well.”
The BOS decided on a personnel search committee that would include all four seated members of the BOS, the newly-appointed Selectman Rich McCarty, and Lori Bufano, a former BOS member who currently serves on the Board of Education.
The intention is to have the job posted by Monday, Aug. 11, and allow two weeks to gather candidates.
“As a search committee, we don’t have to post the minutes,” Boucher said. “This is all executive session stuff.”
Another Pivotal Vacancy
Ironically, after GOOD Morning Wilton reported news about Wilton’s CFO Dawn Norton concurrently holding another in-person job as CFO-town administrator of a municipality in Wyoming — and Norton indicating that she was quitting her job in Wilton — her $175,000+ position was posted on the town’s website by Tuesday, Aug. 5.
On Wednesday, Aug. 6, the BOS posted a special meeting agenda for Friday, Aug. 8, at 9:30 a.m. at which discussion and potential actions will be taken on the CFO vacancy, including appointment of a personnel search committee.
The public portion of the meeting will follow a scheduled executive session regarding discussion of strategy with respect to claims and litigation, as well as privileged legal advice.
The need for a Town Administrator has always been a mystery to me. For many years, the First Selectman has been responsible for a host of duties and for the most part, handled them very well. Unfortunately, the previous First Selectman admitted that the town needed a $200,000 a year assistant but never really explained why. Sadly, Mr. Knickerbocker failed miserably in every aspect of the job he was given. My family and I have lived in Wilton for almost 40 years and the failures/missteps at Town Hall over the last 2 years or so are most disappointing!