To the Editor:

To my friends, neighbors and GOOD Morning Wilton…

Where we find ourselves and what is the ”felt difficulty”:

This is a “tipping point” for our beloved town. A contagious “malaise” needs to be dissipated. Exceptional leadership can restore trust.

The precipitous recent events of losing two of the three top town staff ([Town Administrator] Matt Knickerbocker and [CFO] Dawn Norton) underscore a fault line in our foundation. We have lost a judicious and fair-minded selectman (Bas Nabulsi) to a move. We are losing our intrepid fiscal selectwoman (Kim Healy). It is close to a “decapitation” of talent at the top.

I made remarks on the Monday, Aug. 4, [Board of] Selectmen’s meeting about my friends and neighbors, who are asking “What is going on at Town Hall?” My plea at the beginning of the meeting for thoughtful due process seems either prescient or naïve.

In addition, the recently departed CFO (Dawn Norton) said to GMW, “the situation at Town Hall” is one reason she sought a position elsewhere. She said this was allowed in her contract. We can infer that the “cordial” departure of the town administrator might be an elegant way to also depart “the situation at town hall.”

Who wrote these “contracts”? These positions of trust and high responsibility are not mentioned in our Charter. The respective job descriptions and reporting structure overlap and are confusing. Where is quality control? What is the role of the first selectman and other selectmen in reporting? Our charter is a lean perhaps intentionally vague document, yet emphatic on curious points like breaking tie votes.

Here are five troubling observations from the other night and breaking news after:

  1. How does one change one’s party the exact day it is revealed there was a mistake in advertising the selectman position on party affiliation? Changing one’s party affiliation seems a momentous decision.
  2. How come one candidate knew this “rule” and the other fellow did not, was not informed in advance, and had to attend in person for hours to address a group of impassioned citizens?
  3. How come the selectmen and the town attorney did not understand a prior party affiliation requirement (until Second Selectman [Josh] Cole noted)? What is the town counsel’s scope? With our past attorney residing elsewhere, we see different attorneys with a lack of familiarity with our charter, history and policy.
  4. Our town administrator, on the ballot for elected office as town treasurer in his home town, is entitled to plan the next chapter as his contract ends. But who is reviewing the language of the next contract? Who is going to revise if we even choose to keep the position or weigh in about any consolidation of COO and CFO duties and/or straightening out “jurisdictions”?
  5. Who knew about the CFO issues before that meeting? Why did we have to rely on investigative reporting by the increasingly effective work of GOOD Morning Wilton?

What can we do now?

Is this an opportunity to consolidate and streamline ill-defined lines of responsibility and control? I think so.

But who can be trusted to evaluate these issues? I had high hopes for our First Selectman [Toni Boucher]. She was regarded as a great communicator who could be a calm and judicious leader. It is quite different being a CEO from a skillful legislator. The qualities effective for one are not the same for the other. A chief executive is more like a general or chief justice. A legislator might be more like a special agent.

  1. We need a person or persons to immediately form a non-partisan transition team with a six-month schedule to reassess the role of the first selectman and these two non-chartered positions.
  2. Stop advertising for either position for 30 days. That new team should compare and array the duties of first selectman, town [administrator] (COO) and town CFO, and develop an improved table of organization for “Town Hall.”
  3. Who will interview candidates? A new personnel committee was set up the other night. I recommend adding legal and financial strength.
  4. End random suggestions to add staff. We cannot, say, add a grant officer or another facility person. What is the line of reporting and responsibility? What efficiency is achieved? Our recent history proves adding peoples is not the answer.
  5. An RFP is being drafted to select an expert for an independent evaluation of root causes for “material defects” in the recent audit. Should the scope be re-reviewed and expanded considering remarks from the former CFO about lines of responsibility?
  6. Do not forget public input with great citizens on all sides of the aisle. Most of us love quality of life, stability, fiscal competence and understanding that orderly change can bring new vitality.
  7. Finally, I would ask our First Selectwoman Boucher and the BOS to put out a consolidated public statement signed by all of them with positive lessons on this chaos. It takes courage to admit we can do better and accept full responsibility.
  8. I would ask the selectwoman and selectmen to consider a different kind of regular “State of the Town” public forum. They may not be short or orderly.
  9. During the Plan of Conservation and Development process, there were terrific inter-commission meetings. Members on our other boards might be future Town leaders. Our volunteers are a talent trove.

Respectfully submitted from one who loves our town.

Best,

Barbara Geddis