June 12, 2018

“Motion to approve the Town Manager evaluation made by L. Gibson, motion made second by D. Feldman Discussion: J. DeVellis recalled a previous process in which the BOS came up with review questions and ran the process. He said he asked at the previous BOS meeting to see all of the comments and was told that information is not public record. M. Bernard confirmed personnel records are not public record. C. Mitchell agreed with M. Bernard and said personnel records are not public record. J. DeVellis said he spoke with the public records office in Boston and was told the review is considered public record but can be held back from release dependent upon the Town to share it or not. He said the BOS was told at the previous BOS meeting that they could go in and review the documents but they could not take the documents with them. He mentioned there was one reviewer who wrote a lengthy review and the BOS never saw it because the comments were not included in the summary. He said he believed there is a conflict because the Assistant Town Manager is presenting a review for her boss. C. Mitchell asked about what J. DeVellis meant by his statement that the BOS ran the process in the past and J. DeVellis corrected himself and statement he meant back when the BOS handled the review process. J. DeVellis asked why this constructive criticism was not included in the summary report to the BOS. C. Mitchell said the summary is a public document and no matter if it is good or bad, it gets out and there is no way to refute it. C. Mitchell said he read through all of reviews in the office and said there are three sides to every story. B. Keegan said all comments and reviews go to him and he takes all of them personally. B. Keegan added that the comments are also filtered through the BOS chairman; C. Mitchell said he read through it all. M. Bernard recalled her years of experience in this process and how the results come in and have been done in Town for the last four years. L. Gibson asked why there are four comments instead of five; M. Bernard said there were four comments to be consistent with summary reports from previous years. D. Feldman spoke about the format of the review and said the comment sections are the most important part of the entire review and said you are doing yourself and the employee a disservice if you are not honest in your comments. J. DeVellis asked why not give the courtesy to the BOS to see all of the completed reviews as well and B. Keegan said the BOS is not involved in personnel matters. J. DeVellis said he would like to see what other BOS members wrote in their evaluations and M. Elfman said that is not appropriate because the only person who needs to see all of the comments is the Town Manager himself. M. Bernard said she was giving the essence of all reviews submitted and J. DeVellis replied the only comment not included was the one negative comment. J. DeVellis said he came in to review the comments and that it was only B. Keegan’s self-evaluation and four others; C. Mitchell said he came in and read the same document and there were many comments. C. Mitchell said the aggregate score is the result of the review by the five BOS. M. Bernard said her summary captured the essence of the reviews by the board. L. Gibson said she understood J. DeVellis’ point to just include them all. C. Mitchell asked if the BOS can revisit the review process and J. DeVellis said the BOS has the authority to do so and doesn’t have to ask the Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager for permission to do so. C. Mitchell asked J. DeVellis if the comment was there and the score remained the same, would he not approve it. J. DeVellis said the score notwithstanding, the negative comment would have been a basis for discussion. D. Feldman said as far as he was concerned, his evaluation was his and the comments of others would not change it and said the individual category section comments carry more weight than the overall comments. L. Gibson suggested a change next year and J. DeVellis suggested removing the score completely. M. Bernard said numbers make it easier to quantify if a review is satisfactory. B. Keegan said every member of the BOS has the opportunity to have the conversation with him directly at any time. J. DeVellis said public discussion should be done in public; especially the Town Manager review. B. Keegan agreed he should be publicly evaluated but stressed the dialog can occur between him and each BOS member at any time. B. Keegan said he always welcomes the feedback and to improve any process available to them. J. DeVellis said he gave B. Keegan a very positive review and that the one negative, not from him, did not make it on the summary provided to the BOS. M. Bernard said the numerical comments determine the score. C. Mitchell further explained the comments were the overall comments at the end of the review. M. Elfman said the only one who cares what each BOS member said is B. Keegan because it is there if he wanted to see it. J. DeVellis proposed next year be different and get BOS input. C. Mitchell said he will meet with M. Bernard to see what other options are available. D. Feldman said any issues should be brought right up to the Town Manager when they arise, not just annually. B. Keegan said he is perfectly fine having an open, public dialog. J. DeVellis asked the BOS to add the discussion of changing the review process to a future BOS meeting and questioned why the other BOS reviews are locked away in the Town Manager’s office. C. Mitchell again said he would meet with M. Bernard about the process and how it pertains to laws protecting information and report back to the BOS. Final Resolution: Motion Carries 3-1-1 (L. Gibson abstained from the vote as she was not a Selectman.” (Motion: Gibson, second: Feldman)

Read it in the official minutes, page 2 (PDF)