By Jessica Edwards
On a surprise motion at the end of its Tuesday meeting, the Haines
Borough Assembly voted 4-2 to terminate borough manager Robert Venables’ employment
with three months’ severance pay.
"I find it is in the best interest of the borough to terminate the
manager’s contract only under the condition that he be given three months severance
pay," mayor Fred Shields said in announcing the motion to a shocked room.
Assembly member Norm Smith advanced the motion and Steve Vick seconded.
Deborah Vogt and Pete Lapham voted in favor.
Venables was fired without "cause," or stated reason, a move
legal in a contract the borough negotiated with him last July containing specific language
allowing termination at the will of the assembly. The contract also included a $6,000
raise to $75,000.
Termination opponent Doug Olerud demanded reasons but was not satisfied
with a response.
"We’ve given the reasons the last two years," said
Shields.
"It’s unconscionable," said Venables after the meeting.
"I worked around the clock 24 hours a day for the borough."
"There’s been a lot of discussion for a long time," said
Vogt after the meeting, citing legal reasons for not providing details. "I strongly
believe it is in the best interest of the borough."
In an interview, Smith said Venables wasn’t open in disseminating
information. "Being forthright with the assembly, that’s what’s been
lacking." Smith said information provided by the manager about the status of projects
was often vague or unsubstantiated.
Smith was on the assembly when Venables was approved for the
manager’s job in November 2004, and voted against his hire.
"He worked hard but not smart," Shields said after the
meeting, adding the decision wasn’t personal. "We want a professional."
Shields said the borough would be seeking to fill the manager position
immediately.
Vick said although difficult, he felt he’d made the right decision
in voting to fire the manager. "I had to do a lot of research," he said,
declining to be more specific. "I know it’s what’s best for the borough.
It’s the direction we need to go with the amount of projects ahead."
Olerud and member Jerry Lapp were vocal in their opposition to both the
manager’s termination and its presentation to the assembly without warning or notice
on the meeting agenda.
"This is the lowest thing I’ve seen here since I’ve been
in politics," said Lapp. "I don’t agree with this being brought up like
this with no prior knowledge."
Olerud said although he was aware of discussions about the
manager’s performance, he characterized the introduction of the motion without
warning at the meeting’s end as a power grab by Shields.
"I think this is a sad day for the borough," Olerud said.
According to the terms of Venables’ most recent work contract,
signed in July of 2007, the assembly was not required to meet with the manager to discuss
assembly goals and priorities or to evaluate the manager’s performance in meeting
those goals, although such discussions were allowed.
Six goals were outlined for the manager in a job evaluation in February
2007: continued education, improving timeliness and accuracy of reporting, completing
borough employee evaluations, providing updates to the assembly of department meetings,
hiring an assistant, and providing an organizational chart to the assembly.
In August, Venables submitted a progress report on the performance
goals outlined by the assembly, saying he felt he had met them.
He said he had completed numerous professional development courses
since his hire in late 2004, including in basic municipal management, leadership
communication, ethics, and others.
Venables called accurate and timely reporting an ongoing goal, and said
he was striving to get more data-driven information to the public and assembly. Employee
evaluations were completed for every borough employee "for the first time anyone
could remember," he said, and job descriptions were under review. An administrative
assistant had been hired. An organizational chart had been submitted for the
assembly’s review.
Venables named as his major accomplishments bringing stability to a
position that had seen five interim managers in two years, balancing a borough budget two
years in a row that had been nearly $1 million in deficit following consolidation, and
obtaining legislative and grant funding for borough infrastructure.
"Management of the borough is not always smooth and is far from
perfect," Venables wrote in his August progress report. "But every department
(and the manager) is operating at a higher level of proficiency than in previous
years."
