Getting on the right track at Town Hall

As previously announced, the new finance director, Ms. Robin Manuele, will begin her duties with the town next month. Her start will unfortunately coincide with the departure of Mr. James Rotondo, the current Public Works director. Throughout the hiring process for Ms. Manuele, she was able to closely follow the various old and new issues confronting the town, and she found her friends and colleagues wondering why she would want to work in such a community. We often spoke at length about this issue: Why would anyone want to work for the town of Winchester, especially in a senior management position?I shared my insights with Ms. Manuele. I find the challenges of this community to be invigorating. I found that Town Hall, over the years, had operated in the shadows of politics, rather than in a culture of government. I often referred to some of the practices and policies as Winsted’s “family and friends” program.Mr. Rotondo was one of the first “outsiders” (even though he has long lived in the town) hired by the town, replacing a long-time respected employee. Mr. Rotondo sought to bring well-meaning change to the community. In a community that apparently embraces, no, fiercely clutches, the status quo, his efforts were thwarted.As a senior manager and a leader of change, he was often subject to public derision and ridicule. He was the face of the Public Works Department, so he was an easy target when he presented extensive (and expensive) plans to repair the town’s deteriorating infrastructure. The behavior and work of junior employees, though, was never subject to such public scrutiny when those unusual instances were unacceptable.Coming from a predominantly private sector background, Mr. Rotondo found the public scrutiny to be usually harsh. As one who has worked for nearly two decades in public service, I find the scrutiny here to be no different than elsewhere: A few limited and anonymous self-serving detractors who will never be satisfied lurk in the shadows. As I have previously mentioned, I assign no credibility to anonymity.Identifying, confronting and addressing the challenges facing this community is exciting. The status quo contingent finds it acceptable to succumb to the challenges: Let the roads crumble, the vehicles rust, the sewers collapse and the buildings decay. Their mantra is “Let’s do nothing but wait for some magical savior to invest millions of dollars while we invest nothing.”This town, for those of you willing to see it, has incredible potential: its natural resources, its downtown, its labor force and its transportation. I have hosted several representatives of manufacturers, of medical facilities, of commercial developers, of small businesses and of state and federal government agencies. Most of them have never been here before. Without fail, they leave here surprised at what they experience: all of these great assets tempered by the undercurrent of anger.Those without the anger have to step forward. The recent symposium sponsored by Smart Growth America (a national renowned redevelopment organization promoting downtown revitalization) drew fewer than one dozen participants. The soon-to-be-published report will offer significant direction on how to capitalize on our assets and strengths, including some action steps that involve little up-front investment. The speakers strongly emphasized that we are taking the first steps in the right direction and that we must aggressively stay the course.Do you want to abdicate the future of your town to the group that fights everything and everyone? The proposed budget to be released next month represents the policy document for the future, both near-term and, in some respect, long-term. What input will you have or will you have none and simply wait to demonize the efforts? So far, I’ve had minimal input from anyone regarding the budget, which is what led to last night’s budget workshop. Since I am writing this prior to the workshop, I will be interested in seeing what comes out of that effort.Yes, we are here again as part of our annual budget experience. We have new financial issues that require immediate attention, and several people are working hard to address those issues. We will get over these obstacles and keep moving in the right direction. We need you to help us on this path, rather than sit idly and simply expect things to happen.Dale Martin is the town manager of Winchester.