Rehiring churns conflict

Selectman raps administrator

Georgetown administrator Stephen Delaney (above), rehired by two selectmen, has not performed well, according to the third, Lonnie Brennan, whose issue has been called personal. (Mark Wilson/Globe Staff/File 2003)

Town Administrator Steve Delaney has something rare in today's economy: job security for the next three years, thanks to a 2-to-1 vote by the Georgetown Board of Selectmen to extend his contract.

But Delaney's road to a third term has been bumpy. And if longtime Georgetown selectman Lonnie Brennan has his way, the next three years could be more of the same. Brennan has made it clear he doesn't like the way Delaney has done the job.

And it seems unlikely that the town's maverick politician will change his mind anytime soon.

As the lone dissenting vote at December's hearing, Brennan refused to sign off on the town administrator's new contract.

He even requested that the line above his name be removed from the document, in order to prevent any possibility his signature could be forged later.

Brennan's fellow board members, Matt Vincent and Phil Trapani, voted in favor of Delaney.

Delaney's new contract runs until June 2011, with an annual salary starting at $90,286 for the first year, beginning in April, and future increases left to the discretion of selectmen.

But the contentious debate leading up to Delaney's reappointment was quintes sential small-town New England politics, combining procedural arguments with Brennan's assertion that Delaney has been lacking in the management of some day-to-day operations at Town Hall.

Brennan questioned whether Delaney has lived up to job expectations, citing the fact that he has not produced an annual report for the town since he took office in 2003 and has not delivered an updated version of the town's bylaws.

Brennan contends that the Board of Selectmen expects the town administrator to handle these tasks.

"There are basic fundamental things that have not been done," Brennan said. "I'm constantly asking 'What's up with this?' "

Delaney countered that he has been multitasking ever since taking office, serving not only as the town's administrator, but also as its finance director, filling a job that was effectively eliminated when the town voted down a tax override just 60 days into his term. He said that while an annual report had not been produced since 2003, the town has completed annual audits, which, in his view, are more important.

Delaney also said a two-part annual report is in progress. The first part is designed to fill the gap between 2003 and 2006, and the second part will cover the most recent fiscal year, he said.

"When I started this job, Georgetown had a negative bond rating, basically fiscal chaos. The priority for the past five years has been to fix this. During my tenure the negative bond rating has been removed."

Brennan also maintains there were procedural issues related to Delaney's reappointment.

He said the Board of Selectmen never conducted a proper job evaluation, which is required annually by the contract. And he thinks the board should have taken a closer look at the job description.

The contract extension was "pushed right through," Brennan said.

"I could not commit to signing the contract without first evaluating his performance and the duties associated with it."

Brennan argued for a two-month contract extension at the end of Delaney's current contract in April, allowing time for the board to post the job and look at resumes while negotiating with Delaney.

But fellow selectman Vincent sees things differently.

"I think posting a job while you are negotiating is personally repugnant," he said.

Vincent added that the board was under a certain amount of pressure to negotiate and sign the contract with Delaney that could have been avoided had Brennan notified Delaney that the extension was in question back in October.

And although Vincent has conceded that Brennan has the best interests of the town in mind, he added that he sees his argument with Delaney's reappointment as something personal.

"When I joined the board in 2006, it was clear that Lonnie really hated Steve," Vincent said.

Although Delaney has not had a job performance review since 2004, his last review was "stellar," according to Vincent.

"He is everything. He fixes the furnace when it breaks down. The guy wears many hats. He has gone beyond the call," Vincent said of Delaney. "I think this whole thing is a ruse by Lonnie. He wants us to pay attention to the performance review process."

Vincent agreed that the town needs to get a better handle on the employee evaluation process. But he thinks Brennan's approach often lacks finesse.

"With Lonnie, there is a filter missing, Vincent said. "He sees conspiracies where they do not exist."

Trapani, the third member of the board, said he has had a good working relationship with Delaney.

"I wanted to give him a vote of confidence," Trapani said. "There was never a doubt that Lonnie would not give a vote of confidence. We as a board owe more to Steve."