Finance manager fired at meeting

Following a contentious selectmen meeting, the town’s finance director was fired Thursday night.

The town’s interim town management team recommended Finance Director James Day either be discharged or given the opportunity to resign.

At Thursday’s selectmen meeting, Day said he had no intention of submitting his resignation.

Instead, Day accepted his firing amid a cloud of controversy that included, among other issues, town accusations of poor communication on Day’s part and Day’s allegations he uncovered fiscal mismanagement in town hall and he was asked “to spy” on a taxpayer.

Day was still on probation for the job, for which he was hired last February.
The standard probationary period in Hebron is six months, but the town management team extended the probation after that time while continuing to review his fitness for the position.

The town management team cited his “confrontational” manner and lack of communication and cooperation with other town employees as the reason for the recommendation.

Selectmen had been slated to discuss Day’s employment in an executive session at the regular board meeting Thursday night, but Day opted to have the matter discussed in open session.

Town officials said a job performance evaluation had been conducted anonymously by peers of Day and a staff meeting was held to work out employee issues that “didn’t go well,” according to interim town management team member Andrew Tierney.

Day said it was unfair of the town to extend his probation and, with eight years of experience, he should have been offered permanent employment sooner.

“I don’t feel I should have been on probation to begin with,” Day said.

Selectmen Mark Stuart said the extension of probation was a sign town managers were willing to work with him to iron out issues.

Stuart said, as in most jobs, if issues are brought to light during a probationary period, employers have the right to terminate an employee immediately.

Day said town officials were not willing to work with him.

“Going through the probationary period, everything was negative and there was no positive reinforcement,” Day said.

Stuart, though, pointed out that many comments in the peer evaluations had reflected positively on Day’s strengths.

Day said he was discriminated against because he brought discrepancies to light.

For example, according to Day, he wrote a letter dated Oct. 8 alleging many instances of misconduct.

Those allegations ranged from budgetary overages that were “hid” in different accounts to overpayments to the town management team to a charge the board of selectmen chairman directed him to spy on the home of resident Anthony Novak to determine whether his property was under-assessed.

After the selectmen voted unanimously to discharge him, however, Day left the meeting, missing the next item on the agenda, which was the discussion of Day’s Oct. 8 letter.

Originally that, too, was going to be discussed in executive session, but Day asked for that to be in open session as well.

Selectmen then directed the board of finance to review all the charges Day brought up in terms of mishandling finances.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Jeffrey Watt answered the charges levied at himself. Novak was also present at the meeting for answers on whether his rights were violated.

Day’s letter says, in part, “the Chairman believes that Attorney Novak and his wife are living on the property without a Certificate of Occupancy. The Chairman called me and asked me to get a camera with a long range lens to take pictures of Attorney Novak and his wife living at there (sic) unfinished home. The Chairman said he would arrange for me to take the pictures from his friend’s home overlooking Novak’s home. I was sure that this was a form of stalking.”

Novak said he was “angry and upset” if this charge was true.

“I was appalled by the allegations in this letter,” Novak said, saying he would file a Freedom of Information request to obtain all correspondence and voice mails regarding any conversations between town officials about his property.

Novak has asked that town employees be directed to safeguard all such data until he could review it.

Watt said the allegations were untrue.

Watt did say a neighbor of Novak’s had contacted him to question whether town regulations were being followed at the Novak property and Watt had told Day to look into the matter, but had not outlined ways for him to spy on the Novaks.

According to Watt, he simply told Day if he needed a way to see the property and the Novaks wouldn’t grant admittance, he could contact the neighbor who first raised concerns and see if he could see the house from the neighbor’s vantage point.

“I don’t know how that got construed into this,” Watt said referring to the charges he asked Day to spy.

Stuart said the town should work with Novak to allay his concerns and not wait for a Freedom of Information request to be filed.

He motioned that all town employees take all steps to preserve, collect and release all of the pertinent data to Novak.

As he left the meeting, Day said he was “undermined” by two members of the town management team, as had other employees before him. He also said he would pursue other job opportunities.

Selectmen voted to appoint an interim town treasurer to take over Day’s duties effective immediately and appointed Elaine Griffith, who currently works in the finance office, to this post.