By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The Town Council last night discussed a “succession plan” for the future retirements of two senior members of the town’s administrative team: Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio and Town Accountant Kevin Gill. The discussion came as the Town Council wrapped up its role in the town’s FY 2025 budgeting process, approving departmental budgets for Health and Human Services, Group Health Insurance, Vocational Schools and its own Town Council budget.
The proposed $706,455 Town Council budget includes an increase of $125,020. Of that increase, $100,000 would be used to fund what was described as a “succession plan” for the Town Administrator and Town Accountant positions. The money would be used to move current Town Accountant Kevin Gill into an Assistant Town Administrator position and at the same time create an Assistant Town Accountant position. It was explained that additional funding for the two new positions would come from another anticipated retirement in mid-FY25. The latter position would not be filled.
The Assistant Town Accountant would learn under the wing of Gill, with an expectation of taking over as Town Accountant when Gill retires. It was not clear how this proposal would accomplish a succession plan for Town Administrator.
To that point, Councilor Edward Dombroski said that he would rather bring in an understudy for Gill as well as a Deputy Town Administrator to learn from Maio, with an eye toward those two individuals taking over when their mentors retire.
“I don’t think the proposed arrangement gets us there,” Dombroski said.
Vincent said that he has long advocated for a Deputy Town Administrator and not just as part of a succession plan, but as a permanent position. He said that it would not be fair to assume that a successor would do all that Maio does, hence the long term need for a Deputy Town Administrator.
Chairman Jonathan Chines agreed with the need for a Deputy Town Administrator and said that he supported the budget request however the succession process was handled.
Town Councilor Mehreen Butt agreed, noting that Maio already has too many people directly reporting to him, pointing to the need for an assistant.
Town Counsel Thomas Mullen pointed out that the Town Charter does speak to specific experience and other requirements for the Town Administrator position. He also pointed out that hiring a Deputy Town Administrator with the stated expectation that that person would take over when Maio retires could limit the Town Council’s options and impact the hiring process when the time comes.
But Town Councilors said that it would not necessarily be a foregone conclusion that a Deputy Town Administrator would automatically slide into the Town Administrator position, but it could give that person the advantage of on-the-job experience.
Dombroski said that it only makes sense to hire assistants to learn under Gill and Maio if it’s with the expectation of those individuals eventually assuming the top positions. Otherwise, he said, if the town loses both Maio and Gill there would be no smooth transition.
McLane said that no matter how the succession plan is handled, the dollar amount proposed would not be enough.
In the end, the Town Council budget was approved as proposed by a vote of 6-1, with McLane opposed.
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The Town Council approved the $2,558,485 Vocational School budget including an increase of $306,540.
The Health and Human Services budget was approved at $507,762, with an increase of $117,870.
The Town Council approved the $15,917,161 Group Insurance budget request for FY 2025, including an increase of $204,144. It was the second meeting at which this budget was discussed. A lengthy discussion at the March 25 Town Council meeting included a request to add a new $65,000 position to the Human Resources Department as well as a discussion of whether Group Insurance and Human Resources should be separate departments.
The board decided to continue the discussion and vote on the budget at last night’s meeting, after hearing more information from department head Amy Forziati. The vote to approve the budget with the additional position was 5-2, with Dombroski and McLane opposed.