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October 21. 2012 11:28PM
Hooksett council narrowly approves new project coordinator position
HOOKSETT — As part of Town Administrator Dean Shankle’s work to reorganize the town government, the Hooksett Town Council voted 4-3 to approve the position of project coordinator, assisting Shankle in the planning and implementation of his work.
Shankle proposed paying for the position by laying off the town’s administrative assistant.
The Oct. 10 vote occurred in the midst of a larger conversation about the organizational structure and culture of the Hooksett town government. “Incremental change” was a common phrase in defense of the move, but other councilors wished to have a broader conversation about the problems with the town’s government.
“This is years of stuff,” said Councilor Leslie Boswak. “Communication; we don’t talk about strategic planning. There’s no personal development, no organizational structure. Chain of command? We don’t do chain of command. We have geographic assets other towns would kill for. We’ve got so much going for us, but we never get it right. So I would like to see it looked at as a whole. Actually do a root-cause analysis: Why are we so controversial?”
“The 800-pound gorilla in here is that we never really talked about our problems,” said Councilor Todd Lizotte. “[For] example, nobody talks about it anymore but we have an (ex-Department of Public Works director) in court. What the hell happened? Where were the safeguards? What have we done to change the culture so that never happens again? It’s away and it’s gone. It’s our job to fix a problem that existed that allowed that to perpetuate through this organization.”
A large part of this discussion surrounded the need for an assistant town administrator to serve as an interim or potential replacement administrator, allowing for greater continuity. Shankle is the town’s ninth administrator in the last 20 years.
There was also some controversy regarding whether the project coordinator might in fact qualify as an assistant town administrator. The job description notes that the project coordinator “may be appointed” to act as administrator.
bclogston@newstote.com
Shankle proposed paying for the position by laying off the town’s administrative assistant.
The Oct. 10 vote occurred in the midst of a larger conversation about the organizational structure and culture of the Hooksett town government. “Incremental change” was a common phrase in defense of the move, but other councilors wished to have a broader conversation about the problems with the town’s government.
“This is years of stuff,” said Councilor Leslie Boswak. “Communication; we don’t talk about strategic planning. There’s no personal development, no organizational structure. Chain of command? We don’t do chain of command. We have geographic assets other towns would kill for. We’ve got so much going for us, but we never get it right. So I would like to see it looked at as a whole. Actually do a root-cause analysis: Why are we so controversial?”
“The 800-pound gorilla in here is that we never really talked about our problems,” said Councilor Todd Lizotte. “[For] example, nobody talks about it anymore but we have an (ex-Department of Public Works director) in court. What the hell happened? Where were the safeguards? What have we done to change the culture so that never happens again? It’s away and it’s gone. It’s our job to fix a problem that existed that allowed that to perpetuate through this organization.”
A large part of this discussion surrounded the need for an assistant town administrator to serve as an interim or potential replacement administrator, allowing for greater continuity. Shankle is the town’s ninth administrator in the last 20 years.
There was also some controversy regarding whether the project coordinator might in fact qualify as an assistant town administrator. The job description notes that the project coordinator “may be appointed” to act as administrator.
bclogston@newstote.com
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