By BILL CHAISSON
I have noticed that the City of Claremont has a distinct lack of interest in following the rules set out in documents like constitutions and charters. During the whole Nativity discussion there wasn’t a lot of interest in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, and now with the firing of City Manager Ryan McNutt, the city charter is basically being ignored.
Article III, section 16 of the charter of the City of Claremont states “The entire administration of all fiscal, prudential and municipal affairs of the City of Claremont shall, except as otherwise provided, be vested in a city council of nine (9) councilors …” The key phrase in that sentence is “except as otherwise provided.” Section 17 describes the duties of the mayor as including running the city council meeting, speaking and voting at that meeting and presiding at ceremonial occasions. “All other duties of the mayor prescribed by law,” states the charter, “ shall be exercised by the manager provided for in the charter.” Section 18 states that “any person” may run for council. That is, no special knowledge or skills are required or expected. Section 19 stipulates that none of the councilors (the mayor is a member of the council) will receive any compensation whatsoever. Section 22 notes that municipal legislation will be made by ordinance.
The “General Powers” of the council and mayor are, notes Section 23 of the charter, outlined by state law “except in so far as such powers or duties are inconsistent with other provisions of this charter or with powers or duties specifically transferred to the manager.” You see the pattern forming: the manager’s “powers and duties” are specified, and neither the council nor the mayor are supposed usurp the role of the manager.
Unlike the council and the mayor, the city manager is expected to have “executive and administrative qualifications.” Town administrators and city managers often have degrees in public administration or something akin to that. Ryan McNutt, according to his LinkedIn page, has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. That is, he considered becoming a high school teacher. He also has a master’s degree in history.
McNutt began a career in city administration a little over nine years ago when he became chief of staff for the City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Like Claremont, Fitchburg is an old mill town (its nickname is “The Chair City”), but with a population of over 40,000, it is three times the size of Claremont. He went on to be the city’s director of housing and development before moving to Lancaster, Mass. to become their town administrator. His own description of his duties there is as follows: “As the Chief Administrative Officer of Lancaster I provide professional administration, management and supervision of municipal departments. Including assuring compliance with relevant federal laws and regulations, Massachusetts General Laws and municipal bylaws, and regulations. Develop long-range plans with guidance from the elected body and assists in the achievement of common goals and objectives. Prepare a comprehensive annual operating budget and capital improvement plan.” This is what he did for a town of over 8,000 (for comparison, Newport is a bit over 6,000 people) for two and a half years before Claremont hired him in February 2017.
I would have thought that folks in Claremont would appreciate a city manager who learned his trade in the “school of hard knocks,” i.e. through experience, rather than from some fancy-pants degree program somewhere. Apparently not.
Under Section 30 of the charter, “Powers and duties of the city manager,” it clearly states that “The city manager shall be the chief executive and administrative officer of the city government, and carry out the policies laid down by the city council.” The policies laid down by the council are supposed to be in the form of ordinances, which become modifications to the city charter. In other words, the council is supposed to make laws that the city manager follows; they aren’t supposed to weigh in on whatever action of the city manager interests them.
The section continues, “He/she shall keep the council informed of the condition and needs of the city and shall make such reports as may be required by law, this charter or ordinance, or may be requested by the council.” Mayor Charlene Lovett clearly outlined the council’s reasons for dismissing McNutt in her Jan. 26 column for the Eagle Times. She stated that the manager did not keep the council adequately informed. Informed so that they can do what? Make policy or to simply intervene?
One of the public disagreements between the council and manager was over assessments, an area where the charter is clear that the council has no say. According to the charter, the assessments are the purview of the assessor, who is appointed by the city manager. The city council can register objections to appointments, but they can’t reject an appointment. Furthermore, “Neither the council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any of the administrative officers either publicly or privately.” In other words, when it comes to discussions of particular assessments, it is clear that the council should butt out.
They will eventually get a report from the city manager about what abatements were granted and why. At that point, if they see a pattern they don’t like, then they can change the policy for granting abatements.
The City of Claremont has gone through a string of city managers in a relatively short period of time. At some point the elected officials are going to have to come around to the idea that the problem is not being caused by the city managers, but by the elected officials. Rather than having a vision of where the city should be going and a plan — carried out through the creation of policies — to shape the future of the city, they are simply micromanaging the day-to-day affairs of the city. As my cursory look at Ryan McNutt’s resumé shows, he knows a lot more about managing the day-to-day affairs of the city than any of the members of the council do.
We’ve all heard stories about people who hired contractors to build or renovate their homes and then tried to tell the contractor how to do the job. (If you haven’t heard these stories, then read Tracy Kidder’s excellent book called “House” about this form of train wreck.) It never ends well, and we all know that in the aftermath the contractor tells other contractors, “Watch out for those people.” Since the city council has already refused to spend enough to hire a qualified assessor, finding a new city manager should be interesting to watch. Unless they follow Councilor Claire Lessard’s suggestion and simply rehire McNutt and move on.
Bill Chaisson is the editor of the Eagle Times and has never managed a town or city.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.