By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — The Claremont City Council will be meeting on Wednesday and going into an immediate non-public session for the review of the city manager’s performance.
While the meeting comes one week after Mayor Dale Girard and members of the city council publicly scrutinized City Manager Yoshi Manale for his handling of the budget, Girard told The Eagle Times Monday that this is a standard review that was already scheduled.
“Last year in April we did his annual review as well,” Girard said. “When we hired him, I think in October, we agreed to do a six-month review originally, and then did an annual review after that, and settled on an April annual review. It is just the basics of an annual review at this point.”
The review comes after Girard prepared a letter where he accused Manale of keeping the city council “in the dark” about information and also overspending in areas of the budget. In the letter he called for a budget reduction of 5% for Fiscal Year 2026, as well, which Manale said he did not think needed to happen.
During the April 9 city council meeting, members of the city council agreed that a reduction should happen with several saying it was time to “tighten the belt.” City Councilor Nick Koloski was the most vocal and criticized Manale for “padding” the budget. He also said Manale told him during a meeting in his office that the budget was padded because the council needs to feel good about making cuts during the meeting.
While Manale said he does not recall this statement, Koloski doubled down and said he recalls the exact instance and came away from the meeting with Manale upset. He also said he told other councilors what he had been told.
During the April 9 meeting, Manale said to Koloski, “You’re right, maybe there is fluff. Maybe there are places that need to be cut. I am meeting with our directors right now to try to figure out the opposite of what you just suggested, of where I could find every savings possible. By the way, I’ve mentioned that to the mayor. I’ve told the mayor individually I would work on his behalf to try to cut this budget as much as I possibly can because I made that commitment to him when I first came here. So, I don’t appreciate saying I have put together a fluffy budget because I’ve never done that, and I continue to never do that.”
During the April 9 meeting, Manale defended himself and the way he handled the budget. He said that a 5% cut would actually be more like eight to 10%, and would equate to about $1.8 million being cut.
“Our budget has always been lean, and that is something that’s been a credit to this council,” Manale said to the council. “That means taking away infrastructure. That means taking away personnel. That means real, real, real cuts.”
Manale pointed out that the budget reduction request and criticism came begore he was even able to present a budget. He then spoke about how the city has had “a lot of growth” during his time on the job, and developers are contacting his office daily about how they want to invest in being in the city.
“They’re saying, ‘We believe in Claremont,’” Manale said.
The agenda of the upcoming meeting references a non-public session per RSA 91-A:3, II(a), which reads: “The dismissal, promotion, or compensation of any public employee or the disciplining of such employee, or the investigation of any charges against him or her, unless the employee affected (1) has a right to a meeting and (2) requests that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted.”
The city council meets at 6 p.m. on April 16 at city hall and the non-public session is scheduled for 6:04 p.m., with adjournment of the meeting for 8 p.m. and nothing else on the agenda.
