5 'Accountability' Town Meeting Articles Target Town Manager

ANDOVER, MA — Andover's 2022 Annual Town will feature five articles that their petitioners describe as "accountability warrant articles" aimed at the town manager, according to the draft warrant.

"It is with great pleasure that I share that the Andover Town Clerk has certified all five of our accountability warrant articles for the June Town Meeting," petitioner Mike Myers said. "We will no longer tolerate the unethical – self-dealing antics of the Town Manager."

The five articles are a mix of items aimed directly at town manager practices and transparency and interventions in ongoing debates in town. They are:

• 32: Employee participation in town manager performance review. This would require the Select Board to solicit feedback from every municipal employee as part of the annual town manager evaluation.
• 33: Ban on NDAs. This would ban all town government entities from requiring nondisclosure or non-disparagement clauses in employment and settlement agreements, except ones requested by the employee or student to protect the individual's identity.
• 34: Instructional Assistants Fund. This would create a fund with $500,000 annually from Free Cash for supplemental wages to Andover Public Schools instructional assistants.
• 35: Mental Health Fund. This would create a fund with $1 million annually from free cash for resources like "a mental health clinician, a substance abuse program coordinator, or a social care worker."
• 36: No-Bid Contracts Page. This would require the town manager to annually post details on all no-bid contracts on the town website.

The full draft warrant is available here.

"We are in the process of reviewing the articles that were submitted and will be prepared to respond at the appropriate time," Flanagan said in response to a request for comment.

Andover's 2022 annual town meeting is scheduled to take place in June.

The five warrant articles are part of an ongoing conflict between a group of residents and town officials, in part spurred by the firing of Youth Services Director Bill Fahey. Myers is part of the "Independent Andover Youth Strategy Council," a group set up by residents unhappy with Fahey's firing.

Myers has also filed an ethics complaint against Flanagan with the State Ethics Commission, alleging that he has engaged in self-dealing by having a personal relationship with the head of the Fusion Academy, which sued the School Committee, school department and multiple school officials in June 2021 over the committee's multiple rejections of its requests to open a private school in town.

Myers wrote in his complaint, "There is sufficient reason to believe that a reasonable person would conclude that the TM is improperly using his influence to favor the financial interests of his partner."

Flanagan filed an ethics disclosure when he learned the school was considering a lawsuit, saying he "has no role in this potential proceeding" but he would recuse himself if the town became involved. The decision to reject the proposed school was made by the School Committee.

"Due to requirements for confidentiality placed on the Commission by statute, I can neither confirm nor deny whether any complaint has been received or if any matter is under review," an Ethics Commission spokesman said.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.