Town Manager Gets High Marks In Review

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Town Manager Bill Keegan got high marks during his yearly evaluation at Tuesday's selectmen meeting.

Keegan was rated on a scale of one to four on various topics by the selectmen who sat on the board prior to the May election. Here’s how they rated the town manager:

• Leadership and staff effectiveness - 3.36
• Planning and organizing - 3.48
• Communication and community relations - 3.23
• Problem solving and innovation 3.45
• Budget and financial management - 3.53
• Customer service and quality of service - 3.35
• Personal and professional integrity - 3.5
• Cross departmental management - 3.6

In their review, one selectman wrote, “I’m very happy to work with Bill for the past four years on a myriad of issues, both positive for the town and some difficult issues we were able to contain and minimize the impact. Bill has taught me a lot about municipal government, we are lucky to have him.”

Another selectman wrote, “I think the town is being managed well and that Mr. Keegan is professional and forward thinking and affords the town and residents the time and respect due from a town manager. Over the past year on occasion, I have agreed and disagreed with some of the decisions made or methods of addressing a situation but Mr. Keegan has approached the topics with consistent professionalism.”

Keegan said the reviews and scores were fair, noting that his self-ratings were about a tenth of a point within the selectmen’s average.

“I never seek perfection because perfection is elusive. I do try to seek excellence. Excellence is something we work on every single day and I think that’s what I try to convey to the staff members and the community,” he said.

The town manager cited the opening of the new town hall, the town wide electricity aggregation program, the Elm Street and landfill solar programs, obtaining the commuter rail pilot, work with the planning board and economic development committee, and improved communications with the Kraft Group as some of his accomplishments from the past year. He sees the Burrell School renovation, the hiring of a new fire chief, finding a new council on aging director, and starting the commuter rail pilot as some of his challengers for the upcoming year.

“I really appreciate the input from the board. I really do appreciate being here and I really welcome the opportunity to serve this community in the role I’m in,” Keegan said.

The selectmen’s individual reviews of Keegan are not publicly available. The board will discuss his salary at the June 12 meeting.

Image: File Photo