New Town Manager Looks to Improve Internal Communication

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously last week to name Assistant Town Manager and Finance Director Robert LeLacheur the new town manager. LeLacheur will take over for Peter Hechenbleikner, Reading’s first and only town manager, who will retire on June 1 after 26 years in the position.

LeLacheur graduated from Colgate University in 1980 with a degree in Mathematical Economics. After graduation, he worked for a computer company completing projects for Wall Street firms. One of the firms liked his work and ended up hiring him directly. 

He spent six years on Wall Street working in investment banks, primarily doing quantitative municipal bond research.

"I suppose that part is interesting since now I'm in the other side of municipal finance, but that was my introduction to this from a very different perspective," LeLacheur said. 

He then went to Babson and got his MBA in 1991. After graduating, he began working for a money management firm called Merganser in Cambridge. He used his experience analyzing bonds and actually did the work managing money, he said. He spent about 12 or 13 years there. It was a lot of fun, he said with a smile.

"Anything could happen in the financial markets, and it usually did," he explained.

He ended up moving to Reading and volunteered for the Finance Committee. He was on the Finance Committee for about nine years when he heard that the town's Finance Director and Treasurer/Collector Beth Klepheis was leaving. He wanted to work closer to home, given that he had two young daughters. He spoke to Hechenbleikner about the job opening and the town manager thought he would be a good fit for the position.

So LeLacheur ended up taking on half of Klepheis' job and another town employee took the other half, he said. He was also given the new assistant town manager title. With his Finance Committee experience and seven years as assistant town manager and finance director, he has about 15 years experience with the town's finances, he explained.

He enjoys working with the town employees who are very capable, he said. The town is "very well run under Pete's watch," he said and therefore will not be making any drastic changes when he takes over.

He sat down with Hechenbleikner Thursday talk about the transition. There are a lot of areas where they overlap, but some where they don't, he said. So he'll have a lot to learn, he told Patch. 

In June he plans to sit down with town employees and ask them, "What do they think? Do things need to change? Are they being run well?"

With the transition and two new selectmen, "It's a good time for the whole organization to take a giant step back and really think about when the charter was set up 25 years ago the world was pretty different. It's running very well, there's no question, but are we in a good position for the next 25 years? I think the community needs to have that discussion and I don't pretend to know the answer to that, other than, again, it's gone pretty well so far," he said.

He is interested in knowing what the residents, business owners, employees and selectmen think need to change.

A big challenge for the town is communication, he said. Because the town is involved in so many things with so few employees, communication can be difficult, he said. He would like to improve both the internal and external communication.

People don't understand how thinly staffed the town is, so when one person is not there, it is a challenge, he explained.

He would also like to replace the assistant town manager at some point. He would like to hire someone who has a complimentary skill set to his, as Hechenbleikner did, he said. It certainly won't be filled on June 1, he told Patch.

One of the objectives he will have is to get the boards and committees to work more closely together. Whether they have some joint meetings or at least some common understanding, he thinks that will be helpful.

"He has accomplished a great deal working with other town staff and boards, committees and commissions. His knowledge of financing has allowed him to creatively refinance some key pieces of debt for the town, saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars," Hechenbleikner said of LeLacheur. "He has restructured our budget process, making it even more transparent and easier to understand. He has spearheaded major improvement in technology, and has been a key player in the town’s various regionalization efforts."

Hechenbleikner went on to say that LeLacheur is "well respected by town employees and the rest of the management team."

"As town manager, I rely on him greatly not only for financial matters, but as the key assistant to this town government. Bob has enhanced Reading’s reputation for great local government, and under his watch the town’s financial picture has improved significantly," Hechenbleikner said.

He was prohibited from participating in the process of choosing a new town manager, but is "delighted that Bob will succeed me," the current town manager said.

"He has a good grasp on much of the operations and history of things, but will develop his own vision and agenda and style of managing the town. I know that he will do a superb job. I congratulate Bob on his selection, and congratulate the citizens of the Town of Reading who will have such a good steward of their local government," Hechenbleikner told Patch.

LeLacheur still lives in town with his wife of 23 years, Diana, who is also active in town, and his two daughters Margaret, 19, and Emily, 16. 

He is a Boston sports fan and still enjoying the Red Sox world series win.

He is honored to be taking over as town manager in a few months, but "it hasn't quite hit me yet," he said.

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