Town Admin: Windham is Not in 'Disarray'

Windham's town administrator said that the four-hour employee appeal hearing on Monday, the second in five months, is not a sign of disorder in the town.

"This is not a sign that Windham is in disarray," said Dave Sullivan, who added that he believes the town has very good employees and he is proud of them all. 

According to Sullivan, he spoke to the employee, Elizabeth Wood, and her supervisor, Laura Scott, the very next day.

"They both have moved on," he said. "Moved on and continued to work well for the town."

Sullivan said he has not received one phone call relative to the Monday hearing. 

He did say that he has spoken to Ross McLeod, the selectman who said at the end of Monday's hearing that he wanted to have an investigation of Scott and her managerial practices.

"It's just whether or not (Ross McLeod) is going to pursue anything," Sullivan said.

Selectmen voted 3-2 at the hearing to reduce Wood's suspension to a written reprimand. In late January, Wood had a one-day suspension upheld by a 3-2 board vote.

At the end of the second hearing, Wood asked for an end to what she called "harassment" by Scott. 

Sullivan broke down his typical investigation process, should one arise, for one of his employees. 

He said that anyone can send in a letter requesting or filing a complaint against an employee, but they have to use specifics.

"They would have to raise issues," Sullivan said. "They can't just simply say 'I don't like something.' They have to be specific in terms of what their concerns are."

Sullivan added that he would then talk to necessary witnesses, as well as the individual being complained about to get their side of the story.

He said that often, complaints don't even last past the duration of a single conversation with him.

"People come in here at times and have a concern about somebody and they walk out the door and we're done with the issue," Sullivan said.

The town has up to 20 days to take action on a formal complaint, which if the complaint is founded, can be suspension, verbal reprimand or written reprimand.

Sullivan said the deadline can be extended with the agreement of the employee.

Wood's decision to take both of her suspension appeal hearings public is uncommon for a town employee. While many disciplinary actions are levied in non-public, Sullivan said only a handful have gone public during his tenure.

"It doesn't happen often, usually if it gets to a level of suspension," he said.

Sullivan has been in the town of Windham for 24 years. Over the last decade, he said three or four appeals have been hashed out in the public forum.

"In generalities, there are times that employees feel that they have to go public only because they want to be heard and they are not afraid to speak in public," Sullivan said. "Clearly Elizabeth is not, and I give her credit for that."

He said he does not take the incident as an "overall reflection" of who Scott and Wood are.

"We've got over 120 employees and we have a pretty good history of people doing a good job, and I would say that Elizabeth and Laura overall do a good job," Sullivan said.