NORTHAMPTON — The Hampshire Council of Governments is scheduled to vote on a new contract for Executive Director Todd Ford on Thursday amid concerns about the agency’s direction and financial pressure.
The vote comes after the council’s Executive Committee convened three times since Dec. 15 in closed session to negotiate Ford’s salary, review his performance and discuss the organization’s finances.
Council records show Ford currently makes an annual salary of $115,000, and Executive Assistant Lydia King said Wednesday he received an additional bonus of $25,000 last year.
Ford’s leadership came under fire in October when Belchertown leaders penned a fiery letter, ringing the alarm over what they say are high turnover rates within the organization and a lack of accountability for money and time wasted in the failed program.
“That certainly caught our attention here in Hadley,” said Molly Keegan, who chairs the Hadley Select Board.
Since Hadley is a member-town, she said it’s a time to pay close attention to the council.
“From a management standpoint I would be very concerned with a concentration of risk — the revenues they’re earning are highly depended on this electricity program,” she said. “It’s certainly a time when questions need to be asked.”
A leader of another major member-town, South Hadley, is also uncertain of where the council is heading.
“I think there’s a lot of contributing factors to the Hampshire Council of Governments having a hard time finding its way,” said South Hadley Town Administrator Mike Sullivan, adding he would like to see the body shift its priorities and take a step back from energy programs. “We’re hoping that they can survive this.”
The council was dealt a blow in the fall of 2015 when the state’s Department of Public Utilities shot down a municipal aggregation program, prepared under Ford’s direction, in an unprecedented decision. The DPU called responses by the council to the agency’s questions “inconsistent, confusing, or non-responsive,” according to the September 2015 ruling.
The Executive Committee meets at 5 p.m. to finalize negoations, and the full council meets at 7 p.m. Both meetings are in the council’s headquarters in the Hampshire County Courthouse, 99 Main St.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.