HADLEY — The Select Board extended Town Administrator David Nixon’s contract at its Jan. 4 meeting — but the vote was not unanimous.
By a 3-1 vote — with one abstention, from board member John C. Waskiewicz, who works for the town — Nixon will be the town administrator until at least June 30, 2020, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
According to a copy of the three-year contract extension, starting July 1, Nixon will earn $91,940 per year, with annual pay raises scheduled into July 1, 2019, when he’ll earn $95,655 per year.
Nixon, who has been in the job for 12 years, now earns $90,137 a year, he told the Gazette in November when the five-member board reviewed his performance.
At the time, members Donald C. Pipczynski and Waskiewicz raised questions about the town’s need to rely on free cash to reach a balanced budget.
Pipczynski also raised concerns about what he perceived as Nixon’s heavy-handed approach to running town government. On Monday, Pipczynski said his concerns about the budget were the main reason he voted against Nixon’s extension.
“It’s getting to a point where it’s costing a lot of money for what we’re getting,” Pipczynski said, referring to Nixon’s scheduled raises but lack of a balanced budget. He said Nixon has done “OK” in other areas of town management, but said he shows favoritism to certain board members.
“A lot of times I ask for information and he never gets it back to me,” Pipczynski said.
Nixon said after his November performance review that he “strives” to be collaborative, but acknowledged “there’s always room for improvement.”
Board Chairwoman Molly A. Keegan said Monday she chose to support Nixon’s contract extension despite “open criticism” from some in the community.
She said Nixon has worked well with town departments and the community.
Keegan said the position is “a thankless job and we are asking one person to do far more than what is humanly possible if you expect everything to be done 100 percent of the time at the highest quality.”
On budget concerns, she said that while Nixon creates the budget framework, the budget process is a “team effort.”
“I don’t think adequate direction has been provided by the Select Board in the past,” she said.
As the Select Board prepares to review a preliminary budget framework at its Jan. 25 meeting, Keegan said she expects a balanced budget proposal — one that could include some painful recommendations from the town administrator.
“In order to do so it may involve some unpleasant or controversial spending cuts,” Keegan said of a balanced budget for fiscal year 2018.
The Select Board and town finance committee will continue to work out specifics before a vote later this year. The annual town meeting, in May, is when residents will get to weigh in on the budget.
Contact Jack Suntrup at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.