Woes in Winchendon

Woes in Winchendon
We wouldn't normally comment on what's happening in Winchendon Town Hall, but the events unfolding there in recent days offer an almost textbook lesson in how not to conduct local government.

A majority of the five-member Board of Selectmen is at odds with Town Manager James M. Kreidler Jr. over the latter's financial management and a recent audit. Unknown to selectmen, what had appeared to be a relatively stable financial picture is actually a portrait of a town in debt, with estimates from the state Department of Revenue of from $3 million to $5 million worth of red ink.

Mr. Kreidler disagrees, putting the estimated deficit for the current fiscal year at about $2.3 million.

But the size of the debt matters much less than the lack of communication, confidence and trust between selectmen and their manager.


All towns go through financial problems, and sometimes those problems become crises. Winchendon's budget, apparently in the black, turns out to have been in the red for some time, and getting worse. The trouble is, no one in charge seems to have noticed, starting with the one man whose job it is to notice such things — Mr. Kreidler.

That led to last Monday's 3-2 vote by selectmen to ask Mr. Kreidler to resign.

Town governance in New England is pretty clear: Managers report to selectmen, and they answer to the people, both at Town Meeting and in annual elections. Lacking the support of a majority of his bosses, Mr. Kreidler has little room to maneuver.

But in Winchendon, four of the five voters are needed to force him to step down, which he last week refused to do.

Following the vote, selectmen continued to raise the pressure, complaining that they did not receive copies of an audit in a timely fashion. Mr. Kriedler's excuse — it was a "work in progress" — is without merit. He appears to have forgotten that he works for selectmen, and not the other way around.

On Thursday, members of the Winchendon School Committee voted no confidence in the manager, adding their voices to those calling for his resignation.

There are many details and nuances at work in Winchendon's budget woes, and we're sure there's plenty of blame to go around. But when managers fail to manage and lose the confidence of their employers, there is only one answer that can set a community on the road to recovery.

Just as happens with struggling baseball teams, you can't fire all the players.