Special TM voters to decide contract of town manager

Special TM voters to decide contract of town manager
Lawsuit looms as Toy Town plots course
Damien Fisher
News Staff Writer

 WINCHENDON - Voters will have the chance to release Town Manager James Kreidler from his three-year contract, and possibly avoid a costly lawsuit, at Monday’s special Town Meeting.

The meeting, set for 7 p.m. in the Murdock Middle High School auditorium, is being called to allow Mr. Kreidler to leave his job while keeping the town out of any potential lawsuit that could arise if he’s fired by a new majority of selectmen after the May annual elections.

Voters overwhelmingly approved a nonbinding article at the November special Town Meeting directing selectmen to fire Mr. Kreidler, even though the board supported the town manager. Mr. Kreidler has served for 14 years. With traction gaining for the effort to unseat the current board and replace it with candidates seeking Mr. Kreidler’s removal, the board acted to keep the town out of legal trouble.

The town’s labor and employment attorney, Marc Terry, told board members during a nonpublic meeting on March 18 that if Mr. Kreidler is fired by the new board majority it will be without cause. Mr. Terry has represented the town in labor and contract disputes for the past 18 years. Such an action to fire Mr. Kreidler would open up the town to legal damages that could cost voters more than $2 million, according to the meeting minutes released Monday night.

“This kind of litigation will rip the town apart,” Mr. Terry said.

The town is facing an unusual May election in which all five seats on the Board of Selectmen are on the ballot, making the prospect of a new board majority close to a reality. Selectmen Keith Barrows and Robert O’Keefe are not running for re-election, and the seat formerly held by C. Jackson Blair is also on the ballot after his resignation in October. The remaining selectmen, Elizabeth Hunt and Fedor Berndt, are subject to a recall election spearheaded by the group Stand Up for Toy Town. The group’s mission statement when it first formed was to have Mr. Kreidler fired for his handling of the town’s recent financial crisis.

The current Board of Selectmen is reacting to Mr. Terry’s advice that the town is likely to lose any lawsuit brought by Mr. Kreidler if he is terminated. The damages for such a lawsuit could run into the millions of dollars.

The case would initially go to arbitration, which would prohibit Winchendon from hiring a new town manager. During the arbitration, which could last up to two years, Toy Town would be required to pay Mr. Kreidler’s full salary, benefits and his attorney fees.

Instead, the board voted to enter into a separation and release agreement with Mr. Kreidler, paying him $299,000 for 18-months severance in exchange for him leaving his post on May 1. This would allow any potential new board majority to hire a new town manager and keep the town out of legal trouble.

Selectmen meet Monday night before the special Town Meeting for an executive session to discuss Mr. Kreidler’s contract.

Mr. Kreidler is being forced out over the town’s fiscal crises, despite the fact he has been found not at fault for the $3.4 million deficit. The town is now on the path to solvency with the help of a state loan and finance plan that Mr. Kreidler helped navigate. As part of the state loan package for the town, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue required that Mr. Kreidler be given authority to manage the town’s finance departments.