ORANGE — The Board of Selectmen on Wednesday balked at former town administrator Richard Kwiatkowski’s request for an exit agreement amendment to allow him to serve the town as a volunteer on appointed boards and committees.
Scheduled to be held behind closed doors, the discussion occurred in open session at former administrator Richard Kwiatkowski’s request, opening up what had been a murky disagreement between Kwiatkowski and Selectman Richard Sheridan as the two competed for a seat on the Board of Selectmen this spring.
Kwiatkowski served as town administrator from 2001 to late 2011, when he took a medical leave and didn’t return, officially retiring in May 2012.
Sheridan served nine years on the Board of Selectmen, leaving at the expiration of his last term in 2013.
The two faced off this spring for an open seat on the Board of Selectmen, with Sheridan winning by a narrow margin. Sheridan maintained during his campaign that the terms of Kwiatkowski’s departure from town employment precluded him from seeking any office with the town, an understanding he upheld Wednesday.
Long-time town attorney Donna MacNicol said that Kwiatkowski’s right to vote and to seek elected office are constitutionally protected, but it was her understanding at the time that the agreement barred him from appointed positions.
Kwiatkowski said he did not realize that at the time, but was now requesting an amendment to allow him to serve, with any appointments to be at the pleasure of the appointing authorities. The Board of Selectmen and the moderator split most appointment duties.
Kwiatkowski said he left because it became clear that he had lost the confidence of the Board of Selectmen over the town’s financial collapse, for which he said he was not responsible, and was sick. He said he has since heard rumors that he embezzled or was led away in handcuffs, part of his reason for coming to the Selectmen.
“I wanted to clear the air and keep my reputation,” Kwiatkowski said.
MacNicol objected to some of Sheridan’s characterizations and at one point stated for the record that there was no malfeasance involved.
“Smooth exits are common and contracts make that happen,” MacNicol said.
Sheridan said the choice had between a vote to fire Kwiatkowski and the exit agreement MacNicol suggested. Current and former selectmen alluded to missing minutes and the agreement was not read. From the discussion, the agreement extended Kwiatkowski’s permitted medical leave several months and paid him a small fraction of his salary, spared him a vote to terminate or continue his contract, protected the town from lawsuit and barred him from future employment.
As MacNicol, Kwiatkowski and Chairwoman Kathy Reinig presented it, the definitive fracture between the executive board and their chief administrator dated to the 2011 annual town meeting.
At that meeting, Kwiatkowski presented a new version of the town budget temporarily sacrificing his salary to pay town employees who had agreed to a furlough and were now, by vote of the selectmen, to be denied the time off in favor of a straight pay cut. While he intended a change at the next town meeting, Kwiatkowski’s pay cut to the tune of $55,000 became a permanent loss.
Kwiatkowski and Sheridan disagreed as to whether board heads had seen the new budget before the meeting. Then-chairman Bob Andrews upheld Sheridan’s view that he had not.
Selectman Walter Herk, the sole member not on the board at that time, thanked Kwiatkowski for clearing the air of rumors that resurfaced during the election, but said he was not comfortable giving him carte blanche to seek any appointment from any appointing authority because he was not privy to closed discussions at the time. Kwiatkowski offered that he would seek appointment to the Human Resources Board and the Finance Committee. Herk said the Finance Committee was among the appointments he would not be comfortable with. Reinig said a motion could limit Kwiatkowski’s scope to appointments made by the Board of Selectmen, keeping authority for specific later decisions with the board. No motion was forthcoming from Herk or Sheridan.
Kwiatkowski left the table and returned in the public comment portion of the regular agenda to request a town meeting vote to reverse an old decision made to allow Sheridan to serve on the Economic Development and Industrial Corp., a municipal property proxy authority, and the Planning Board.
“I feel a resident should only be dictating to one board … it creates too much power for that individual,” Kwiatkowski said.
You can reach Chris Curtis at: ccurtis@recorder.com