City Manager Tom Aspell will take a six-week sabbatical running through the end of August, halving his originally requested time off.
The Concord City Council approved this leave Monday night, alongside a generally positive performance review and a 2.5% raise – boosting his pay slightly more than the 2% councilors say he requested, bringing his compensation to more than $250,000 a year. Aspell, who has been city manager for two decades, said he plans to use the sabbatical to sketch out his retirement plans.
“This 2.5% increase was intended to express a little bit of probity relative to the pay increase, but also acknowledge the contribution that the city manager has made to the city,” Mayor Byron Champlin said. “He is a dedicated individual who has committed more than two decades of his life to the betterment of this city.”
Councilors broadly supported the leave, noting both that Aspell’s performance is deserving and that he has never taken this kind of break before, even though his standing contract entitles him to one every three years.
The abbreviation of the sabbatical, originally laid out as three months long, was an apparent response to notable city initiatives and projects ongoing this summer and fall – the conclusion of a citywide property revaluation that has taxpayers on edge, the beginning of the city’s master plan rewrite and the ongoing construction of a new police station and golf course clubhouse.
“I have full confidence in the staff that they can handle any issues that come up,” Aspell said. “And of course they know they can always contact me.”
From July 20 to August 31, Deputy City Manager for Finance Brian LeBrun will be acting manager, as he has done previously when Aspell was away from Concord or on vacation.
Aspell’s annual evaluation was punctuated on Monday following multiple non-public sessions over the preceding months. At the conclusion of this review, the council votes whether his performance has been “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.”
In a speech, Ward 3 councilor Jennifer Kretovic framed this determination not as a discussion about whether every councilor agreed with every decision made by city leaders over the past year, but about, “whether the manager competently, ethically, and professionally fulfilled the duties entrusted to him under our charter.”
Kretovic and others also underscored the responsibility of the council, rather than the manager, for many of the city’s biggest decisions, including setting spending, policy and greenlighting projects.
“Many of the concerns expressed publicly over the past year, and more heatedly during our last several months, involve policy choices made by this council,” she said. “It would not be appropriate to evaluate the manager negatively for faithfully implementing the policies, budgets, and directives approved by the governing body.”
Only Ward 5 Councilor Stacey Brown voted against the sabbatical and the “satisfactory” evaluation. Talk about Aspell’s pay proved more divisive, with four councilors – Brown, Michele Horne of Ward 2, Aislinn Kalob of Ward 6 and Kris Schultz of Ward 9 – voting against it.
“It’s not personal,” Schultz said. “It’s actually in some ways harder to vote my conscience on this because I actually know the city manager and like him and respect his work.”
Schultz, Horne and Kalob backed the minimum 2% raise allowed under Aspell’s contract.
Each described how they couldn’t support a larger raise on top of the manager’s overall compensation, given typical wages in Concord as a whole and within city government. Unlike employees in many city departments – the manager’s contract has no pay cap.
“This does not feel like the year to be tacking on more,” Kalob said, though she underlined Kretovic’s point that it is the council, not the manager, with final authority over many of the decisions that have proved most controversial. “I do think there is some anger out there that should be placed more directly with us.”
Brown pushed for the manager to get no raise. Given that Aspell got a positive review, this would violate his contract, which sets a 2%-5% range. Last year, the council awarded him 3%.
Kretovic, who chairs the manager’s review and rules committees, spoke at length about the governing culture on the the council, its relationship with the manager and an erosion of mutual respect and trust.
Without naming the Ward 5 councilor, Kretovic’s comments were a clear allusion to repeated unsupported claims by Brown about financial malfeasance by the manager’s office and her general discord with many senior city staff.
“Businesses considering investing in Concord are watching how we govern ourselves. The tone we set at this table speaks loudly as the policies we adopt,” Kretovic said. “When council discussion and public commentary become focused on questioning the motives, professionalism, and integrity of city employees rather than addressing policy issues, it damages morale across the organization.”
Kretovic went on to note that the rules committee is working on a council code of conduct.
In the meantime, she put a call to action to her fellow councilors.
“We can disagree on policy without creating division. We can ask difficult questions without attacking one’s character, and we can hold our employees accountable without making them targets,” Kretovic said.
Kretovic’s remarks and the group’s discussion regarding Aspell’s performance, compensation and sabbatical and about the culture on the council can be viewed in the video below.
At-large Fred Keach, who has also sparred with Brown, gave a conciliatory tone to the meeting’s conclusion.
“Sometimes things around this table get a little contentious,” Keach said. “I really do believe, at the end of the day, we’re all here because we want to make a difference and we want what’s best for the community.”
