Atkinson Town Hall

Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson

There is a NEW POLL at Right--------------------->

Don't forget to VOTE!
Make your voice heard!

Welcome Message and Mission Statement

Welcome to the NEW Atkinson Reporter! Under new management, with new resolve.

The purpose of this Blog is to pick up where the Atkinson Reporter has left off. "The King is dead, Long live the King!" This Blog is a forum for the discussion of predominantly Atkinson; Officials, People, Ideas, and Events. You may give opinion, fact, or evaluation, but ad hominem personal attacks will not be tolerated, or published. The conversation begun on the Atkinson Reporter MUST be continued!

This Blog will not fall to outside hacks from anyone, especially insecure public officials afraid of their constituents criticism.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Atkinson loses another town administrator

From the eagle tribune;

Atkinson loses another town administrator
By Eric Parry
eparry@eagletribune.com

ATKINSON, N.H. — Less than five months after he was hired, Steven Angelo has resigned as Atkinson's town administrator. Yesterday was his last day.

He told the selectmen Wednesday night in a nonpublic session and an agreement was signed, according to Selectman Fred Childs.

Angelo, of East Falmouth, Mass., had intended to move to the area, but he said he had difficulty selling his home and a death in the family prompted him to spend more time with his family. He had been staying with his brother in Atkinson during the week and commuted back to Cape Cod on the weekend, Angelo said.

"When a man has a young son, a 10-year-old, you really want to live with your family," he said.

Angelo's departure leaves Atkinson without a town administrator for the third time in a year.

The town lost former administrator Russell McAllister in February, when he left to work as a government adviser in Iraq. In April, the board hired Craig Kleman on an interim basis, but he left in mid-July to take a similar job in Plaistow.

Angelo was hired on Sept. 15, according to selectmen's Chairman Paul Sullivan.

Angelo said yesterday he enjoyed working with town employees and residents. He said he had been thinking of resigning from his post for several weeks.

"I grew very close to the residents during the ice storm," Angelo said.

He characterized Selectman Bill Friel as "knowledgeable and hardworking," and Childs as having "an enormous institutional memory" of the town.

Angelo said Sullivan was "interesting in his own way" and refused to comment further on that relationship.

Sullivan's term as a selectman expires in March and so far no one has filed to run for that seat, according to Town Clerk Rose Cavalear.

Childs said the town would hire a temporary secretary until after the deliberative session, at which time they would start looking for an interim administrator.electmen's secretary Barbara Snicer is well experienced in the town's government and will be able to help the selectmen prepare for the March elections and Town Meeting, Sullivan said.

Prior to working for Atkinson, Angelo was a state representative in Massachusetts for 20 years. He also worked as the town manager in a Connecticut town and in Saugus, Mass.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

If he thought Paul Sullivan, the only selectman with the stones to challenge Consentino and the only one even moderately responsive to public demands for reform, wasn't the strongest selectman, good riddance to him!

Besides, after his ethical "issues" in Saugus, and after learning that he was a Massachusetts Rep for 20 years, I'm worried about what would have happened if he had stayed longer...

Fishgutz said...

House selling is an "out" for him. I sold my house is 4 days last October. Before the FOR SALE the realtor ordered got put out. Houses still sell as long as the seller isn't asking what they would 2 or 3 years ago.
Maybe he saw what counts for "ethics" in Atkinson and decided he learned his lesson from previous "errors of judgment."
I cast my vote for Mark Acciard for Town Administrator. He knows where the bodies are buried. He knows how to say NO to the chief.

Anonymous said...

I would like to see Mark Acciard run for selectman.

Anonymous said...

I would vote for MR. Acciard for either selectman or town administrator. He has shown that he would do those jobs right, and be answerable to the people.

Besides, Judging form his performance on budget, he would not try to spend $56,000 for a $4,000 generator.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps any candidate for Atkinson town administer considers it as it looks good on paper and the salary is quite high. But then they gain practical experience with the dysfunctional BOS and witness the videos of poor official judgment and definite future legal difficulties, they reconsider their future. Acciard would take that job? That is humorous! Maybe the prime qualifications for a town administer in Atkinson are a total lack of self respect combined with poor eyesight.

Anonymous said...

Good job Paul for running the new administrator out of town. We don't need administrators to run this little town. We need Mark to take control. I hope he puts his name in the running. Paul has the stones to make it happen if he makes it to the town hall since he's been very busy lately.

Anonymous said...

You are right, we don't need a town administrator. This is one of those high paid Cinderella jobs with all the perks. The only thing missing is a free paid police car to drive home.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of taking Police cars home. I drove by the station saturday afternoon and there only 3 cars parked along the fence.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I love the posted signs for the Atkinson Reporter. Hopefully some shmoe does not take them down.

Anonymous said...

what you mean is STEAL the signs, like I hear Jack and Phill did two years ago!

Anonymous said...

I'd like to put 4'x8' signs in my truck bed advertising for people to check this site out. I bet I don't get half way down main st before I am stopped.
Someday I will grow some you know whats and do the right thing.

Anonymous said...

It would be nice if our new administrator had some experience in the work of the Selectmen...knew the laws, say. A little time working on the Budget would be good, too. Familiarity with the money, knowledge of the work of the department heads, etc. And someone who knows the town and the people.

Hey wait a minute! I know someone@
I know of a person who spent several years on a Budget Committee. Also time on the Recreaton Committee, and was largely responsible for getting federal money for Woodlock Park.
Also served as a Selectman; was helpful in establishing I think the first cable contract a long time ago.

That "someone", now sits in the Selectmen's Office every day. She's Barbara Snicer, and shes more qualified than any other person I know. She's been there for a few years now, and knows the office routine.

She's also a perfectionist...annoying sometimes, but good for the town.

Moreover, you could lower the salary; I don't think she'd care.

Anonymous said...

I disagree. I don't think Barbara Snicer is a good candidate for several reasons. She spreads gossip and ill will about people she dislikes to anyone who is listening. She claims that Leon Artis is charging people for assistance with their tax cards when he wasn't. She claims Paul is lousy and that Fred is great. She does not like change even when something isn't working. She wants things to stay the same at Town Hall and she has said that she is not interested in that job.

She also has a personal history with the Chief and they go way back. Any ""friend"" of his would be a very bad choice for the town.

Anonymous said...

We need new people in town to step up and serve. Its quite clear that a number of those in town leadership positions need to get into the 21st century and learn new skills and be more progressive. We just cant maintain the status quote. We need new, progressive thinkers that will bring dramatic changes to this town.

Anonymous said...

I would like to see Leon put his name in the race. He has done so much for this town that I feel the town is ripe for some new fruit to
be picked from the tree. The old fruit is rotting in the closet. Leon , Leon , Leon!

Anonymous said...

I understand Bill Bennett has signed up for the Selectman's seat. A former police officer who constantly stands in support of anything the Chief wants support on. That'll be great, won't it?

Anonymous said...

I think a big reason why there aren't more people interested in holding office is a simple function of the time involved. I watch the selectman's meetings, and I could never get together and do a site visit or some such thing at 10:00am on a Tuesday. I work in Boston. Most people in Atkinson work out of town. It seems to be that you would have to work locally and have a very flexible schedule (or be retired) to even consider running for a selectman's seat. It's too bad, because that eliminates a lot of qualified people.

Anonymous said...

Actually, Bill Bennett is a retired engineer with a degree from MIT. He has contributed a great deal to the water fight. Go to the Water Forum and read his testimony before the PUC.

If Bill has indeed decided to run, I can think a good number of people who would genuinely fear his taking office. He's smart, articulate, and "gets it".

You don't need to take my word on this. You'll be able to judge for yourself.

Anonymous said...

If Bennett is an ally of the Chief, I will not vote for him under any circumstances. I saw that he helped with the water issues but the biggest problem facing this town now, and for the past two decades, has been the controlling, abusive, and vindictive attitude of the Chief. He has dragged this town thru the mud and I will not support anyone he's in bed with.

Anonymous said...

Oh, go crawl under a rock. You can't have it both ways. So what if he's the Chiefs buddy? I'm sure he'll do whats right just like his stance on the enviroment concerning water issues. Maybe Carol can shed light on his character.

Anonymous said...

Bill Bennet is a commiitted environmentalist. Very good on the water issues.

Unfortunately he also thinks phil walks on water. And Phil called him and asked him to run.

Anonymous said...

Hail to the Chief!

Anonymous said...

Are the signs disappearing again?

Anonymous said...

If Bill is running, this is a tough one. I watched him at the special town meeting. Read his testimony. I've been most impressed.

But supporting the chief! Well, maybe things will work out so that we won't have the chief to kick around anymore and it will be a non-issue.

I think if this one issue can be resolved, Bill would be an excellent candidate. Anyone who runs for office and is not in the pocket of Lewis Enterprises deserves a hearing.

Let's not pass judgment just yet. Let things shake out a little.

Anonymous said...

"January 27, 2009 12:11 PM"

All that I would ask is that you take a longer term view. Phil will not be around forever, and we can hope it will be sooner than later.

However, abuse of our water resources could have extremely serious consequences for all of us down the road if it is not stopped.

Bill, along with Carol Grant and John Wolthers, have been the point people in the citizens attempts to wrest control of our water from HAWC and the DES. And, I believe their efforts are beginning to show results.

I do not agree with Bill on all his views, but I do respect his intelligence, commitment to the town, and his integrity.

I've seen him in action. We could certainly do much, much worse. We've all seen how BOS's in the recent past and the current BOS bungled the job. Bill can help steer back onto the right course.

Finally, I'm not writing this on the Chief's behalf, or anybody else's. These are my views, and mine alone.

Anonymous said...

The Chief has to ousted this year. We can not afford him any longer. He is the BIGGEST PROBLEM CHILD in town. With him gone, we will have an easier time with ALL the other important issues that need to be corrected.