Selectmen Identify 6 Goals for Town Manager

Sometime in late November or early December, will receive his first report card on how well his work as Town Manager meets the expectations of the Framingham Board of Selectman.

Selectmen agreed to six short-term goals for the Town Manager that Halpin put forward at Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Selectmen will review Halpin’s work on the six goals and his performance will be evaluated.

The six goals address contentious revenue issues; a vacancy in a key administration function; revitalization of downtown; and a new look at development within the town.

The goals as presented were not prioritized and Halpin and Selectmen indicated that work was progressing on all the goals simultaneously.

The six goals:

• Present the results of the independent review of the Town’s tax valuation and assessment practices. Additionally, a management and action plan will be established to implement the findings and recommendations of the independent review.
• Hire a human resources director and take immediate steps to improve the town’s human resources/personnel management capabilities.
• Implement a performance based energy services contract (ESCO) with acceptable returns on investment.
• Support further progress with Framingham’s Main Streets program.
• Work with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to expedite the scheduling of a design hearing on the traffic improvements and streetscape projects for downtown Framingham.
• Develop a team to explore ways three areas of the town might be rezoned to encourage development. The team would include the and staff and follow the town’s master plan.

The six goals were extracted from a longer list of goals and objectives that the Selectmen prepared earlier this summer. Each Selectman was asked to prioritize what they believed to be the most pressing issues confronting the town and those lists were aggregated into a comprehensive list of goals that will give direction to the board and the town manager.

Halpin and Selectmen Chair Charlie Sisitsky worked together in formalizing the six goals and their collaborative work was praised by the two other Selectmen present at Tuesday night's meeting - Jason Smith and Laurie Lee. Selectmen Dennis Giombetti and Ginger Esty did not attend last night's meeting.