5 THINGS TO KNOW IN WILMINGTON: Police Union Gets New Contract; Town Finance Director Leaving; Candidates For Town Manager Search Interviewed

WILMINGTON, MA — Below are five things Wilmington residents should know for Tuesday, February 13, 2024:

Town Manager Screening Committee Completes Interviews Of Candidates

• The Wilmington Town Manager Screening Committee recently interviewed multiple candidates for its open Town Manager position.
• The interviews took place on the morning of Friday, February 9, 2024 and afternoon & evening of Monday, February 12, 2024.
• The interviews were conducted in the Conference Room at the Wilmington Public Safety Building.
• These interviews took place behind closed doors in “Executive Session” to protect the identities of the candidates.
• It is not yet known how many interviews were conducted, but the town’s search consultants had previously indicated six to eight interviews were likely.
• In a recent memo to the Select Board, Screening Committee Chair Rob Peterson indicated he was happy with both the quantity of candidates and the quality of some of the candidates.
• The Screening Committee is soon expected to recommend 3-4 finalists to the Select Board, at which time those candidates’ identities will be made public.
• The Select Board are then expected to vet the finalists further, including a round of public interviews, before ultimately selecting Wilmington’s next Town Manager, pending successful contract negotiations.

Wilmington Finance Director/Town Accountant Bryan Perry Set To Depart

• A key leader at Wilmington Town Hall — Finance Director & Town Accountant Bryan Perry — appears to be leaving his position.
• Perry’s job was posted on the town’s website, the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s website, and the Massachusetts Municipal Auditor’s Association’s website last week.
• Perry did not respond to a request for comment. The Select Board did not address his departure at its meeting on February 12, 2024, nor did the Finance Committee at its meetings on February 6, 2024 or February 8, 2024.
• The Select Board are responsible for the direct hiring of only three positions in town government: the Town Manager, the Town Counsel, and the Finance Director/Town Accountant.
• When longtime Town Accountant Mike Morris retired in 2019, the Select Board established a 10-week process and timeline for the recruitment and hiring of his replacement. It is unclear if the Select Board will follow a similar process to replace Perry and/or if they will want the input of a new Town Manager before filling such an important position. The process the Board used to hire Perry in 2019 is outlined HERE. 
• Perry previously served as Lowell’s City Auditor, before arriving in Wilmington in June 2019. During his 4.5 years serving the community, Perry appeared to be held in high regard by his Town Hall colleagues and members of the Select Board and Finance Committee.
• Temporary Town Manager Lou Cimaglia singled out Perry for praise during the Town’s Annual Budget Presentation on January 29, 2024. “I cannot express my gratitude for all the help from Bryan Perry… Bryan has been an amazing asset to me during this budget process… Bryan is a true gentlemen and I want to publicly thank him.”

Select Board & Police Union Come To Terms On New Contract & Other Votes From February 12 Meeting

• Don’t blink! The Wilmington Select Board met for just 17 minutes on Monday, February 12, 2024, likely one of the board’s shortest regular meetings ever.
• The Select Board did, however, take some votes which residents will be interested in:
  • The Select Board unanimously agreed to a new 3-year collective bargaining agreement with the Patrolmen’s Union, to run from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025. The Union had been working without a contract for nearly 2 years. Members received cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increases of 2.25% in Year #1, 3.5% in Year #2; and 4.25% in Year #3.  The full contract can be read HERE.
  • SAVE THE DATE! The Select Board approved the request of We’re One Wilmington’s Junior Chapter to hold the Town’s Annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 30, 2024 at 2pm on the Town Common.
  • SAVE THE DATES! The Select Board approved the request of the Town Recreation Department to hold its Annual Concerts on the Common Series on Wednesday nights in July — July 10, July 17, July 24 and July 31, with rain dates on Thursday nights.
  • The Select Board signed the warrant for the Presidential Primary taking place on March 5, 2024.
  • The Select Board adopted the recommendation of the Town Engineer and Planning & Conservation Director regarding the layout of Green Meadow Drive, which residents will be asked to consider as an accepted way at the Annual Town Meeting on Saturday, May 4, 2024.
• “I wish all our meetings were this quick,” joked Selectman Kevin Caira.

A Dog With A Bone: Selectman Frank West Wants Executive Board Minutes Regarding Temporary Town Manager Search To Be Released 

• For at least the third time publicly, Selectman Frank West has asked Chair Gary DePalma about missing meeting minutes. The request was made again at last night’s Select Board Meeting.
• While West noted all minutes from recent Select Board Meetings have been approved, there are minutes from older meetings that have yet to be reviewed and voted upon by the Board. “Is there a way to get a list of what is due and when we think they’ll be done?,” West asked.
• Chair DePalma responded that he’ll discuss the issue with the Town Manager and “see what we can do about getting those.”
• Prior to Monday night, West last raised the issue at a Select Board Meeting in November.
• At the November 27, 2023 meeting, West asked for an update on the minutes from the Executive Session meetings held during the Temporary Town Manager Search, specifically the meetings involving contract negotiations between the Selectmen’s Contract Negotiation Team (Kevin Caira and Lil Masseli) and the Temporary Town Manager selections, which was initially George Hooper, and then ultimately Lou Cimaglia. West noted Executive Session Minutes should have been released once negotiations were completed and the search was concluded.
• This brought a sharp rebuke from Selectman Caira. “I think Mr. West brought this up at the last meeting, and I’m sure if you don’t get the minutes to him by the next meeting, he’ll ask again, and again, and again, and keep calling it out. We just received minutes from 2020 and 2021. The minutes will be done and in your hands as soon as possible.” (You can watch the exchange HERE, as it needs to be heard to be fully appreciated.)
• The release of meeting minutes may sound like a mundane issue, but there may be a reason West would like the public to be able to read the minutes.
• West was the sole Select Board member who voted in favor of current Assistant Town Manager Susan Inman to fill the Temporary Town Manager position. The night of Cimaglia’s appointment, West argued “the selection process hasn’t made any sense” and votes were being taken based on “knowledge we perceive to have,” rather than interviews. West pointed out that the Board asked Inman to submit a letter of interest, then “ignored” her letter and asked the Town Manager Screening Committee if they wanted to make recommendations for the Temporary Town Manager role which (they declined), then invited all department heads to submit letters of interest, then selected a department head that eventually declined the role, then selected a department head who did not originally express interest in the position. West said he “vehemently disagreed” with the process. West said he talked to many department heads who felt Inman was capable to serve as Temporary Town Manager. West felt Inman was the most qualified of the four candidates under consideration, and pointed out that she had previously been an Assistant Town Manager in Boxford, and had already been with Wilmington as Assistant Town Manager for 18-20 months.
• The Select Board has never publicly addressed why Hooper withdrew his name from consideration once contract negotiations began. In fact, at the time, the news even caught Selectman Greg Bendel off guard, who noted he was unaware of Hooper’s decision until he received a meeting agenda which indicated such, and was never notified by the Chair of this major development. While old news at this point, it’s possible the meeting minutes would shed some light as to why Hooper changed his mind and declined the role. Some questions and concerns surrounding Inman’s treatment by the Select Board during the search for the Temporary Town Manager also remain unexplained to date.

Selectman Gary DePalma Wants Answers From MBTA Regarding Promised New Platform At North Wilmington Commuter Rail Station

• Select Board Chair Gary DePalma is not happy with the pace at which the MBTA is constructing a new platform for the North Wilmington Commuter Rail station.
• “I would like to invite the MBTA to come before us. It’s been quite awhile since they advised us they’d be building a new train platform in North Wilmington. Since we’ve heard about it, nothing has been done,” DePalma told his colleagues at Monday night’s Board Meeting. “I think it’s time that we invite someone in here to learn what’s going on with it and when they’re prepared to start the project…. Let’s get some answers from them.”
• Selectman Frank West, who serves as the town’s representative to the MBTA Advisory Board, noted he has reached out to the Board’s Chair with emails and voicemails, but has heard nothing back. He agreed with DePalma that a formal letter inviting an MBTA representative to a future Select Board meeting would be in order.
• Per the suggestion of Selectman Kevin Caira, DePalma will reach back out to Wilmington’s state delegation — State Senator Barry Finegold and State Rep. Dave Robertson — to see if they have any answers.
• Wilmington’s former State Senator Bruce Tarr secured $1 million (plus a subsequent $180,000) in state funding for the project back in 2018. The driving impetus for the new platform was public safety concerns voiced by then Police Chief Mike Begonis and then Fire Chief Joe McMahon. Trains stopped at the crossing were frequently blocking Route 62, delaying emergency vehicle response time.
• Initially, work on a new platform was expected to begin in 2020.
• In 2021, the MBTA announced it, too, had received a $1 federal million grant to build a new platform.
• On Friday, January 21, 2022, Wilmington resident Roberta Sausville was killed when a commuter rail train collided with her car on the tracks at the North Wilmington station after the crossing gates failed to activate. The tragedy brought further scrutiny to the safety surrounding the North Wilmington station.
• It appears the last substantive discussion the Select Board had about the proposed new platform was back in November 2022, when the Executive Director of the MBTA Commuter Rail announced the Federal Transit Authority had finally approved the MBTA’s proposal to build a new platform. “I know this took a bit longer than we all would have hoped,” he acknowledged in a letter to the Board.
• “The MBTA will further develop the design, and it’s expected we’ll receive updates on that design,” reported then Town Manager Jeff Hull upon hearing the news. “As the ball moves forward, I would hope in the next several months, the work can be put out to bid and we’ll actually see some impact.” But it would appear, at least from the public reporting, the ball hasn’t moved much at all in the past 16 months.

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