Simsbury Assistant Town Planner -Exit Letter

It being difficult to summarize the exit from my position as Assistant Town Planner/lnterim Town Planner in a brief questionnaire, I am also including this letter.

In my time with the town it became more obvious that many processes that should be simple are tied up in a lot of bureaucracy. Tasks that should be dealt with within a division are many times run through boards and committees that have good intention but drag the simple process down and make things highly complex. There are processes that should be one department's responsibility but are tasked to another. There are also communication issues with employees, the director's and above that make things more difficult than they need to be, Many times I found myself baffled as to the processes and the amount of time things took for simple routine issues.

Some specifics to make the point are as follows.

The shear amount of commissions, committees, teams, boards...... Committees with sub committees. Planning and land use has a roll on 15+: Design Review Board, Planning Commission, Zoning Commission, Wetlands Conservation, Economic Development Commission, Historic District Commission, Aquifer Protection Agency, Zoning board Of Appeals, Open Space Committee, Public Gathering Committee, Development Team, Legal review, Leadership Team, GIS Committee, Agenda Prep Group and I am sure there are many others. In a I the towns I have worked for I have not seen so much time committed to meetings for one department. Yes there are legal boards and commissions required under statute I recognize that. There are meetings to provide information that all directors and staff need. However there are simple tasks that should be handled by professional staff that bogged down in committees and sub committees. Case in point, while it turned out good, the year plus it took to draft two documents through the Open Space Committee was a process that is typically a Planning Departments task and takes less than a month.

Communication was another concern. I don't hold any specific issues with particular people but the lack of clarity led to some issues that could have been better dealt with. In the attempt to assist the town during a time of transition there was no clear path or process. I offered my assistance in an interim role and found that the town was willing to pay outside person to fill the role. When I was considered I was first offered a very low compensation amount for such a roll. This was presented as standard. I requested to negotiate the terms. I was deeply involved in the existing processes and developments and thought it would benefit the team and the town to assist until new staff was acquired. This quickly got mired down. The town has a history of moving at a glacial pace when it comes to the hiring process and that was a concern of mine. I wanted assurances that I would not work in this capacity for an unreasonable length of time. This fact was misconstrued as me not being interested in the position for any extended period of time thus making an outside entity the route to go. My request was only to have a protection mechanism in place. After being offered a very small amount of compensation, I was offered and accepted the roll with a 20% annual increase, well below the scale for the position and a 6 month term at which time we would review the agreement so as I could not understand why this process was so difficult. It took, I believe 3 days to finalize.

In the same light all staff in the planning department were highly concerned on the process of hiring a new director. The process was full of issues. The lack of inclusion of those directly affected by the process stood out most. It took closed door talks to even get a representative from the land use department included in the process in a meaningful way, that had some form of influence in the process and then in the end the last interview panel I was on never got to make a choice amongst the candidates. All thoughts on the candidates were taken anecdotally. Nothing was documented and no ranking of candidates was taken. Ranking was spoken of in the panel wrap up however, in a follow up request as to when the ranks could be submitted it was dismissed. The whole process seemed marred.

I would have applied for the Director's position this time around if I felt it would have been good for the town. While I know I have the ability to do the job it wouldn't have been fair to the town having only been an Assistant Town Planner for one year. In my mind to move to the Directors position the candidate should have 3-5 years in the assistant position. Most likely, having worked with the town during that 3-5 year period, I think I would have been a better asset for the town if I waited. I would have like to have taken the opportunity to grow more over that period with a director who had the institutional knowledge to learn from and someday become a full Town Planner. The cards fell in a different way and things no longer looked favorable moving forward. A new opportunity arose with increased benefits and so I acted on it.

The people of Simsbury are great. The Staff at the town hall are as well. I feel that important divisions from the top down have incredible talent but need to be provided the resources and training to better serve the town and let staff function as independently as possible. Time management, streamlining, and allowing increased independence would be a positive in my mind.

I have enjoyed my time in Simsbury and am very thankful for the opportunities afforded to me. I do not have the specific answers on talent retention, management styles, department responsibilities or other issues. I was aware when I started that the change in governance style was in its infancy and there would be growing pains. There are many good aspects to the new style and I think with the proper guidance it can be successful.

Best of Luck

Thomas Hazel, CZEO