2nd Edition: Why Did Crimmins Resign as Stoughton’s Town Manager?

WHY DID FRANK CRIMMINS EXIT FROM TOWN MANAGER JOB? Weeks ago, About Town sat in the town manager's office, and Francis T. Crimmins, Jr. told me all about why he was in Stoughton's town government.

His frustration was palpable. But, he told it to me off the record.

It seems he's told the same thing on the record to another reporter, so I can finally answer the question that everyone around town has been asking since his January announcement that he was , and departing on March 31, 2012.

Why did he leave? It's really a case of simple math. When he was hired by a 3-2 majority (Steve Anastos, John Anderson and Joe Mokrisky vs. Cynthia Walsh and John Anzivino), he had hopes of making a real difference in a town where his family has been actively involved for generations.

He had already served on the Board of Selectmen, as Town Moderator, and as Presiding Justice of the Stoughton District Court. He wanted to bring some clear order to the municipal side of government.

But, he started off on the wrong foot with some. Attorney Robert O'Regan was an outspoken critic of the way Crimmins was hired. Because he was a sitting judge, there were no open interviews. In fact, there was no formal search.

Anastos reached out to Crimmins and worked out contract details with him, with the rest of his Board of Selectmen and the assistance of Town Counsel. Crimmins' salary increased from his Judge's salary of $129,000 to a salary of $158,000 as Town Manager. The outgoing Town Manager Mark Stankiewicz had been paid $28,000 less.

Crimmins flow chart on the responsibilities of Department Heads and their underlings was one of the first things he gave to the Board of Selectmen and the local press. His every-other-week department head meetings became legendary for their length and depth.

He looked at the entire town budget and found that, in his view, the municipal side of government had suffered at the expense of the schools. His first budgetary act was to from the instruction line of the school budget.

The school department had never seen a town manager try to cut their budget—never mind a specific line item. That set the tone for Crimmins' relationship with the schools—and visa versa. Shortly after Crimmins took over as Town Manager, Joe Mokrisky decided not to seek re-election, and John Stagnone was elected to the Board of Selectmen.

Last year at Town Meeting, Crimmins warned against the , citing some issues with the title of the property. The Town Meeting, following the lead of John Morton and other supporters (including a few selectmen), bought the property under the impression it would be used for recreational activities sooner rather than later.

Discussions about playing fields took place. Mrs. Gibson, the owner, added a clause to the deed that the Town "shall not build, permit or cause to be built, upon that portion of the granted premises (approximately six acres), acquired for active and passive recreational purposes, any playing field, including but not limited to soccer fields, baseball fields, basketball courts, or the like, during the lifetime of the seller."

It added, "The restriction shall run with the land and be binding on subsequent grantees" during Gibson's lifetime.

Would town meeting have voted for it with all the current caveats? I'm not sure. But, don't say you weren't warned. Crimmins was vocal about it. 

Back to the budget. This year, that added a number of new positions to public safety—particularly the police department—and changed the Human Resources Director to an Assistant Town Manager/HR title, while adding another full time position to the HR office. In fact, what Crimmins did, was speak to each department head to find out what they needed to make their department run more efficiently. So, he gave all the selectmen his budget, which included 17 new municipal positions.

Board Chairman John Stagnone , with input from John Anzivino, and their version of the budget passed by a 3-2 margin (with Anastos and Anderson the only supporters of Crimmins' budget, and Walsh supporting the majority.)

THAT was enough for Crimmins. His vision for the town involved making the municipal departments stronger and this new budget didn't get it accomplished. It clearly undermined him and irritated him, as well.

And, it was all so premature. The Selectmen could have passed his proposal without actually endorsing it. It was early in the budget season and it turned out that the revenue projections at the time were low. They could have been adjusted. The Finance Committee and Town Meeting would have eventually changed some of Crimmins' proposed budget, and he could have defended it himself on Town Meeting floor.

But, the truth of the matter was that since Anastos left as Chairman, there was no one in a leadership position supporting him. Stagnone believed strongly in his version of the budget, because he didn't want to see the schools suffer. He also wanted to see improvement in public safety, so his budget was a compromise on both ends.

Crimmins did have the full support of the Department Heads in Town Hall.  Recently, asking them to reconsider accepting his resignation. 

The with the schools didn't contribute to Crimmins leaving his post.

But, it certainly did put him once again pitted against the schools.

Crimmins insists it's not personal. He was trying to bring all town purchases through the town accountant and procurement officers office in town hall. And, really, shouldn't the town accountant have had copies of every contract in town? He does now.

Crimmins insists that things were not being done according to the letter of the law for decades before he arrived, particularly with the school system. He changed the procurement policy for the town (through legal paperwork filed with the Inspector General's office), allowing Dr. Rizzi to purchase supplies under $25,000, and taking any purchasing power from Joel Harding, a certified procurement officer who has been making purchases for the schools—without incident—for a decade.

He also placed pressure on Bill Rowe, the town accountant, to NOT pay bills for the schools—even when they were on dual long-term contracts with schools and municipal side. In fact, the municipal bills are still being paid—the school bills are not. He had Lindsay Pope, his Interim Chief Procurement Officer, step into a hornet's nest while she tried to institute his new procurement policies, according to the law.

The procurement fight will go on after he leaves. It may take a court to determine who is right in this fight, or possibly the new interim town manager will try to iron out the kinks and get everyone moving in the same direction, without a costly legal battle. Clearly, Crimmins felt he was doing the right thing for the town—and the right thing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Frank remains a "Great American". He has assisted hundreds of residents in his time of service to the town, in the many hats (and robes) he wore.

But, here's one writer who wishes he'd have stayed and fought for what he believed. But, I understand his logic. You can only bang your head against the proverbial wall so many times before you get a headache and figure it's not worth the effort.

Crimmins also saw the writing on the wall. One of his two allies, John Anderson, is up for re-election. And, one of those he faces is O'Regan. Perhaps, he could have worked behind the scenes to try to get Anderson and Mokrisky elected—two of his original supporters. But, after the budget debacle, he'd had enough.

Stoughton loses a man at the top who grew up his whole life here. No one can question his love for this town. But, he moves on.

He is opening up a , with offices in Stoughton and Boston, called Ab Initio Elder Law Solutions, LLC. The Stoughton location is at One Cabot Place on the third floor.

Crimmins, who has been licensed to practice law for 30 years, will focus on estate planning, elder law, and trial practice. Ab Initio means "from the beginning" in Latin, according to Crimmins, a Sustaining Member of the Boston Bar Association.

We wish him luck. We hope that he continues to host events, and at . We just hope he gets some new jokes!

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