Is there another explanation?

I am writing to ensure that my outrage over the behavior of the Board of Selectmen on Monday night is formally logged.  This letter is directed to the three members who voted to terminate the Town Administrator's contract.

I have watched the video of those 19 minutes several times now.  It left me stunned and confused and with questions.  I have made an earnest effort to contact the Chairman (four email messages, two phone calls and six text messages since Monday), but have yet to receive any reply.   I am having difficulty coming up with an explanation for what transpired other than:

(1) that the decision was pre-planned, and therefore probably in violation of Open Meeting Laws.  If deliberations took place outside of the public view, even if done one on one and then again one on one, they still may well violate Open Meeting Laws.  If this was done in a willful attempt to circumvent the Open Meeting Laws, that would be such an extreme abuse of office that I think all three Selectmen involved should immediately resign.  

or 

(2) that the decision was not pre-planned, and that instead three selectmen voted to terminate a long-term employee with pay and without cause without offering any discussion whatsoever as to the merits of the proposal;  without considering the impact this might have on the Town's ability to attract qualified candidates to future posts (and we need now to not only hire a new High School principal, but also to replace Mr. Turkington), without considering the impact this move might have on current town employees, without considering whether there were any other alternate approaches to ending the relationship if the Board majority found it so toxic.

If the Chair was surprised by the motion, as he said he was, I am flabbergasted at how he was able to make "one of the most difficult decisions [he] ever made" in less than 20 minutes without any discussion, without any specific arguments specifying why it was a good idea.  If he wasn't surprised by the motion, then he simply lied as he clearly stated he had not seen it before.  Either way, the behavior is simply inexplicable. 

These explanations amount to either unethical behavior or incompetence and a failure to fulfill fiduciary duties.  Is there another explanation?  If so, your silence has not offered any.

Further, you gentlemen do know that "without cause" does not mean "without reason"?  You inexplicably interpreted "without cause" to mean that you couldn't talk about any reasons at all.  Cause means "criminal acts and/or acts of misfeasance or malfeasance, willful misconduct", etc.  You could certainly have discussed how his performance or his working philosophy did not support the direction you wanted to move in without implying "cause".  You know or should have known this.  But you used it as an excuse not to have a public discussion.  Worse, your not wanting to discuss the cause could easily have given the impression that there really was a "just cause" you were trying not to discuss, implying that Fred really had done something wrong.  This is utterly unacceptable.

Doug wrote this for his WaylandeNews Q&A when he ran for Selectmen:

I will advocate for better accountability to Wayland residents, greater emphasis on budgetary efficiencies in all departments, better communication in town government and an emphasis on TRUST! I sincerely believe that a town wide adoption of this basic philosophy by town government and the Wayland community will renew the trust and confidence we all need from one another. I can sincerely appreciate all the time and effort and dedication displayed by all town boards and committee members. At times their positions are challenging but we must remember we all work for all Wayland residents and our actions speak so much louder than our campaign words.

Actions indeed speak so much louder than campaign words.   And certainly louder than spoken words (but perhaps not all that much louder than the utter silence from the three of you).  I am disturbed by the actions that I saw on Monday night, and disappointed that no explanation or willingness to communicate has been offered.

This is not the way Town Government should be run.  This Board - unethical, incompetent and/or uncommunicative - should be ashamed.

Note: This posting is my work individually, and has not been reviewed or endorsed by the WaylandeNews editorial board.