Town Manager Responds to Accusations of Impropriety

Town Manager Keith Hickey said an anonymous accusation that he and town staff inappropriately awarded the bid for renovations to the lower level of town hall is “blatantly untrue” and “completely baseless.”

In the May 17 “Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down?” column of the Salem Community Patriot, an anonymous complainant alleges the town’s finance director awarded a project to renovate the former Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) space at the Town Hall Offices to a company that employs her husband.

“All I have is my integrity,” Hickey said. “I’m not going to screw up a $40,000 project. It’s just not going to happen.”

Hickey told the board he followed proper procedure and that purchasing policy does not restrict the town from utilizing the services of town employees’ spouses.

The purchasing policy does allow the town manager to waive the formal bidding process, which Hickey said he did to address a shortage of time and money.

In early December, Hickey contacted L&B Management, a Hooksett-based construction firm he has used in the past for similar projects, to draft a proposal for the renovations.

According to Hickey, soon after he received L&B’s approved layout and plan for the project, RAM Construction of Salem contacted him, requesting the opportunity to submit a bid for the proposed work, as well.

When RAM Construction Owner Rick Munroe asked Hickey if he would be permitted to use subcontractors related to town staff, he said yes, so long as the subcontractor was licensed and insured to perform the work.

To avoid the appearance of impropriety, Hickey instructed L&B and RAM Construction to submit their quotes directly to him, rather than to the finance director.

RAM offered the low quote at $34,825, while L&B quoted the work at $34,660, plus an additional $5,182 for the cost of renovations for Salem Caregivers renovations.

Chairman Everett McBride Jr. said he believes the project was “done correctly,” a belief that was echoed by Selectman James Keller.

“I’m fine with what transpired,” Keller said.

“The policy wasn’t broken and the town got the best price,” Selectman Michael Lyons said. “I agree with the town manager’s comments. I think we should stand by him and be confident the manager acted appropriately.”

Selectman Stephen Campbell said his concern is with the appearance of impropriety that resulted from Hickey’s decision to not advertise the project.

“Even if we didn’t have time to draft an official Request for Proposals (RFP), everyone would have been happy if we got the general word out. We could have done that at a Board of Selectmen’s meeting,” he said.