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Just the Start

Recently, some have criticized the Town Council and town manager for being unproductive. This is an election year; snipes, fusillades and broadsides will be aimed at both sides. But before the smell of gunpowder fills the air, we should remember the following:

In 2020, after five years of talking about it, Clinton finally upgraded to a town manager form of government. Everyone knew (or should have known) that changing a government that’s existed for over 300 years would take some time. However, this doesn’t appear to be the case.

Not everything is ever perfect but let’s not devolve into a full-on attack on the new government. Transitioning from a 300-plus year old government is a major task; translating specific roles and responsibilities written in the new charter will take time to be actually executed in the real world.

The town’s process of identifying, vetting, and contracting our first town manager was a robust and professional process and included folks across the town. Karl Kilduff was the right decision; he has proven to be invaluable the past year.

Accomplishments thus far include signed labor agreements with public works employees, police department, and the clerical union; presenting a zero-increase town budget; starting a Senior Service Program; breaking ground on the Indian River Development; securing a grant for the Economic Development Commission to revitalize our town center; soliciting Green Party and unaffiliated voters for boards and commission seats; consolidating legal services, saving the town more than $30,000; organizing, with dedicated volunteers, the Energy Committee; and supporting the formation of the Sustainability Committee.

All of this was accomplished during COVID, not an easy year for anything. Much was done and much more has to be addressed. This is just the start, but for year #1, I think they’ve done a great job.

John Allen

Clinton