Town manager’s departure imminent

Smith 13 months into tenure when town council voted on severance agreement

BLOOMFIELD — Just 13 months into Robert Smith’s tenure as Bloomfield’s town manager, the town council voted Tuesday to enter into a severance agreement with him.

The council also voted to negotiate an employment agreement with former Town Manager Philip Schenck to return on an interim basis.

Town Attorney Marc Needelman said terms of either agreement were unavailable Wednesday because nothing has been signed yet.

However, Smith’s three-year contract calls for him to be paid a year’s salary should he be terminated in the first year and nine months salary should he be terminated in the second or third year. Smith, who began work Sept. 3, 2019 is paid $160,000 annually.

Smith’s future in town began to come into question earlier this summer over a disagreement about his evaluation process, which the council insisted include anonymous critiques of his performance by department heads.

Smith expressed concerns to the council about how the forms would be collected and anonymity maintained and suggested a third party, but council members insisted that they would collect and review the forms.

Smith also butted heads with Mayor Suzette DeBeatham-Brown over his insistence on adding an item to a council meeting agenda.

The dispute lead to a cancellation of a regular meeting and the abrupt cancellation of a special meeting when questions of proper public notice were raised.

As a result of that dispute the council voted to change its procedural rules to make the mayor the sole decider of what goes onto the council’s agenda.

The council approved the change Tuesday by a 6-2 vote.