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Post by SyZyGy on Oct 28, 2004 12:08:56 GMT -5
Bam! It finally hit me. I don't know when I started to have this feeling. I think I heard whispers of this around town for some time now. Whatever! It's here now. It's clear to me.
Bonnie Therrien's days in Wethersfield (as Town Manager) are numbered.
No, not because she would be asked to go by this council (which didn't appoint/hire her). But, because she already (silently) decided to leave!
In the beginning, she seemed like a good "fit" for Wethersfield and seemed to work well with the KBC Council. She was upbeat, engaging, pleasant, accommodating, helpful, direct, and apparently truthful. She seemed to be truly interested in addressing the issues with which the town and citizens were grappling. She seemed like a breath of fresh air (following the foul smell left by the ill-equipt, interim town manager who we were saddled with from the time Erdemann left for his cushy position in Hartford).
All that has changed. She is now more negative than positive; she has labelled Wethersfield a "sick town". She is certainly no longer upbeat, is no longer uniformly pleasant, much less accommodating, certainly less helpful, more indirect if not frankly evasive and at times apparently less truthful. If citizens need information from her now, you have to drag it out of her like a lawyer in the heat of a court battle.
She seems to be merely going through the motions of keeping the town going. Though she has not said so publicly, you get the feeling that she realizes that her recommendations are falling on deaf ears. The allium council has its "mandate" to govern; it has its agenda; she is there to facilitate it. Facilitate it or leave. She serves at the pleasure of each council. She no longer seems to "fit in" here. She is probably envious of Proctor, counting his benefits, controlling his exposure, and manipulating the BOE in that little fortress called the WPS.
She has taken a tremendous amount of pressure from members of the public who themselves feel frustated by an unbalanced, politics-driven, frustrating council. The marginalized public seemingly realizes that, though the council cannot be changed (short of resignations or legal removals), she is doing the council's bidding, for better or worse. She really no longer manages the town broadly speaking.
She probably senses that, with the short-cuts, cut-ups and foul-ups common in Town Hall at the behest of the council, sooner or later someone will call her task for her participation in them. Instead of being curried, she will be coombed out. Why put her career any further in jeopardy than it is in already? Conversely, as far as the Shirley's council is apparently concerned, she is also expendable. She can easily be replaced (even if the next manager may insist on a larger salary and benefits package considering the tribulations to which he/she will be exposed); it's only the taxpayers' money and there is plenty of that. Besides, doesn't Wethersfield field (an "at-risk", "ailing" town) deserve better?
My bet: she will not be here come July, 2005.
Frankly, I will be very sorry to see her go.
She is more than competent and despite it all, she is essentially a wonderful person. Unfortunately, she has been hamstrung and is now frustrated.
I will miss her.
I wonder how the rest of this little (200 people) community of posters feels.
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Post by oldetowne on Oct 28, 2004 13:04:56 GMT -5
I wish I could disagree with you. I cannot.
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Post by SenatorBlutarsky on Oct 29, 2004 0:02:26 GMT -5
Maybe she will return to Berlin. Bonnie ran into the buzz saw called Wethersfield politics. It can't be easy with Rocco and company on one side and the spend happy council on the other. In this town the manager is just a puppet of the council.  |
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MrsB
Silver Member
Posts: 60
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Post by MrsB on Nov 7, 2004 19:51:22 GMT -5
While reading your post I wondered what if any of this is true! If you have proof, facts or even some solid hearsay, please share! It would be more interesting if you had something, anything to back it up. It leaves me feeling like this was pulled out of your crystal ball.
Personally, I have had several questions for her that were met in a timely manner and with respectful frankness.
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Post by SyZyGy on Nov 8, 2004 8:18:42 GMT -5
In your limited contact and congress with Bonnie, you have apparently not gotten the same feeling as I. Okay, I accept that.
As for providing "proof", I had to force myself to omit items of interest which might have been construed that way. I chose not to and will not for now. What is known by some who frequent "Town Hall" is not always known to the public at large. I wonder how employees of the Town, the WVFD and WPD view Bonnie's likelihood of a premature evacuation. For now, the public will just have to read "between the lines" and 'spectate.'
What does everyone else here think? Will Bonnie bail out on or before 7/1/2005? Maybe we could start an online "poll" here. I think this forum has (or had) that feature; what do you think "w.com"?
I started this thread to see if my "hunch" or feeling was shared by others. That you have chosen to weigh-in is good. Thank-you.
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Post by SyZyGy on Feb 16, 2005 9:17:29 GMT -5
Following the Town Council meeting of Feb 7, 2005, several members of the public noticed that the Town's Cox Cable Channel - WGTV-16 - continued to recycle the video tape of the meeting of January 18, 2005. This went on all week long. WTPA VP Ruhe emailed our Town Manager, Bonnie L. Therrien, on or about 2/10/2005, asking why this was so, and Cc'd just about everybody under the sun. Ok, ok! I know that more than a few of you have strong feelings about the WTPA and specifically certain members of that group, but pay attention here!Dolores Sassano (our Town Clerk, who was CC'd the original email) responded by saying that Gary Santoro (the Town employee responsible for the recording and telecasting meetings on WGTV-16) was away on vacation. Bonnie responded directly (also CC'ing all of Ruhe's CC's) that: "I will make sure he trains other people how to work the equipment when he gets back. Bonnie" Now more than a week after that council meeting and almost a week since Ruhe wrote to Bonnie, he has apparently found out that AGAIN the "Town" does NOT HAVE a viable video tape of that 2/7/2005 meeting. Again, for the second time in less than a year (?if not half a year) the WTPA provided the Town Manager with a copy of the meeting as it was recorded by one of their members on their home system. I don't know if the WTPA tape is now playing on WGTV-16 yet or if Gary is even back from his vacation or not. But this failure on the part of the Town - under Bonnie's "management" is disturbing. Ruhe wrote recently to Bonnie too: So, what do you'all think. Was this just an accident (again) or "something more serious"? |
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Post by oldetowne on Feb 16, 2005 9:29:40 GMT -5
Personally, I'd give Bonnie the benefit of the doubt. The "brain trust" of senior staff (e.g., Town Clerk) and department heads (names omitted to protect the ignorant) left over from the Erdmann era needs a shake up before this type of incident will stop. And why in heaven's name is the fire marshall in charge of taping Town Council meetings (is it a paid role?) and why in heaven's name is there only one person who knows how to operate any of the equipment.
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Post by tomterific on Feb 16, 2005 13:53:27 GMT -5
I had heard some rumors about the non - showing of the taped Council Meetings, but it was 2nd or 3rd hand hearsay, so I could not be sure it was true. The postings just ahead of this now verify what I had been hearing. Here's my opinion: it may just be gross incompetence by Town Employees, it may be deliberate hiding of uncomplementary facts, it may be something worse. Whatever it is: the Town Manager is paid bbbbbig bucks to run Town Hall and the Town Hall paid staff continues to under=perform. Hey Bonnie: wake up, we all see how YOUR employees fail to perform on a regular basis. You are the visible face of the Town. It's time for YOU to start doing your job.
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Post by SyZyGy on Mar 7, 2005 12:38:22 GMT -5
] I am not sure I would characterize her behavior as being "out of control." I would call it being very much "in control" - for better or for worse. Here is where everyone in town needs more honest information. The only place the general public has received information about this (other than word of mouth) is via that paragon of journalism, the Hartford Courant. Their most recent article was not attributed to a specific writer, leading me to believe they may have received and published a (can I say secret) press release from the Manager's office. Though the manager released her "report" to the Council several days after his "resignation", there was no summary of this issue in it. Why was that? Perhaps because she knows that the public eventually gets to read about it here and elsewhere on-line. It always amazes me that people in power tend to feel that there are certain things which the public really does n't need to know about - and they get to decide what is to be revealed. (How about the lid which is on the full disclosure of the JFK assassination information. Someone, perhaps on the Council, should specifically request a full disclosure of ALL the details, including timeline, of Bonnie. Her handling of this matter is just SO typical of Wethersfield Town Hall and Wethersfield politics: make the decisions quietly and keep the public in the dark; force someone brave enough in the public to drag the information out of Town Hall. Oh, I would definitely like "someone in the know" to provide details here. What departments; what department heads (I presume you mean in the upcoming budget); what is this about confiscation of the firehouse(s') checkbooks? Please, tell us more, or tell us who can verity your allegation. I cannot however agree with your assessment that she is out to municipalize (devolunteerize) our great "fire suppression" units. Granted they can get a little thingyy and pushy. But, hey, they are putting themselves in harms way - why, because ARE good guys! I am willing to cut them more than a little slack. We provide them with a few benefits (property tax abatements) and not much more which directly effects their individual wallets. They are steeped in history, tradition, and are a tremendously valuable asset to public safety as "as the oldest volunteer fire company in continuous existence in Connecticut, and the oldest in New England". Can you provide more information (details) about these two allegations? If not you, who can? I am looking forward to your posts with this. I might as well ask too, how long will she last in town before she takes her leave? |
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Post by tomterific on Mar 7, 2005 16:59:47 GMT -5
Did Fire Chief Will Clark get fired because of the slush fund? The previous poster seems to say that he was fired by the Town Manager but I did not see any story on this in the news.
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Post by oldetowne on Mar 8, 2005 7:06:08 GMT -5
The Chief "resigned" but I think people can probably read between the lines. After the "scandal" broke, the people who never liked the Chief in the first place piled on and claimed that the rank and file would take a vote of no confidence or would picket. There were some who claimed that the apology letters that the Chief was said to have posted in each of the stations never really were there, or were there for such a short period of time that nobody saw them.
The FD provides a priceless service but is a dysfunctional organization in some respects. You don't have to go back very far - in fact just before Chief Clark was first appointed - to be reminded how much bickering and political intrigue there is in the department. Members of the public access media have always had their own axe to grind with Bonnie and the department and this seemed like a good opportunity.
I would be dumbfounded if Bonnie's plan was to create a professional force. That is just not in the cards for a town of this size. I would, once again, give her the benefit of the doubt on this one and say that she has been trying to get all of the town's money under the control - or at least under the oversight - of professional staff. The same kind of thing happened at the board of ed side last year (I believe) when all of the so-called "escrow accounts" were rolled into the general fund.
The Chief may have violated a "rule" by just doing what has always been done, but with the turmoil in the department and the close scrutiny of every dollar of town money, he already had two strikes against him. It's a shame because I would bet the list of people who want to succeed him - and are qualified to do it - is pretty short at this point.
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Post by SyZyGy on Aug 14, 2005 14:49:56 GMT -5
On 10/8/2004, I started this thread and I said, in part (see above): Obviously I was wrong. She is still here.
I don't believe that anything that I said above has really changed. So what happened?
The WCTV tape of her at the State of the Town breakfast (sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce) was telling. She was so up-beat that it didn't really seem like the 'bonnie lass' that we have all come to know (but I still can't say 'love'). She was all sunshine and almost touchy-feely optimism. Did she get 'religion' or was she co-opted by the "dark-side"? Certainly nothing of substance has changed for the better in town; oh yes, some cosmetic measures have been implemented (blight control - started at the instigation of the WTXA - not the Russ-ian Council). Whatever she "caught" apparently is contagious; Joyce Rossignol (Wethersfield Life) has also has it now: she is out gunning down the gadflies in town. As far as Betty Rosania - well enough has already been said. These soul-sisters three all seem to speak as one - perhaps some kind of mind-meld. You get the feeling that Steven King wrote the script.
Interesting, very interesting..... |
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Post by oldetowne on Aug 15, 2005 6:08:10 GMT -5
I guess what it does show is that she is astute and has a strong survival instinct. She is smart enough to figure out that the "doom and gloom" predictions that she was making probably remain accurate, but that in an election year (particularly in the months leading up to a performance review by the Council - see agenda for 8/15), it's better to play along with the team in power than it is to actually try to "manage" the town.
The bonded debt load is heavier than two years ago, the property tax burden is dramatically higher than two years ago, the grand list growth is invisible, projects continue to be bungled (town hall renovations now months behind schedule with the contractor blaming the town and vice versa), we have eight or ten years of payments left on the non-functioning radio system (while we should also start to reserve for its ultimate replacement), we have five or six years' payments left on the artifical turf which was acquired in possibly the most expensive manner to avoid having it go to referendum (while we should also start to reserve for its maintenance and repair), the public access to and participation in town government is at a new low (meetings not televised, boards and commissions with many vacancies), but the incumbents will "run on their record of achievement" and Bonnie will be forced to make them look good. And she has correctly concluded that, at least in the short term, it's in her best interests to do so very effectively.
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Post by Dr.Ken Sokolowski on Jan 2, 2006 17:55:11 GMT -5
www.courant.com/news/local/hc-tmdrain0102.artjan02,0,3747145.story?coll=hc-headlines-home
You will need to copy/paste into the URL window then entire line to retrieve the entire article - available for the next couple days at most!
Wanted: A Few Good Managers
By MaryEllen Fillo
Courant Staff Writer
January 2 2006
A good town manager is hard to find.
At least four communities in the state will begin searching for town
managers in the new year, sharply increasing the demand for quality
administrators. Add to the problem that fewer people nationwide are
willing to take such a job, and local officials find themselves facing a
growing challenge.
"It's slim pickings out there," said Karen Strid, chairwoman of the
board of selectmen in Hebron, which is searching for a chief officer
along with West Hartford, Newington and Enfield. "And for now, it's not
going to get any better...." ... ... ... ...
... ... ..."We want to hold on to what we have," said Mayor Russ Morin of
Wethersfield, where Bonnie Therrien, who has been in the business for 20
years, serves as town manager. "We try to support her initiatives and
give her a fair salary," he said. "We certainly don't want to see her
go. ... This is not the time to be looking for a new town manager."
Copyright 2006, Hartford CourantThe ellipsis in the last paragraph is that of the reporter; those exaggerated ellipses between the penultimate and final paragraph are mine.
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