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Montpelier council votes not to renew city manager's contract, directs separation agreement
Summary
The city council voted to not renew the city manager’s contract and directed the mayor to draft and later sign a separation agreement with a proposed separation date of June 30, 2025; the item followed a two-hour executive session and drew public concern about the session’s propriety.
The Montpelier City Council voted to not renew the employment contract of the city manager and directed the mayor to draft a separation agreement with terms discussed in executive session.
Council members approved a motion directing the mayor to prepare a separation agreement that included a separation date of June 30, 2025, severance pay as provided by the existing contract, and a general release and other terms ‘‘as required by law’’; the council then authorized the mayor to finalize and sign the agreement and to call a special meeting before February to ratify it. The motions followed a two-hour executive session the council held to discuss the manager’s employment and receive legal advice.
The decision prompted public comment both for and against the action. Several residents called for a change in leadership, citing the city’s unmet infrastructure and housing challenges; others, including department heads gathered at the meeting, expressed support for the manager’s long tenure and criticized the council’s decision. City Manager Bill, who spoke after the executive session, said he accepted the council’s decision and pledged to support an orderly transition: “I accept the decision of the city council to terminate my contract… I am dedicated to the most successful transition as possible for Montpelier,” he said.
Some speakers raised procedural concerns about the executive session. Anthony Iarapino questioned whether it was appropriate to invite the city manager into a closed-session negotiation, stating, “When there's two parties negotiating a contract… it was entirely inappropriate to include the city manager in there,” and asked the city attorneys to address the legality of the council’s finding. The transcript shows the council made specific legal findings to permit the executive session under a citation read aloud as "1 BSA 3 13 a 1." City attorneys participated in the executive session, the council said.
The transcript records the council’s motions and voice votes but does not show a roll-call tally in the public record excerpt. Councilors instructed the mayor to draft a separation agreement reflecting the terms discussed; the timeline provided in the motion sets the manager’s last day in late June 2025.
