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Danvers committee amends town manager removal language; firms up suspension and due-process steps
Summary
Finance Committee debated removal language for the town manager, including the 30‑day preliminary resolution, the right to request a public hearing, definitions of 'for cause' and 'without cause', and payment on removal; members amended the draft to use 'suspend' for an interim step and advanced the article.
The Finance Committee took up a detailed and sometimes technical discussion of the Town Manager Act’s removal provisions.
Under the draft, the select board can file a preliminary resolution and provide at least 30 days’ notice before a proposed removal becomes effective, and the town manager may respond in writing and request a public hearing. Committee members and public commenters debated the interplay of the statute and employment contracts: as one member noted, contract terms often govern what a manager receives if removed.
Vicky Colley (town meeting member, precinct 5) said she was surprised the statute provides a public‑hearing right after the preliminary notice: "I've never heard somebody getting terminated... why would we give them a public hearing?" she asked. Other members argued the hearing and the 30‑day notice are due‑process protections appropriate for a statutory office.
Committee members also identified scrivener and drafting problems in the select board’s proposed language and proposed substituting 'suspend' for 'remove' in an interim paragraph to reflect that the preliminary resolution starts a process rather than an immediate final removal. The amendment to change the draft language to 'suspend' was moved and carried; the committee advanced the article with that amendment and recorded the procedural votes on the floor.
