Rutland RPC says three planners leaving; director warns of interim capacity challenges

Devin, the RPC’s executive director, told the Executive Finance Committee that the agency is experiencing a cluster of personnel changes that will strain capacity. Devin said Barbara has retired, Logan resigned to take a planning job with the city of Colchester, and Karima accepted a remote position in Seattle to be near family. Together those departures represent three of the commission’s seven planners.

"So for 3 to leave, that's a big hit," Devin said, describing immediate steps to recruit replacements: he already conducted one interview and scheduled three more, and intends to fill the land-use planner position first, then backfill the recently vacated positions. He said the land-use planner posting has already attracted more applicants than any previous job posting for the RPC.

Devin outlined hiring preferences and workplace expectations. He said he prefers candidates who live in the region and put down local roots to reduce turnover driven by long commutes. For remote-capable roles, he said the RPC policy requires a minimum of two days per week in the office and his personal preference is for five in-office days to preserve collaboration.

Devin also warned of short-term operational impacts: routine town planning and zoning services have a backlog and staff shortages may slow work on those items even though he did not expect the regional planning effort to stop. He said he will try to manage workload without burning out remaining staff and will keep the commission updated on hiring progress.

The committee acknowledged the difficulty of replacements and discussed trade-offs between remote work and in-person collaboration; no formal action was taken beyond direction to prioritize prompt recruitment.