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Rep. Sam Quinstall says bill would let contracts override Bennington's 90-day removal rule for town managers
Summary
Rep. Sam Quinstall told the Synex City Government Operations committee that House bill H694 would amend the Bennington charter to permit a signed employment contract to supersede the current 90-day written-notice requirement for removing a town manager; the committee deferred action until next week.
Representative Sam Quinstall, a lawmaker from Dorset, told the Synex City Government Operations committee on Thursday that House bill H694 would amend the town charter of Bennington to allow a contract to exempt the town manager from the charter’s 90-day written-notice removal requirement.
"The purpose of the bill is to amend the charter, town Bennington, to provide a contract based exemption to the current town charter requirement for notice cause and hearing for the removal of the town manager," Quinstall said, describing the measure and its legislative history.
Quinstall said the General Assembly approved the amendments on 03/04/2025 (the transcript records the legislative vote as "12 31 to 7 99") and that the committee on military government and military affairs heard testimony from the legislative council and town officials; he also said the bill left committee with a reported vote (recorded in the transcript as "10 0 1").
The committee examined the statutory text identified in the discussion as "subsection 406a," noting the insertion of the phrase "unless expressly modified by contract." The chair summarized the change this way: that a contract signed by both parties would "take precedence" and could remove the need for the 90-day written-notice timeline in the charter.
A member identified in the transcript as the Senator cautioned that the change was prompted by local circumstances, noting that the prior town manager had been in place for many years and had been on extended sick leave. "We had the town manager for 19 years," the Senator said, arguing the contract approach addressed how the town now hires and manages its executive.
Committee members discussed what municipal contracts typically include — items such as insurance provisions, leave and merit pay — and whether the bill merely clarifies current practice or changes it in material ways. Quinstall and others described the bill as short and straightforward; committee members asked to hear from absent legislators before voting.
The committee did not take a formal vote on H694 at the meeting. The chair said members would defer action until at least next week to allow absent members (including Tucker Anderson and Representative Tim Portman) to participate, and the committee recessed for 20 minutes.
Next steps: the committee plans to revisit H694 at a subsequent meeting when additional legislators are present; no formal committee vote or final outcome was recorded during this session.
