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Town of Nantucket
Ad Hoc Fiscal Committee
Minutes – Ad Hoc Fiscal Committee Meeting, held July 1st, 2009
Approved July 15th, 2009
A duly noticed meeting of the Ad Hoc Fiscal Committee was held in the conference room at #2
Fairgrounds Road on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009, commencing at 9:00 AM.
Present: Facilitator Dual Macintyre, Joe Aguiar, Rick Atherton, Jenny Garneau, C. Elizabeth
Gibson, Greg Keltz, Neil Paterson, Dr. Robert Pellicone, Dr. Janet Schulte, Justin Strauss, John
Tiffany, and Constance Voges.
Absent: None.
Also present: Kate Hamilton‐Pardee, James Kelly, Malachy Rice, Linda Roberts, Marcus
Silverstein, Steve Sortevik, Whiting Willauer and Craig Abernathy.
Call to Order:
Mr. Macintyre called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM.
Review and Approve Agenda:
The agenda provided by Mr. Macintyre was approved as presented.
Approval of Minutes; 17 June 2009:
Mr. Tiffany moved to approve the minutes of June 17th, 2009; seconded by Dr. Schulte.
So voted unanimously.
Review and Comment on Draft Report:
Mr. Macintyre directed members to copies of a Draft Report on Criteria for Essential
Services. He stated that he created the report and hopes to prepare a draft report for each
section of the Committee’s work as it is completed. Mr. Macintyre added that each report will
also include an appendix where meeting handouts, agendas and minutes can be found. Mr.
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July 1st, 2009 Page 2 of 7
Macintyre then asked membership to provide any comments or suggestions. Mr. Atherton
voiced his enthusiastic appreciation for Mr. Macintyre’s efforts. These sentiments were echoed
by the rest of the Committee. Mr. Macintyre pointed out that he is merely trying to make the
process as efficient as possible; adding that he feels writing by committee is a tedious process.
Mr. Tiffany agreed and commended Mr. Macintyre’s efforts to consolidate the Committees work
while it is fresh in everyone’s minds. Mr. Macintyre urged membership to carefully consider the
document and provide comments, as he hopes for each report to remain open to changes until
the time that a final report is completed.
Review Listing of Potential Efficiencies:
Mr. Macintyre stated that his request for membership to supply ideas about potential
efficiencies received a great response. He noted that many items were repeatedly listed by
members but he consolidated these items into one document. He asked membership to go over
the list item by item and then prioritize the top five items for consideration. Mr. Macintyre
reminded the Committee that their output should be available to help the town implement
solutions and identify priorities.
Dr. Schulte commended Mr. Macintyre’s work, noting that it is an outline of Total
Quality Management procedures. She recommended that the Town use this information in
conjunction with professional services in order to ensure the success of future management
efforts.
Mr. Macintyre began discussion of the list with the topic Management Best Practices;
pointing out the first item, “Create an environment for continuous improvement.” Mr. Tiffany
stated that “continuous improvement” is part of an overall management structure that is easy
to discuss but difficult to implement and practice. He added that the hard part is getting
started, noting that in his business experience these practices can become routine over time.
Mr. Tiffany commented that he appreciates the fact that the Committee is discussing basic ideas
and suggested that it is best not to get into details at this time.
Mr. Macintyre commented that he feels an important part of these discussions is the
process of soliciting feedback from the receivers of services. He noted that this idea comes
form the Committee’s discussions of actions taken by officials in Long Beach, California. Mr.
Macintyre stated that Ms. Voges may have found an opportunity for the Town to perform a
similar survey by participating in a program commissioned by the New England States
Government Finance Officers’ Association.
Ms. Voges explained that a group of citizens and towns have come together to conduct
a survey on municipal services and that parts of the survey can be tailored to a community’s
unique needs. Mr. Macintyre asked if essential services could be listed on the survey for the
sake of obtaining feedback. Ms. Voges noted that the survey is partially funded through a grant
from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation with the goal of obtaining citizen’s views on municipal
services, some of which are essential services. She commented that she feels this knowledge is
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critical to the ability of the Town to effectively manage tax dollars and added that the survey can
be modified to suit the particular needs of a community. In reading through the areas to be
surveyed, Ms. Voges pointed out that some areas to be surveyed may be considered to be
essential services while others may not.
Mr. Aguiar asked if the survey will be conducted by mail; to which Ms. Voges replied
that she believes this will be an on‐line survey. Citing his primary concerns, Mr. Macintyre
stated first that if the survey is part of an ongoing effort it may have stock questions and second
that people with special interests may respond more frequently in an effort to “stuff the ballot
box.” On a positive note, Mr. Macintyre noted that since other towns are participating in the
survey it may be possible to establish benchmarks for evaluating services.
Moving further down the list of Management Best Practices, discussion focused on
reward programs for performance. Mr. Atherton commented that the feels reward systems are
much easier to implement in the private sector than in the public sector, but added that this is
not an impossible task. Mr. Tiffany cited personal experience, stating that in a previous
management position everyone told him that a labor union would not go along with a reward
program but in the end the union agreed. Ms. Garneau pointed out that these actions are taken
not only to save money but also to build a culture that is focused on performance. Dr. Schulte
asserted that the first thing any organization should do is define its customer and then get
people to give their best efforts while they are on the job. She added that in examining
personnel issues she believes all positions must be scrutinized, not just the union positions.
Asking that his suggestion not be misconstrued as condescension, Mr. Macintyre
recommended that a Management By Objectives (MBO) plan be established for each
department. He commented that he is not aware whether or not this type of plan has been
implemented by the Town and spoke of the importance of establishing daily, weekly, and
monthly objectives. Mr. Macintyre also advised that he feels it is important to appraise
personnel regularly and provide incentives for good performance. He then noted the
importance of focusing on citizens as recipients of services. Mr. Tiffany asserted his belief that
the focus should not be on citizens or employees but instead all stakeholders.
Highlighting efforts by Nantucket Public Schools (NPS) in the area of incentives, Dr.
Pellicone pointed out that NPS administration already has performance for pay conditions in
their contracts. Ms. Garneau added that teachers also receive incentives for good performance.
Mr. Macintyre asked if any studies have looked at the distribution of ratings on these
assessments. He spoke of the tendency to overrate or highly appraise a friend or colleague. Mr.
Tiffany stated that this tendency illustrates the need for objectives to be quantitative and time
bound. Dr. Pellicone answered that NPS evaluations must be evidence based.
Mr. Tiffany voiced his belief that a good MBO plan means that management is talking to
people every day about their performance. Mr. Aguiar spoke of the difficulty of providing
incentives and noted the importance of all personnel having a high level of understanding of the
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criteria by which they will be evaluated. Ms. Garneau suggested that these criteria are best
developed in collaboration between the employee and supervisor. Mr. Tiffany stated that it is
often difficult to establish these criteria as employees fear that the criteria will be used against
them. He highlighted the importance of bottom‐up communication in these instances and
proposed that special attention be given to building a relationship of trust between supervisors
and employees. Mr. Aguiar placed the onus on management, stating that management needs
to provide concrete methods for improvement and then evaluate improvement. Mr. Tiffany
agreed, pointing out the need for management to provide the tools for employees to do a
better job.
Ms. Gibson pointed out that many of the items being discussed have been explored at
the administrative level. She explained that the Town’s labor force is now about eighty‐five
percent union labor and as such many of the items proposed by the Committee have be
undergo impact bargaining. Ms. Gibson added that in the past year she has been required to
shift her focus from these items to the task of containing wage increases. She concluded by
stating that she would like to focus on these items but she currently doesn’t have the time or
resources. Mr. Macintyre commented that he will make a note to himself that there are many
obstacles to be overcome before moving forward.
Mr. Tiffany again referred to past management experience, speaking to the importance
of simply starting an initiative on performance measurement. He stated that it is important to
find a simple method for managing performance and then build upon the concept as time
progresses. Mr. Rice stated that the Town has started small in implementing these kinds of
initiatives, noting that Ms. Gibson utilized bottom‐up communication in the FY 2010 Budget
development process. He added that MBO goes hand in hand with program budgeting and that
Town Administration has asked each department to identify the services it provides and how
much time it spends providing each service. He urged patience with these programs and
explained that it will take at least three years to begin demonstrate proficiency in the program
budgeting area.
Mr. Macintyre continued down the list to the heading Right Size Organizations which
listed the following items:
Full‐time staff for “valleys”, contract or cross‐trained people for “peaks”
Manage seasonal workload
Manage vacations, time‐off
Overtime only as a last resort
Implement early outs and buy outs
He noted that some of these items will involve added expenses and time. Ms. Gibson agreed,
stating that Massachusetts General Law has to be observed as well as unions and retirement
boards must be consulted. She added that buy outs may be helpful but in some cases they may
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not. Mr. Aguiar pointed out that buy outs have been successful in Rhode Island and Ohio but in
these cases the impetus was provided by state funding.
Mr. Aguiar stated that an additional consideration in this area should be the act of
employing people who have a demonstrated ability to do the job for which they are hired. He
explained that when employees don’t have the necessary skills to perform well the image and
performance of the organization is harmed. Ms. Gibson agreed but pointed out that the
difficulty of finding people on Nantucket has led Town Administration to adopt “grow your own
people” options. Mr. Macintyre asserted that investing in a person in this location makes sense.
Mr. Tiffany stated that this addresses how the Town should hire at the entry level, hiring now
with the hope that employees will progress to a much higher level. Ms. Garneau pointed out
that a few years back NPS began administrative intern programs. Ms. Gibson added that the
Town also has a public administration program with Suffolk University.
Mr. Keltz asked if there as been any improvement in the use of overtime at the Fire
Department. Ms. Gibson answered that overtime has gone down and now it is at a good level
especially when compared to other communities. Mr. Keltz asked if part of the overtime
problem is structural and part is the lack of a central dispatch. Ms. Gibson answered that the
implementation of central dispatch is underway. She cited this as a good example of an
efficiency but noted that it will actually add employees. Ms. Voges added that Town
Administration has looked at overtime costs in relation to the costs of hiring a new employee.
Mr. Macintyre directed discussion to the next heading: Centralize Purchasing for All
Departments. Ms. Gibson stated that this item is also a recommendation of the Abrahams
Group Organizational Study and that it has been implemented fully as of July 1st. Mr. Tiffany
asked if there is any accountability for efficiency and cost savings. Ms. Gibson answered that
the driving force behind the recommendation is internal controls. Ms. Voges added that there
are some constraints on this type of purchasing due to the small size of the Town. She
explained that one challenge is the way the law differentiates between the Town, School and
enterprise funds. Dr. Schulte asked if centralized procurement has been implemented at NPS;
to which Dr. Pellicone answered that it is being utilized but not in concert with the Town.
Moving on to Consolidation and Outsourcing, Mr. Macintyre spoke of the large amount
of membership response in this area. Ms. Garneau noted that an item comparing the Chamber
of Commerce and Visitor Services would not produce the desired result since the Chamber of
Commerce is a non‐municipal entity. Mr. Macintyre answered that the two entities perform
similar services and if Visitor Services were eliminated its funding could be legislated for a new
purpose. Mr. Keltz pointed out that this option might cause the community to lose services. He
added that the Chamber of Commerce is funded by private industry while Visitor Services has no
outside interest. Ms. Gibson stated that the Chamber of Commerce would have to be consulted
before moving forward with discussions on this matter. Ms. Garneau asserted that the
Committee is simply discussing options and not taking action. The Committee continued
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discussion in this area considering landscaping, road grading, NPS food service, beach
management, ambulance services and fleet maintenance.
Mr. Macintyre asked membership to consider the next heading: Sub‐contract Functions
to Non‐Profits or Other Organizations. Discussion began with the Historic District Commission
(HDC) and the Nantucket Preservation Trust (NPT), with Ms. Gibson pointing out that while the
NPT has no regulatory authority the HDC does. Mr. Macintyre then spoke of sub‐contracting
after school programs to the Boys and Girls Club and adult programs to the Atheneum,
Nantucket Historical Association and Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts. Discussion
then moved to a suggestion sub‐contracting NPS bus services to the Nantucket Regional Transit
Authority. Ms. Gibson reminded membership that this item was studied extensively eight years
ago but it did not prove to represent any cost savings.
Moving on to the heading Specific Efficiencies, Mr. Macintyre asked the Committee to
suspend discussion of individual items in detail due to the time. He asked that the list be
amended to add an investigation into the cost effectiveness of hiring an attorney rather than
contracting for legal services. Mr. Macintyre segued into a request for research for the next
meeting by asking membership to take the list of potential efficiencies and prioritize the top five
that each member believes will have the largest impact on the Town.
Mr. Macintyre then distributed a worksheet designed to test the criteria for essential
services. He asked members to evaluate each service and rate it on the worksheet as either
essential or nonessential.
Public Comment:
Kate Hamilton‐Pardee, Visitor Services Director, spoke of her wish to explain the
differences between the Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Services. She stated that she will be
happy to provide any information the Committee may need.
Referring to Committee statements that their discussions view the Town from 10,000
feet, Mr. Kelly stated that perhaps he is looking at the same items from 50,000 feet, but he
wonders who is looking at the readiness of the organization for change. He asked what
processes are being identified and how will people be supported through the process of change.
Mr. Kelly noted that there are strategies for organizations to implement and facilitate change.
He suggested that the previous year’s budget process be examined as an example how well
communication worked. Ms. Gibson stated that she appreciated Mr. Kelly’s comments on
change, adding that she and Mr. Rice have worked extensively on this item. She noted that
communication during the budget process yielded many comments demonstrating the
uncertainty and fear of employees.
Mr. Willauer stated that some initiatives can be undertaken now that many require an
investment but will save money in the future. He asked if the Committee plans to look at
renewable energy as an expense reduction tool for the Town. Mr. Macintyre answered that the
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Committee may look at renewable resources, but they are more likely to appear on a list of long
term goals.
Mr. Sortevik praised the Ad Hoc Fiscal Committee web‐page as a valuable resource in
keeping abreast of Committee business.
Date of Next Meeting:
The date of the next meeting was scheduled for July 15th, 2009, at 9:00 AM in the
conference room at #2 Fairgrounds Road.
Adjournment:
Mr. Macintyre asked for a motion to adjourn that was “so moved” by Mr. Aguiar. The
meeting was adjourned at 10:30 AM.
COMMITTEE OBJECTIVES
1. Develop criteria for essential services.
2. Recommend expense reductions or efficiencies in current operations.
3. Recommend actions to increase municipal revenue.
Prepared by Craig Abernathy