e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening welcome to the select board meeting of Friday April 5th um this meeting is being recorded um okay so uh we'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay all right all right good evening we are here to um conclude uh conduct and conclude the midyear evaluation of the police chief I'll invite the police chief forward and also our HR um I'm looking this way and here you are sorry about that um I don't think you have a microphone okay I I just yeah we're going to need [Applause] that one them I know right yeah okay all right Mr Mo thank you for um regrouping us um if you could get us started that would be wonderful yeah good evening um through the chair the select board has had several discussions regarding the police Chiefs evaluation uh and a great deal of information has been shared including the chief self evaluation uh and also subsequent to the last meeting uh we did seek directly uh input from uh board members uh that information was directed to the HR office and we gathered the information from the previous discussions the chief's evaluation as well well as input from the board uh to compile a summary that we have shared with the board again what is in front of the board is a compilation of a summary and not a collection of the individual words and statements from all parties identified and the ention here being to capture the universe of the what what is the work that the chief has done in any performance evaluation we always want to start from that point and that work is tied to in the chief's case the three goals that were set for the chief and the department for FY 24 and pay the chief's contract there are about eight items that are then evaluated or referred to as part of discussing the evaluation so that's the definition of the what in any evaluation we also look for opportunities to discuss and understand the why do things happen the way they do there are many factors that come into that discussion at his last meeting the board had begun discussing the why and so what you're going to hear tonight perhaps is a very quick review of the why and then in any evaluation we focus on the how and here in hopkington over the years we've really paid attention to the how and the how relates to the behaviors that are exhibited when one is performing a specific task why is that important it's important because it is tied to the values and the Norms that we have set for the organization we are looking for resolve in the big issues for the community having a positive impact on your team members and the community collaborating using any assignment or task to help others learn whether it's your team members yourself or the community we do not miss opportunities to bring additional resources to the town we do not Miss opportunities to find efficiencies and as well as process improvements if possible and most importantly we also want to make sure that we continue to be passionate about local government and public service and how we do that and also how we do that and and discuss that in a performance evaluation is focusing on whether especially for senior leaders were personally invested in helping the whole team and the community to perform better so in summary we have the what there has been a discussion of the why and tonight I am encouraging the board to focus on the heart great thank you so I know that all board members provided feedback to um the HR Director is that right yes all right yeah are you um able to walk us through the feedback um the on the the you want me to read through the what's on here yeah I think it's helpful I I don't know if anybody else saw it before right now but I'm only seeing it for the first time as well so um for the the first goal um which was to continue with the enhancement of community engagement um which sorry um the first goal was to to continue with the enhancement of community engagement um which is to continue growth of social media teams skills and abilities um seek engagement with Town Projects boards and Comm committees um what a synopsis of what uh we received was that substantial progress has been made including the creation of a new social media team Presence at a wide range of town events community policing Outreach and new events initiated by the department areas for improvement are the use of additional social media Outlets such as Instagram and the creation and adherence to policies and procedures regarding Department posts to ensure transparency confidentiality accountability and attention to detail with regards to the second goal of recruitment of qualified police officers and recruits um the police office the comments included um as piled police officer recruitment started slow and developed Beyond prior Staffing levels once Cadets complete the police academy Staffing will be at 24 out of 29 and projected to be at 27 in a couple months with these achievements an identified area of attention is the chief would need to be focused on retention as well specifically focusing on officers morale and job satisfaction the list of training that staff are participating in as listed in the chief's self assessment was impressive it is anticipated that more progress on the compliance piece will be made on this on this goal as the police department reaches full Staffing levels a good start has been made and the groundwork has been laid in addition the chief is planning to roll out a field training officer off initiative with Sergeant bushard there's been an increased social media Presence by Hoppington police department social media still needs Improvement this is a difficult time for Recruitment and that is social media as it relates to recruitment the third goal um was promotion and professional development of Command Staff um and and comments compiled um speak to a fault start with marked uh recent progress the town has advertised the deputy chief position filling the lieutenant position is in progress with final interview scheduled for 41624 two sergeants promotions were completed in February 2024 I'll be with the Union filing agreements to support the administrative team the town hired a consultant to address specific executive level projects the department has expanded training opportunities for officers sergeants have assumed additional duties achieving on the job training the department has also produced a draft succession plan overcoming promotions delays and bringing in outside extra help to address the priority strategic aspect of the Department's Mission took much work and was marked by missed communication opportunities so then those were the three um goals that had been established um the next portion um is with regard to um the performance expectations um areas that are in the contract um and those are are command management of any type of police service incident budgetary and financial Administration Personnel Administration supervision and Leadership staff development and training public relations policy execution and interaction with the town manager and board as well as other governmental officials boards committees and general public so um for each one of those I will um tell you what the overall um results were um given the comments so command management of any type of uh Police Service incident uh that we have a safe town and opportunities to improve managing visible events budgetary Financial Administration excellent progress Personnel Administration team building is in progress supervision and Leadership managing through crisis and Leadership and morale need Improvement staff development and training good progress on staff development and training needs tracking um public relations um needs further development policy execution inadequate policy implementation drug and alcohol testing ation Pro Phoenix body warn cameras and Department evaluation interaction with Town manager and board as well as other government officials boards committees and general public On Target interactions with board and town manager additional comments at the end include the chief has demonstrated leadership during this last couple of years by steering the department during difficult situations his presence at the community events and organizing police events with the community projects projects a positive impact and image of the department with progress in hiring now Focus needs to be more on retention a periodic employee survey and feedback mechanism would be helpful for ongoing pulse checking and New Opportunities need to continue to focus focus on the new Deputy Chief and Lieutenant hiring and training and complete the ongoing succession plan some of the recent challenging situations despite progress some key projects seem to have slowed down the chief will now need to focus on these more closely also there are some additional areas that came up from the community that may need special attention these include PL And Timely execution of the body camera seek stakeholder help from board Town manager as needed completion of pro Phoenix Software setup explore and plan for GPS enablement in cars as appropriate review all protocols to bring them up to date as needed establish a more robust communication framework with select board and Intel manager for periodic progress review and Foster more collaboration if I may um again what you had is a summary of the input that we received including the chief self evaluation uh in that input were examples that the board may decide to discuss as part of refining what you have had to be the what uh the board may also engage in any discussion regarding the why I think what I have heard so far is that the last two years were very difficult years for all of us uh and that um the chief had to deal with those challenges and as a department head he did report to the board and the public that he had to make some administrative decisions and some of those decisions resulted in the delays that have been recounted um in the evaluation discussions uh and so again the challenge for the board now is if there any examples for the what you may want to include them in the discussion if there's any need to go further into the why now is the opportunity to have that discussion and then thirdly I would really encourage the board to focus on the how how was the work delivered based on the factors that I enumerated earlier any questions and so sorry I through the chair one more thing um it needs to be said this is the board's evaluation of the chief I'm expecting and encouraging and respectfully suggesting that the bulk of the discussion be the individual board members stating how you evaluate the in the chief's execution of the goals as well as the eight criteria that were listed and if there are in any instances where the board seeks clarification from staff meaning the chief is available to answer those questions but again it is the board's evaluation of the chief so uh to my board how do you want to um proceed do you want to go through the items or so personally um I think that we've done the what and the why um I think we need need to focus today on the how how was the work delivered um and I I would suggest that we go through each go um and each of us has an opportunity to to comment on it um and just can of go down through the list does that sound right yeah I think that makes sense I would just add that uh we find a little bit of time um if possible uh in this session to also talk about the future and tuning how we are going to progress on these targets and other uh aspirational items through rest of the year and Beyond so shortterm and long-term and to level set on some of the expectations where things may not happen been clear enough so I think that would be helpful too your job I'm reading this and we all we all wrote our opinions on the various parts and I can see some of each one of us in it and um I I really think that uh we're making really good progress and um we just need to to Define future goals future for the rest of this year um yeah I agree with UL that um we should probably go through each one because we each wrote out our detailed comments too and go through um how to forward Okay so I generally agree with uh our F and shy duel that we should go through each goal now that we've seen them all compiled together and um and add any additional comments that we need to add and figure out how we're going to move forward um okay so um I'm happy to Le through the comments or I'm happy to um uh let I don't know what the process is I'm happy to just start yes um again um if the focus is on the how this may be helpful for the board uh given that we are discussing the work of a senior leader the number one point is what aspects of the execution exhibited strategic thinking consistently raising and exceeding expectations finding efficiencies improving processes without being directed how did the chief solve the big issues or find new opportunities without needing Direction how did the chief Elevate his work as an expert in the area that he was working on how did he share knowledge as a process as well as mentoring others regularly how did he help others be more productive by improving the work environment how did you communicate effective ly across and outside the organization how did he attract additional support and resources and finally how did he personally invest himself in helping the whole team to perform better um is there any possibility you have that written down so that we could have it in front of us yeah I can I I can hear that very quickly I was uh taking notes and I'm pretty quick but you're faster so just wait one second for [Music] that see for so it occurs to me chief that you won't have it if he emails it can we make a copy for you so you have it it's hard for me to interact with a list of things without that would be to the chair to to you thank you that would be helpful because understand it but I before and it would be helpful thank you I do too so we're just going to take a minute we're going to be thoughtful about this so I've emailed it emailed it to board members Mary Jo you need a copy sure yeah okay I'll I'll take a copy as well I was just going to say just actually make copies if you don't mind I know it's trees but we're just going to have to cuz Jessica might like when I don't see a laptop in front of you and R pred I'll go get it Jessica thank you for doing this work for us today [Music] thank you thank you can be on one meeting thank you you um okay um uh thank you Mr Cala so uh the first the first goal we'll start right at the top the first goal is to continue with the enhancement of community engagement continue the growth of social media team skills and abilities and seek engagement with Town Projects boards and committees so um I don't know if we want to just start at one end and go to the other Mary jod you want to start well actually I think that as far as the media goes um we have made quite a bit of progress I see the police department and their events and the things that they're at in the media way more than than I used to and uh I I think that that's a that's a very positive and uh I like to see what they're doing and and uh and I I think we can use more of that um social media is is making really good progress um they I see the police everywhere now they didn't used to always be but it seems as if they are participating in all community activities I've seen them on the common I see them at the senior center uh serving lunch even and uh having what they do for the seniors and what they do is sometimes uh not always in the media but um they are definitely participating more community events than I have seen them ever in the past I think that's a positive I'll EO what Mary Joe said that um I've definitely seen a much increased social media president presence and um and also better social media posting where they're getting more likes more shares so that's a sign that they're doing it a little better more engaging photos um so I appreciate seeing that and then um for board and committee Outreach I know um you know using his leadership skills he's instead of the chief coming to the commission on disability he sent one of his sergeants um you know they listened to us and they provided some things that they that they could do that we didn't necessarily know they could do till they came to our meeting so that was really helpful um and yeah I just think social media is always involving it needs improvements but I think it is a good way to reach people and I definitely see police presence um you know in a positive way not to not to um not to be a threat or anything but to to um in cultural events around town um but just to engage with the residents in the community so and I've heard that from Community groups that they really appreciate having the chief or someone from his staff coming to events I should ask do you have any questions for the chief on the the social media no I just want them to continue to improve it's it's been good it's been pretty good this last year or two so what would you see as an improvement if if they were going to Target Benchmark an improvement uh I I think they can continue doing what they're doing but I think we need U more recognition and more um media about what they do and where they're going to be and and uh how they're participating in various meetings uh townwide and uh I think events uh and particularly events sponsored by the police department uh the pizza p which not only included all the children on the common this year but the library was included in it and all of the businesses along Main Street were included in it and that was organized by the police department uh the police Police Department's uh holiday party for the seniors every year uh and then their botchy games with the fire department and the seniors and they do get a little bit of recognition but but I think that they that they could have a lot more and I think that there are other things of that type that we could develop sorry Amy did you I didn't want to I just wondered if there was any questions I hadn't asked oh yeah so you want um areas of improvement yeah okay so um so even though they've been doing a lot more social media than they used to and more engaging I do think they could still do more I think Instagram would be a good place to especially reach younger people um and I think if they could post daily something to social media that would be ideal but I realized this is not their number one job priority that's not what they necessarily do every day but if they have time I think posting daily would be great if it's possible um and then I just just continuing to seek out new groups in town that they might want to go to events for get to know um new people and new groups in town okay I'll go down to Fan so I don't have a lot to add to that um I'm not on social media so I can't really comment on what I have seen but um I know that the chief has put together a team to work on social media and and get the word out as to what's going on around town um and as far as community the Outreach um again I see them at all the all town events um areas for improvement I think um you can never be too involved with the community and keep keep pushing it and um keep up with the with the social media presence any questions no questions sh do thank you um I would echo my colleagues comments pretty much I've seen Chief to be present almost in all events social and um from Senior Center to various cultural social and school events and uh I I was talking to some of my um friends and colleagues in other towns and I also have attended other town events I think this is almost um you know not as common as Omni presence as Chief's U activities are so Kus to that to Chief and the team and I think social media I follow and I see a lot of uh interesting good engaging uh comments and posts and sometimes with humor which is always good um so keep up with that and I think a reach um to the young Stars a little bit with other channels uh Instagram and there are always new ones coming up can jump into all of them but um some of the prominent ones that could reach uh some of our younger um uh Town residents uh high school kids and others and I want to also mention the pizza party that was uh arranged for the high school uh kids that was very creative and I also noticed that it was organized by um a team and I believe that show shows how you shared the knowledge process and mentored uh and it's um an ongoing things so certainly encourage to do that more but altogether I I see the footprint of strategic thinking as to how to go about and build uh Community Trust engage with community and uh I would say we are in a great shape on community policing at its best with a wonderful Police Department dedicated U uh and engaged Chief and police officers so kudos to that another area um we could look at as I was um thinking is is we also would want to have police appreciation more visibly uh maybe from the board or maybe something with the community as a whole to celebrate uh so the officers also feels um more appreciated and visible any questions um not at this time I think we covered quite a bit on this okay um so I see um I see the increased uh social media presence um as a strength as well overall um I would be remiss if I didn't ask you um how we ensure our processes and policies um address um new learnings problems concerns um and ways to secure the um the output of information when we are outputting to the community that's an a very important question and um thank you for the opportunity to address it when we're communicating with the public we have to be very deliberate and intentional and understand that we're talking to a very broad group and Community as we all do with our employees we need to have them trained and especially when they're going into something high-risk such as work that the police officers do every day and uh the work that the social media team does on uh online to that to that effect we need to train them and we have partnered with several vendors to provide the training um and we have a a policy in town on social media and uh we have a uh kind of an authorization level for uh what different tiered people are allowed to post and so far for social media it's it's worked and uh it's it's a continual ongoing project just because someone went to a training uh new case law comes out all the time and and uh it's a it has to be a continual continual process we also have a partner with public relations firm who is always available and um and is offering training and and works with the team directly and specifically when when we when we make a mistake how do we or have we corrected for that well that's basic that's basic management you have to first fact find and determine what exactly happened and then identify uh any areas of weakness in policy or practice address them and work towards make work towards ensuring that it does doesn't happen again there's no guarantees in life but continual Improvement is the key um did you want to add anything Chief to the general topic of uh social media um I think that we've made a kind of a paradigm shift within the organization we certainly I certainly identified um uh the shortcomings of relying on a person or a small group to accomplish too much and I've learned uh and the the value of training people um sideways as well in duties so that there's not an independent person that is a single point of failure for the organization and uh through that we're we've shifted the model of how we build these teams so even a person a person on a bottom tier of organiz ation um has at least awareness and some skills at the next level and we're always training up to uh to so there's people in position to fill gaps as well as laterally so that uh If someone becomes ill and has an extended Le there's always people that can step in and help it can't um maybe you could give us an example um sure so in the Training Division um training typically we rely heavily on um the training Council and outside members for our training um what we're building now sjin O'Neal took over training uh in mid mid year last year and we're building an organizational structure where he's working he was the instructor for most of the topics where he's working to bring in other instructors and he's working to um be a team leader not actually doing the functioning work but he has the skill set to do the functioning work and the functioning work will ideally be pushed all the way down to patrol so I met with a patrolman today to talk about this and uh get us feedback and you know there are areas for instance where we spoke about the need for we have a we're bringing in a software we're implementing a software for accreditation that is going to manage and track so as we've spoken to before we have um the policy we have our proofs what they're called that say we did it and this software does it all so if I issue if I reissue a policy uh we all take to sign off on ethics and sexual sexual harassment regularly at work well this in this software what it would look as you would see the policy any changes or amendments would be highlighted it would be sent out to the officers and um then they would be reminded if they hadn't signed they would be pushed up to their their direct report and then um eventually it would come to my desk if it wasn't wasn't completed so you would think well maybe that's a sidence role but in my conversations maybe it isn't because that off that officer is managing a software not a lot of work once it's set up the beauty of it is it's the setup will take a while but then automatically things will occur but they're not going to be in a supervisory role they're never going to go to a a peer and say you didn't sign off the the mechanism is in place so I think that's a good example um that is a good example of of training and expanding your reach I appreciate that um uh who is going to be I'm sorry if I missed it if you just said it who is going to be in charge of managing that software you said it doesn't necessarily have to be a sergeant that hasn't been identif okay so but you'll identify somebody that's so yeah to to expound on that so you'd have Sergeant O'Neal overseeing the entire program with with the understanding of how each aspect works and then with each individual individual area so say we're talking defensive tactics of firearms there'd be a lead and then there'd be the the actual people who execute the trainers underneath them then you come to a different column and they would be policy uh policy review and um and that would be a category um law um inservice training and building a multi-layered up and down in and uh lateral horizontal uh um Network okay um so I know this will be covered later I just want to assure you I won't recover it um just because we move shifted topics a little bit um how do you how do you Benchmark and track within your department um how each individual officer is is accomplishing his training his or her training my apologies so at the state level there's a software called aradus and it um it it provides our training it's both a tool that we can uh watch training read training and tracks our mandatory accomplishments for each year so we're required to have 40 hours of inservice we're required to take CPR required to train without firearm those um that is managed by the state and um police officers standards and training commission has access to it and and directly interacts with them to ensure that we're maintaining our core certification um beyond that um within the department currently we have a an add-on for policy sign off that we've been using but it's it's an add-on two-way scheduling software and this new new product will will shift us to that and then uh so all the mandatory requirements have to be done then we keep and we we have um we're looking at a couple things to track overall training but we don't want to be duplicitous so as we grow within our implementation of power DMS we'll make it determination if we're going to use that to track all training along the lines of training we have um a a uh Rank and assignment training tier system that we've established so the training coordination coordinator has authorization to approve uh staff members based on their rank to go uh to training uh there's certain triggers the way they would come to me and ask but for instance uh something community policing relation if any police officer wants to go to bike school can go to bike school they don't have to come and and get approval for that um we of course watch the budget but but you know trollman might not go to a onewe executive command level School those so because it's not within that tiered structure and that structure is laid out and it's available to all the all the sants and does that all fall under officer O'Neal to track all of that and approve and so manage it's uh right now what I what what I did years ago um prior to becoming Chief is it's really tracked on a a from a Google form to a Google spreadsheet so you can capture the whole the whole picture so an officer requests training or if they they're sent to training that request form is filled out it goes into a a sheet then that sheet the uh it's it's it's then put on to another spreadsheet with each individual officer and all their training accomplishments and there's another spreadsheet that shows say all the sergeants and what they how they progressed through their leadership training death by spreadsheet um yeah yeah um and um are there this is a question I hadn't thought of before so I apologize if I'm taking people far a field but are there triggers and markers to indicate um where when people are in danger of uh missing their require the requirements are all managed by the state so they would they would notify you or the department if or the individual if they were in danger of not having their qualifying so a lot of it is on a reoccurring calendar so we partner with and Sherburn and other town to deliver some of our iners learning because uh to accommodate their particular learning preference and as well as we can do most everything to meet the state law standards for the current uh curriculum for the training Council um you know certain practical skills can't be can't be taught online obviously um that occurs and that in that portal we all can see it so each Sergeant watches their their their team as well as I can jump in at any time and see and check on people to see if they're falling behind but before their the the end of the year um events are occurring so it would stand out if an officer did not go to his their signed training the schedule is published everybody knows they would had to have called in and said I'm not I'm out today so it that's that's very apparent if someone would have Miss a uh a um an issue that would jeopardize the certification thank you um okay um the next item is recruitment of qualified police officers and recruits um I think that that I don't have to read all of it um so I I'll I'll switch it up just so every somebody doesn't always start um shahul do you want to start us off if I may yeah sorry to interrupt the floor um before we we leave the last one I just want to make sure for Jessica's purpose here's what I heard um that in executing this goal the chief exhibited the following core competences in terms of how strategic thinking relative to community engagement generally positive impact on the team thirdly afforded the team the opportunity to learn and then in terms of improvements diversifying the medium that is used to reach out and then secondly just being cons assistent in communicating through social media did I capture did I capture that correctly for for for Jessica's notes yeah I think so I believe so I would it was really well done um I would just add a a process for corrective action when problems occur exactly thank you to the chair what was the last Point corrective a corrective action process for when missteps problems happen could I I want to just add to that too because I I just wanted to clarify and I'm pretty sure that the town and I assume the police is part of this P subscribes to that archive social social media service right so that all the posts are captured in case um there's a messed up or something right yes M uh director GTI it it IT director Goretti uh has all of our accounts accounts on archive social yeah I just know for myself at work we got um um a really serious comment on social media that needed to be reported to the police but of course the person then deleted it so we had that archive social um record that we could pass along correction it's it and Innovation is that a new Department name for new Department name yeah the unveiling all right okay so recruitment of qualified police officers um shadu do you want to start sure um so I think Jessica read it earlier and um our view is that um now we are heading towards a good number and good uh Staffing level although there was slowness historically uh so I'm glad to see that progress and we need to in my view Focus now to retention a lot more and uh that means employee moral employee satisfaction and also training coaching for their career paths uh and that is what I think through the year and years to come we'd like to see more and um if uh you have any uh way to start capturing uh these with little more key metrics and Trends so that we can monitor collectively and help where and when you need help uh that would be I think good for future for the entire process um other than that uh we also want to see the progress and the open positions that are in in progress um on on those so the deputy chief is a very critical one that's already posted and we have help from the recruitment agency so we need to have that closed uh quickly and gracefully and then on boarding uh and making sure the succession plan succession training starts and gets in place same with the lieutenant and U I know you mentioned you working on that you have a plan that you shared earlier with these uh pending items I think you'll be in a better position to lay out the rest of the succession plan and we want to see look for the overall organization and time to time we can um checkpoint on those that would be helpful but overall very pleased to see the progress on the Recruitment and good so so I Echo um what Mr Manon had said um I think in terms of like strategic thinking um I think you've done a wonderful job in in recruiting new new officers but also we need to pay more attention to uh morale within the department and um you know people are going to leave not just for because of poor morale they may leave for other reasons backfilling those positions and um and I think having uh regular interviews um the St interviews to see you know okay what what are you happy about uh what are you unhappy about and you know where are the needs for improvement um so I think I think retention at this point is um because it seems as though we have officers coming on board and I think we're well on our way but I think retention is kind of uh becomes more of a key so we don't fall behind the way we did before any questions Oran um oh sorry do yeah do you think there are any areas for uh efficiencies in in finding new recruits is there something that you would do differently you know um I touched on it briefly and with talked about this in Prior meetings recruitment is extremely hard in law enforcement uh the candidate pool is much smaller than it was in the past um it's a constant discussion in trade journals in training it comes up in every meeting um I wish I could say I had a silver bullet for it but I don't and it's uh but it's it's it's got to be a primary focus it has to be um both finding and keeping employees is is critical for all all Industries right now and uh I was really I really think that the stay interviews will help and uh as we move forward and we make promotions and people have opportunities and uh that also is fantastic for retention so U focusing on both I think focus on on the total pictures is is important um as far as um yeah but I'm I'm reading I'm attending training I'm sending sergeants to to training um with getting them out in the public and just trying to attack it from every possible angle it's I think that's the only approach it's it's difficult yeah I mean I understand that it is really hard and I appreciate all the efforts that you made um I don't have any suggestions for how you can improve on it um but I would I would encourage you to maybe talk to other police Chiefs as to what they're doing um and maybe you can you know pick their brains there yeah I I I've been speaking with them in fact I spoke with one the other day who lost two last week of um is down 25% of his department and uh and right now the the marketplace is towards uh sending the police people to the police AC Academy which is an opportunity to bring actually to bring a lot of diversity into the into the fold which you know has always been a goal and by opening it up to non-academic people it actually will also help with that as well thank you Amy yeah I will Echo what has been said that um it's really great that we're getting back on track and you've been able to recruit and hire some young people I think up to six in this tough climate is excellent um but I do so I do think we need to focus now on retention and morale as the others have said you know keeping these people and making them feel part of the team giving them the more training as they want it so they can move up and um and then perhaps if possible maybe we could get some lateral HS as well as we have because we're going to have a lot of very young people but maybe we can get some in between um level new officers too because we'll have a couple more spots I think still open I think that would be the goal for for me anyway for going forward any question don't think so here Joe I just uh I want to encourage the team aspect and I want to encourage that when you have these uh monthly meetings or weekly meetings that it they're very open that that you allow descent from the uh Rank and file and from the offices so that they feel like I mean that their opinions are taken to heart and mean something even if they don't get acted on because of you know they don't belong there but people need to need to feel like they can speak their mind and say their peace and uh and I think that that goes a long way to retention of officers if they can feel that they can say what they want or say what they need to say and respect each other for it that goes a long way to retention okay thank you that's all okay um yeah I have been encouraged as well that um our recruitment is up um it's a really exciting opportunity to have uh new people and especially young people um and it's also um yeah I've said this before it's it also presents and I I don't mean this in any way negative it presents a RK so how do you um how do you structure your onboarding and your processes to ensure that you're building a team and boosting morale there's a lot to that question um I could just start with the selection I guess and onboarding we in our interview process have identified um type of person we're looking for and it begins with that that's the best Safeguard we have um and then as we move through the um other aspects of the process including the background check I can tell you there's a long list of people who don't who their background is done and they don't come forward to you um we have very high standards and um and I think that's the foundation of it and um it's finding the right people and if you repeat the latter part of that a test um um I think that I asked and I I apologize if I'm scrambling it um how you will ensure that you are building your team um accounting for all those new people and and boosting and building morale what how do you how do you actually operationalize that how do you do that in your department sure so I mean we're we're a very regulated industry and the uh officers are right out of the from day one are held to a very high standard and um in compliance with laws and rules and regulations um they have uh access to a great deal of support and resources including the most important person in the organization which is the sergeant um if you think about uh even thinking we're a paramilitary organization think about what a sergeant does and and asks of their uh their direct reports and uh sergeants are the key in the organization that they they're attentive supportive watching and that they they understand that their role is to make sure um Everybody above them up to me knows uh if an employee struggling or if there's an issue and they're very good about it um in our organization as a whole is very good about holding each other accountable and and speaking openly when asked about anything um a tiny bit off script but it jumps into my head um how do you um just in light of events of yesterday which we probably should have uh uh said first congratulations to the department for and the fire department for responding to a very difficult situation um as well as it could possibly probably be responded to how do you make sure uh I was just thinking out in terms of of morale and making sure you're um um holding uh folks personally together if they need extra supports how is that operationalized for the police department um so it begins uh you know pure support is that what you're talking Wellness care is that what you're referencing yeah yeah so there's formal and informal peer support um when uh at the at the base level if someone is believed to be um had seen extreme trauma that that last night was uh the uh care support begins I can share with you that myself and other sergeants spoke with every member involved um I spoke with Witnesses and um there's also a formal peer support response that can occur and will occur and um and that's through um outside public safety personnel who will will offer to help and at the level that the employees willing to participate but the offers are there um we have a culture of checking in on each other we have a culture of sharing if uh we think that someone was was was uh significantly impacted and that's ongoing um and I I did say this last night when we spoke um and I know I didn't ask my fellow select board members but don't have to um to you and your department and to the the fire chief and his Department um if you need supports that aren't currently available to you we want to know what they are and we want to know how to provide them thank you madam chair I did speak with the fire chief last night he's offered to take lead on on bringing in the in the peer support um it was um and uh we will we'll do it and I will I will I will reach out if we need anything great um how do you um or maybe it's easier to answer it what this is an extension of the the what maybe how do you identify key metrics um for building morale and and developing your team and how do you once you once you you know what those metrics are how do you how do you monitor them over time how do you Benchmark the work for building morale I guess I and and team building morale and team um I guess a lot of that would be that better are documenting feedback and conversations in a way that doesn't betray the trust of those conversations and finding ways for people to to give feedback um when you stop taking notes in A lot of these areas it tends to um put a chilling effect on on the conversation so we have to what I think I I need to build an area where I could could build is is learning and researching and developing a way to do that okay right now it's uh mostly informal and based on relationships yeah I think I and again we we kind of go through the it happens right the Continuum but I think later in the the comments um a feedback mechanism that's deidentified um that is predictable and transparent so it's reported out everybody gets a chance to discuss it and know how everybody's feeling um might be a good uh a good metric a good measure so maybe if a model was developed and just working with you on in conversationally maybe if a model was developed will we take those stay interviews identify key things um key words key and then incorporate it into maybe an executive summary where the confidentiality is protected I think might be a way we do it um I'm not I would be leaning on HR to help me to design to design a tool like that um it's um yeah I would think it's a pretty typical mechanism in the HR world that would just need to be translated for your purposes um and then um just in my professional world and I've heard it a couple of times in context here as well um the the constituencies the stakeholders who participate really need to hear back um what the results are right so so sometimes we gather all the results and we we do what we do but people really need that transparency and they need to know how um their feedback their investment in the process might be translating into um forward motion and different goals and things like that the last question I have we mentioned the succession plan um after a a a substantial delay we did get that um in March um maybe you can walk us through through how you will um build that out um I I don't remember candidly if you have a deadline in there do you remember if you put a deadline in finalizing and formalizing a seccession plan strategy I don't remember I don't remember um but how will you track uh first of all build it out and track your how do you measure success how will you know it's where you needed to be um on time well there will need to be you know that's a draft that was formulated based on um a review uh a conversation about where we are today um to formalize it it will need to include benchmarks and objectives just as any any plan um we still have a lot going on right now so I don't want to um set it too tight of a deadline but I can assure you that it's a ongoing and continual process with the items that we already have identified with involved that would be involved in succession planning training is ongoing promotions are ongoing um so things are being done it's not going nothing's on hold but to develop the plan in a in a and metrics and and way to show that it was accomplished is is where we what we're building now rest assured that it's work is being done every day in fact our uh three Sergeant went to Sergeant school this week so so um I'm just going to push back a little B on that answer respectfully and just say that we know that if you don't Benchmark it it's so easy for it to slip and not get accomplished and then you find yourself in a position um where you don't have a result to communicate to your supervisors right so I really recommend that you hard Benchmark that plan and be prepared to share what those benchmarks are and um and then just just follow through yes um okay if I may yes thank you um yeah through through the chair um I I know that this topic is is important to the residents here in hopkington and through my office work with the board and your team Chief there are a couple efforts that that I think we should give you the opportunity to speak to um you you have stated that recruitment is a big challenge so two things come to mind would you mind speaking to how you have used collaboration to address that issue and then secondly addressing the intersection of moral and recruitment challenges how have you specifically communicated that to your team to the board and to the residents so morale is critical especially when attracting people to the department our best successes have come when members of the department have recruited um and brought brought people into the department because typically they are of the type of person we want and they come here because the uh they believe it's a good place to work um as far as communicating with the residents um could always be better with that communicating to in every in every form is a constant struggle and and I need to do more more with that uh with regards to collaboration uh you know we're not a huge organization our social media team is really the collection of the most invested members of the department the most skilled and and diverse and it also includes um of the police department and the Communications Department many members of the social media team also very active in recruitment so that collaborative effort between um detective Sergeant van ralton who leads Recruitment and so Sergeant burchard's um social media team they're they're the people are in both Park both areas and working on both objectives and uh so the collaboration among among them is uh very tight and as I expressed before it's an exciting team to walk into a meeting with they uh they they come to the meeting prepared and uh they they have boundless and endless ideas and uh so for collaboration it's it's a matter of getting the right people together who have have the same common cause and Mission a it y do you want to tell us what you heard that's what I thought was coming next going I try or should I go yes um he here's here's what I I have heard um that the the issue of recruitment is a strategic priority for the Department that most recently gains have been achieved it now falls on your leadership team to address retention moral as well as for you to strengthen the collaborative the collaboration that has gotten us to this point where we are hiring officers and to find Opportunities to communicate effectively with the community uh your team and your partners um thank you for that um I have a follow-up question um exactly um with now with um it falls to the leadership team to address retention and mor morale because the leadership team as we know is going to be so new how will you think through and structure that and Report out on that at a consistent basis I think I um it before I take action we would need to probably come together and and identify what we as a team have for resour SES whether it's peers um reaching out and and reaching out to other Chiefs and deputies and lieutenants that they they may know and and get some feedback and and come up with some ideas um and then as is the common theme in this conversation of of this evening is identifying some uh goals and objectives and some metrics to to measure that uh we see uh it's that it's um obviously a Prime Focus and and I would want to do this I would everything we do in the beginning as these new department leaders are established it's going to be about um building the team and to do it collaboratively and not push down but to uh listen and lean on and develop and build as a team all of us uh yeah uh so again I'm pushing back respectfully all those things right all those things are true um really my qu and and it's okay if you don't answer it tonight um my question really is and is how you operationalize that how you actually put the building blocks in place and measure for Success a real critical um I would say this is maybe one of the priority tasks for the next 6 months and maybe I'm wrong and and uh and there's other Tas that are the priority but how will you um make sure you know what are the resources you need how will you use those resources and how will you measure success in in onboarding uh either new people or people to new positions um so that your leadership team is um able to then right build the rest of your team and boost morale so that's a it's a it's it's a big bite right that's a big bite so how are you going to and I'm not I'm not asking you to tell me this tonight but I do think that it is reasonable for this board to know when you're going to um when you're going to deliver a plan for how you're going to do that and it's and it's upon us right these hirings are underway so what do you think about in what what works in terms of um a deliverable to really structure that process for you um well if I'm if it's deliverable I would look forward to further conversation on what you would want that deliverable to look like and I'd look towards guidance and and some expectations as we move forward to develop it I wouldn't want profess to just come forward with with it independently I guess it really is um that that's fine um I I wonder if there's a resource that's more more um that does this professionally I can it's just to do if I can do that you know I just um it's a it's a big it's a big task and a big priority um and it sets the tone for your team um going forward in a in a really substantial way right okay um all right promotion oh go ahead yeah I had a quick question U actually it would be relevant for the next one um one and related to the moral do we have any coaching and mentoring program in place um formally or informally that could also help you sense the pulse of the the people's moral and put them out did you did you say sense the pulse sense the pulse yeah um each um Sergeant is a uh has a team of people that they're expected to Mentor uh as well as always in any organization there's informal mentors that have once the employees identify particular strengths in an individual they'll go to um the this uh the newer employees are very um open and candid with each other and they seek out each other's help and and I see that uh that happens often often when I speak to um an officer they they recount sharing conversations with other officers um so each within the organization each Sergeant would would have a a mentor Mentor uh selection of officers uh typically the then that would be the lieutenant would do that with the sergeants um also um I've always made myself available to to Mentor when I hear anything I typically follow it up I had a conversation with an employee last night at 11:30 at night at the station and uh spent some time because I heard something and I had an conversation at 2:00 because I heard something just to make myself there and uh always be able to counsel them um it's not a product or a program it's a it goes more towards core culture of being connected and developing relationships thank you but if someone knows a tool i' welcome it of tool sorry just that in terms of tool I think um the employee satisfaction survey type of tool certainly also gives you the opportunity for checking the PS with hr's help uh that could be one area you could look at and it may not be applicable but would be happy to do some research in the hospital systems you also have huge uh retention challenges with Physicians and nurses so one thing we do is uh we measure the burnout rate uh and there are various metrics like we call it pajama pajama time that how many people or professionals are working outside the regular work hours who's working two long hours who's working odd shifts too often so those gives you know a data driven picture of who might be stressed out a little more than others um I'm sure there are creative ways to look at it and might be tools available I'll do some research that thank you and uh another thing that an area where we might want to look into is uh there's a concept of early intervention where there is actually a software tracking um and events certain events get entered into the system and and it actually will trigger certain other events so if an officer goes to extremely traumatic call like last night it might trigger the peer support system if an officer has three crashes it might trigger it if there's a certain agreed threshold of um sick time out and there's these different metrics within the early intervention system that can trigger different things not necessarily discipline but from a mindset of protecting and caring for the employee SS yeah something in that okay um the next category is promotion and professional development of Command Staff um Amy do you want to start sure um so I think this is the area that probably um comes with it the most challenge um going forward because it's been things have been understandably delayed but it's great we're going to need to um to work on that going forward um so let's see and then um so we have ProMed the two sergeants we have the lieutenant coming up but we've had um some concerns from the union each time so um so I hopefully we can work through that with HR and get the right processes in place so that um everyone's on the same page about the promotions um sure anything else but I do think the long list of training that you provided that you're making available will go a long way to help with um that the promotion um professional development because you know some of these new officers might be have different interests and might take a training that no one else is TR taken so I think um there's some ways you can move forward with that um yeah I just think you know that's it's an area for improvement and um a the challenge moving forward but I think now that we're getting the staff filled in I think we'll be able to move forward Ela Jo uh I think for these positions we have to have a very uh open and a very wide criteria for each position um and because it used to be where you got promoted based on length of time served and basically you know that's it and it can't be it shouldn't be that anymore uh we need to have uh a a real look at the individuals all individuals who who apply and uh look at the personality look at the mental aspects look at at everything that they'll bring to the position because we obviously made mistakes and uh in the past and who were picking for various positions so I I think that uh we we have to kind of develop uh a very wide and big criteria for advancement in all areas um do you want to do you want to ask a question in there Mary Joe like like how will we Institute processes that might change how we have done it in the past well I think I think we have to we have to think about it but I I would uh I would ask the department to come up with their criteria the rank and file to be involved and at their meetings to talk about what they want to see in in their uh officers and their uh promoted individuals in the various ranks what would you like to see as a criteria for this Rank and that Rank and I think that uh they will probably come up with some very good ideas on their own to present to us fun so um I think I think once we filled the lieutenant Deputy um a lot of this is going to become more routine it's going to become part of the process um I think the idea here is to take some some off your plate um and in doing that you know once we once we on board the the new deputy and Lieutenant I think that kind of gives more opportunity further down the chain um and I think that also will help in promotions within um where each you know various officers are going to find areas of interest and seek promotions in there um I understand that there was a delay in you know getting the lieutenant and Deputy on board but I think now that we have a process in place um I think you know I just I look forward to the to having them on board and then developing a plan for growth any questions not at the moment okay I the right though uh no I think I covered it earlier conversations as well that uh that now the process is in place for two major leadership roles under you um open and in the hiring process so certainly uh hiring the right Talent is the first big task which you are have initiated and with some help as well that's great and once um and in the meantime in parallel I'm sure but U need to also start planning on structuring the succession plan uh and training and others as needed not only for those two positions or for your um succession but also at every layer of the organization and that will help you know building that um stable future which you we all definitely want to establish and second is also it'll be motiv for the force uh in general everyone would know their career paths and they're you know being cared and nurtured um so just more it's all related that also relates to retention and all that so it's all together and um glad to see the progress and would' like to see more focus on this in the coming days thank you okay um so uh this was the topic of of um a great part of my um my concerns um I do sincerely appreciate that progress was made um uh I have a question about how we ensure that we don't have those kind of gaps or delays how do we incorporate necessary Lessons Learned I think [Music] that one of the things that need I would want to do is when we have issues that aren't public um and there are restraints or constraints we collectively need to find a mechanism where we're all on the same page and we all have the shared information and I think uh Mr Calo is a tremendous leader in in in in doing that but I think we need to really focus on it and I think we need to keep um so there isn't um a gap in knowledge among people uh decisions that were made um and had to be made and I and uh they that ended up getting us here are uh unfortunate that we have we are here but you can't can't say that we're never going to be in that same position but if we are at a communication and working together to find a way to get through it faster I'm part of the the the thing is sometimes things move way too slow we've seen in the topics that we've all talked about about dragging on for 18 months two years and we can't let the organization stall because of it we have to find a path through it yeah I totally agree um and and and that that is what we feel we see or saw so how do you going try and ask question without using all the same words but how what are the building blocks or how do we operationalize how do we so it's an interesting it's an interesting Dynamic where where five of us are the supervisors um which a dynamic that doesn't happen in almost any other situation um so the communication some methods most methods of communication are very are very uh formalized right um how how do we how do we make sure that we that and and we don't have day-to-day line of sight and how do we make sure that you who have dayto day line of sight are uh easily able to communicate with us um when we have responsibility but not that day-to-day line of sight how do we do that how do you all have day-to-day operations how do we how do we communicate so that that we don't have a gap like this again I'm really talking about you Lessons Learned how do we make sure that you have a way of of um driving support from your supervisors for your Department's needs I think I in the question well you know do your best stand I I'll start um with example I have uh Chief I respect great and i' been reaching out to Chiefs and asking them how they interact with their board the frequency and the method um very successful chief who's getting ready to retire after 41 years uh told me that he has very little interaction with with the board but he does regularly come and uh quarterly report on different projects and object and initiatives I'd like to see us build kind of a pattern of of of communicating at the broader level and then um you you know op operationally I'm always available to talk but I I would welcome a further discussion on how we move forward and how we communicate as we move forward I don't have a concrete answer for you today I think we should do it in Partnership to the chair sure I I like the idea of um periodic reporting on kind of overview status and if we can start building some metrics based on what we discussed that would also help give a snapshot and U the Strategic plan uh that you have on all these fronts and then some of the other items that we talked about with uh uh profenix uh for example proix software or body cam um the plan that you have if we can get update on a periodic basis and you can show us where it leads for completion and where you need support as well um that those type of interaction and communication I think will make it easier for being on the same page um that's I think something historically we haven't um get to do as much so uh uh I know we have the Lio uh relationship but I think this is going to help at least for broader and also for the town to know and understand where you stand where things are and where there might be more Focus needed it's good for I think everyone to understand sometimes communication um kind of um with individual Leos uh does targeted ones but with larger reporting like this would help with broader communication I think like the idea thank you so also through the chair y um you know so we've been talking about mostly about reporting um but I think the the chair's initial question was kind of focusing on how do we prevent another Gap right um and I think once we once we fill the the deputy and Lieutenant roles um then we start having more inter more promotions internally and I think you have more qualified people capable of stepping into those roles um also with the cross training that you're doing so I think um you'd have more more capable people being able to to to fill in um and initiate a process for formally hiring someone I think that's clear objective absolutely I had a thought on that topic should okay through the chair I thought of this since the last meeting and I think based on something arel said too like so things are always clear in hindsight obviously and I think had we known it would be such a long time that Porter was on leave before um anything would happen with that and we don't have been that long we might have taken more interm steps to fill gaps but we didn't know how long it would be so so that was hard but in retrospect perhaps we should have um even if we couldn't do promotions perhaps we could have offered to stepen to people who were doing extra work or just some I don't know some negotiated something the in case we run into a situation like that where there's a long wait where we're kind of in limbo um but work still needs to be done so I that was just a thought but it may not happen again for a long time well hopefully um we don't but I think one thing that you know self-inspection I probably should have asked for some interim positions and that would get that would be a would have uh been helpful within the organization it would have been helpful to me and it would have uh been the right thing to do by the people that stepped up yeah um I appreciate that Chief I uh I actually uh had that same thought but late in the game I didn't think you know I didn't necessarily think of it um you know hindsight is always um a little sharper but um when you have such big openings um it's really hard to maintain constructive functionality this is this is true whatever organization you drop this into I'm not this isn't um and uh and it puts a big strain right I I can tie a connection to um you know reports of morale concerns and so forth to that that big strain right so um also maybe some mechanism for um and you may do this so I don't mean to suggest that you don't do this some mechanis whereby you um the the model that jumps into my brain is not the right model but like family meeting right you you really are like a family in a police department so that's why it drops into my brain but but using the talent that you have inhouse to um to really problem solve the big issues that you're facing when you're facing really extraordinary issues I mean what is there is there a way that you can um create a Synergy or rely on the Synergy that's already existing within your department to help Drive Your Capacity and the Department's capacity it's just you know it's just a thinking that um and again working together here as you were speaking I was thinking that those stay interviews might be a good opportunity for um get the stay interviews develop the executive session come together in a even maybe an offsite location um as equals and share and collaborate so that's just what I was thinking as as you were speaking Madam chair um yeah so you know what um I would enthusiastically support some kind of um out outside of the ordinary team building um exercise an off-site uh um some you know I don't know exactly what it is but those can be very very affected and they're also there they're they're a concrete benefit to people who have been working at um at a higher um than their job level not saying that right but you know what I mean um I have had some conversation with Mr Calo we have a great resource and U Mr Calo was Mr Lazarus and we'll we'll discuss I'm look forward to discussing how we might bring in uh that resource and and build on that um I have one more question an external it's it's a I'm sorry s it's an external res so great and if it's a resource that you feel some confidence in and um could help you really um I'm I have been um a big proponent in the conversation for a couple of years and not in a not in a challenging way of team building your te your team has been under a lot of stress there's a lot of a lot of stress we're not going to talk about tonight um so we continue to be under stress yeah no I just I I just we are facing all of us long-term conversations and uh I think we together should do everything we can to support the team yeah and and um and sometimes it's hard sometimes I feel like I'm a therapist right now and I don't mean to sound that way sometimes it's hard to ask for help I'm really talking individually like we're all very capable people I'm not really talking as a therapist but it it can be hard you know we're we're self-reliant and as a department we work hard and your your people work hard um it can be hard to ask for help but it's critical it's critical to um be able to identify as a leader of this department to be able to identify where the stress points are where the gaps are where the needs are and make sure um in the absence of internal in this case leadership structure right leadership depth on the bench at the the leadership LEL to support you there um what you need to do to hold you know to keep the organization healthy um as you as you then build your leadership team I have one more question um how as the leader of the department do you lead change or acceptance of change within your department beginning with change is inevitable it's always ongoing um I've seen through my career a great deal of change uh in every aspect of law enforcement uh from right down to the way we do with it with the way we do our job in many levels um the uh expectations of among the our field are enormous we're asked I believe to do way too many things um and and that puts a great strain in on the off on the people delivering the services in the street as far as change within the organization you're always looking at changes in culture uh there's potential changes in structure uh and responsibilities so you have to be try to stay um knowledgeable of changes within the organization and knowledgeable changes within the field and your Workforce um I don't um so I'm going to extend the question to um so the um the promotion process for the sergeants and now the lieutenant is the subject of um a grievance or a potential grievance um and it is clear that the the additional layer of process is a select board process it's not internal to the contract that process um has stayed true right I reread it last night we've got a couple letters on it um our process is to make sure we have an opportunity to respectfully and individually engage with each of the candidates in a way that isn't necessarily public if it's important for us to just maintain some a level of courtesy as we're exchanging um with individual candidates for promotion so um how do you help your department and US bridge that conversation and allow for a new process from the select board to make sure that we're doing our due diligence in a way that is respectful walking a tight line here I know welcome to leadership well you know there there's the open grievance um so I would stay to um yes we have an internal policy it's been followed um it it asks it it it states I will do take these certain actions they've been done um I will bring forward those actions to you um as far as not not debating the discussing the grievance points here in tonight I think that the union is always respected is open to conversation on policies it's ongoing with us and if we were going to visit those policies we would collaborate with them and uh work together bring in um the town's uh desired outcomes and the Union's deside concerns together and develop a policy that brings both parties together and that's my role to facilitate that as well with the town with the town manager Office okay so I I I just want to be clear we're not suggesting changing your internal policies the contractual policies stand and oh understood yeah understood um Mr K um the this time the summer will take a different form I think I will for the I think the last 15 20 minutes have been great in terms of identifying future improvements however in terms of the how I I just have four questions for the board very quickly quick answers first question being in dealing with the promotions issue comment on the chief contributing new ideas improvements or suggestions just quick answers from the board what do we think the chief could do to improve this process what how he performed in that regard and oh feedback on how how we performed in that regard he I don't I don't understand the question that's clear I lost the threat yeah um as part of the evaluation we have to address how he delivered on each goal in terms of this goal the focus has been largely on the improvements to be made but for the record I just want to ask the board for quick questions on how he did beginning July 1 2023 to now the first question being comment on the chief contributing new ideas suggestions and improvements to the promotion challenges just Creek caners so I thought he did really well uh he presented um two candidates for sergeant um shortly after July 1st um that that was delayed by the board but I think he did well okay I would agree I think he did well and I also see the like the Strategic thinking that U how he presented the phased approach and as mentioned there was uh delay reasons for delay uh so I liked the approach the how kind of going through the training and building up um to those leadership roles and then opening it up um So within that time I've certainly seen that and um I think that was a good strength or um demonstration of strength the other thing I also um I lost my thought but other thing I also was going to talk about is U it'll come back but U oh I remember so the other thing was perhaps you know uh asking for help is also going to help uh in the challenges you face sometimes and I think that's also part of the overall kind of being on the same page cuz we heard about some of the challenges some of the struggles because of ongoing investigations for compliance and others and um I I like how you navigated dly um with your um leadership and expertise because those are very delicate matters uh but I also would uh suggest and like to see how you can seek out for help with other constituencies the board the town uh manager or legal council you probably had legal council help but um that is something that could also uh be helpful in the process should in future something to remember um so I'm very clearly on the record that I see this as a failure in the last 6 months um and um it it was indeed your job to make sure we saw progress on this um and frankly um we didn't see real progress any progress and then saw immediate progress once I made sure it was a public concern so thank you okay so I I thought he' did pretty well given the circumstances but that in retrospect things could have been done differently maybe to um to fill gaps in the in sorry um I thought the chief did uh pretty well on this considering the circumstances and the stresses on the department over the last um year here but then retrospect I think we can all see areas uh for improvement um in in the processes and it did drag out a long time I think what one of the things I found helpful this time was to be able to look at the individuals uh Records with with the Department uh tells you something about their history and uh it helped make the decision which we did not do in the past and uh and then being able to speak to the individuals if necessary when we wanted to uh ahead of time sometimes and to ask some questions and then uh come clear with our decision at the night of uh appropriate promoting promotion so um Mary Joe um just just to be clear I I appreciate your comments so this is not a challenge um that's the very process that is new that we're doing um that the union is grieving right so how can we work together I guess that would be the question I would we don't have to ask it tonight but we need a way to work together to make sure that new process that we're we're building confidence in because it does it does help okay thank you okay um the next question is as as we were dealing with the gaps in the promotion how did you see the chief improving the work environment for his team you want to start Mary Joe well I just I just went through tour of the police department and it was a mess and nobody's even even mentioned that from the water damage I mean they weren't even able to use offices and and a good part of of the second floor and and they were using a a storage room to put everybody in and it just was it wasn't a a good envir work environment and that has changed as of just recently and now people are back and settled and uh it was a hard hard place to bring new people into this awful room where everybody was and and I'm glad to see that that process is made that's nobody's fault they had water damage but um it it just it made for a tough atmosphere and uh you know nobody even said good job during this really tough transition and uh so I I do want to compliment them on that and uh I I can you know there's this this problem of rank and file and lieutenants and sergeants and uh people people feel entitled sometimes if they work for a job long enough they they feel because they've been there so long and uh and you know part of the rank of file they've been there that they feel entitle to a promotion well that's all well and good but it's not necessarily true so we really have to decide what what other aspects of a personality of a person besides as I said before besides just time uh served uh has to be part of the curriculum for advancement thank you Amy okay can you repeat the question again because now I have lost the thread but is what we saw him do during the gaps is that what yes as the as we were experiencing the gaps in the promotions how did you see the chief improving the work environment for his team yeah so we don't get involved in the day-to-day operations of the team so much but I did see that even during the gaps when the we would be um promoting someone for an Academy officer all the other a lot of the other police officers would come and support their fellow um the new recruit and I thought that was a really good sign that they were happy to come and then um they came did a school res officer presentation for us in the fall I think it was that um was really well organized and put together coordinated with the schools so I thought that was another good positive um team building thing and anytime the chief comes before us after there's been some incident like um the car hit the house um or two houses on Grove Street the fire chief and police chief do always come and they give credit to the officers who were there on the scene that day and who did the good work um so I thought those were all positive things that were happening to recognizing to recognize extra work that was being done during the gaps even though maybe in retrospect we should have also offered some stipend of some kind but those are good positive signs that I saw thank you um I I'm also on the record as seeing this as a failure and I um and uh you know I I had the opportunity as the liaison to revisit this um both in public meetings but also whenever we met um and didn't see progress four years team um and I I just would be remiss not to say that in that time we know that um you understood that your department your sergeants were struggling and unhappy with it um and we still didn't see progress so that is a in my mind that's a deep failing um I haven't seen at operational level and I think that uh according to Charter is not part of our responsibility to go at operational level but uh to understand Through Your Eyes through our Leo's eyes and through our um feedback mechanism that we have um so overall I would Echo what Amy has stated I felt that I see happy faces I see you always um promoting the police officers and your deputies or your surgeons whenever they are here whenever we see you at events and others and that shows a camarad that I have sensed to be positive and I think that's a great practice uh as a leader and um in the events that we have here I see and I'm always happy and look forward to those events when I see all the officers their families everyone comes together and establishes that is the culture you have promoted intern and also visibly that it is a family uh and operates and works and feels um and works with each other with that uh culture and um value in mind um that said I think uh my other part is always um data metrics and uh goal driven uh so along the lines that I mentioned earlier be good to uh understand and through your and the framework that operational framework that you practice and follow to see some of those metrics or some of the goals some of which we have we are seeing but something for the future to think about that since these questions are uh being asked um as the chair mentioned as well that how to best um reflect on those how to best best establish those uh otherwise often it becomes you know not healthy when it becomes through R rumors or it becomes through some judgments um so those are something something that is substantial and you know in many ways gives the unbiased view of things uh but overall from my perspective and what I have experienced hard and I spoke to some of the stakeholders key personnels ex officers current U I heard good things and um looking at the camar area I feel good that it is positive and it's looking good so I appreciate that but there's always room to think for more thank you so I believe the question was how this Gap impacted um it's a different question I please for me by the time it comes to seems to have kind of vared um as we experiencing the the the Gap in the promotions how did you feel the chief addressed the work environment for his team so I mean I Echo with what everyone else has said here here but I do see this as an area that needs Improvement uh because anytime you force a workload an additional workload without pay compensation or recognition um it it's it's not pleasant for the person that's taking on the extra roles um but I think it's an area for improvement and and Lessons Learned thank you and then the last question how do you feel the chief communicated from motion Gap to the board the community and his team sorry you were fun all right um so i' say say it was an area that would also uh needs Improvement because you know we really didn't learn about uh we were kept in the loop as to where things were I understand there were uh overriding issues within the department but um as it had been a goal um it should have you know an area of improvement would be communication as to where are we understood yeah I would I would agree on that as well that uh we didn't and time flies there were so many things happening but we need a consistent communication uh and that's where we talked about the periodic review is going to help or overview uh in terms of progress or any roadblocks and how we can help each other or provide better direction or guidance when needed or you need any any type of help but uh I felt also that uh for quite some time didn't have uh full visibility or understanding on the progress so more communication would certainly understood integrate uh so I'm on record um my issue isn't really with the communication we heard about it several times and I had the opportunity to ask about it several more times um it was the lack of action that I have the issue okay Amy I thought Norman was about to say something I we haven't gone the whole way yes oh okay um yeah I would agree there was not much um communication really at all with the public about it or um probably with staff but the same time there were a lot of things that we couldn't say or there are still things we can't say so it it's really a huge challenge so I don't know if yeah if there could have been another way to explain things that people could have understood without telling them things they that are not public um yeah so I guess but I saw was it was a real challenge to do and I don't know I'm still not quite sure how it could have been handled exactly differently youel it it has been difficult uh this time period it's been really difficult it's been difficult for all of us I mean I've many times wanted to say what I wanted to say and I said but I can't do that and you know you just sit here and keep yourself quiet as much as possible while people say all these things about you and it's not not necessarily true but that's why we have a fiveman board so that we you know come up with a a a decision and uh I I believe in the laws and and I'm not you know and I will adhere to them and that's all I can do um so it it is difficult and uh I I don't think it can be done any other way because the district attorneys are involved and people tell us what we can and can't do and that's and that's the law and and that's it we're stuck so uh so I I feel bad I feel bad for the general public I feel bad that that uh we can't be Broad and open all the time but we can't and and you know that's this the simple end of it and when it comes to now I just want to say with recruiting uh lieutenants and and and moving up the line I I would like to say we we get the information that we get from uh new recruits and it's what it's just about what you you know what you can get from new recruits but when it comes to Promotions I would like to see a larger uh scope of the person's career and you know if if we're not going to be able to read the records to uh and for them to expound upon their own experiences and things like that I I would like to have a longer process for that that's all Mr any what did you hear I through the chair I'm actually turning to Jessica I believe the questions gave us the summary I I believe the answers to the questions gave us this sumary is that a question or statement statement did the answer to the question give the summary that you need in terms of what he has in terms of this in terms of this goal yes do we need to clarify anything I ask here's what I [Laughter] heard in terms of the promotions Chief this is an area that requires Improvement the Improvement can focus on processes alignment in terms of the different phases and roles involved and last but not least timely that will be my summary great thank you thank you okay um so the performance expectations um across the areas of the contract so it's just listed and there are there's just one bullet next to it so for command management of any type of police service incident um safe town and opportunities to improve managing visible events budgetary Financial administ ation excellent progress Personnel Administration team building is in progress supervision leadership uh managing through crisis and Leadership uh and morale need Improvement staff development and training good progress on staff development and training but needs tracking or metrics um public relations public relations needs further development um policy execution inadequate policy implementation uh examples include drug and alcohol testing policy accreditation Pro Phoenix body warn cameras and Department evaluation and then interaction with the town manager and board as well as other governmental officials boards committees and the general public um On Target interactions with the board and town manager so um any questions or comments I'll start with UR so really my only comment is I think we've gone gone over all of this um through the evaluation process uh so yeah I mean I don't see why we really need to expand on this I I don't have anything to it you don't have any questions no yeah I I don't either I think we covered through our conversation most of these and in the additional comments also it came about um so nothing more to add this one okay Amy I think the only thing I was going to add about the policy implementation I I I know we are behind on several things here but um I am really hopeful now that we're getting close to full Staffing that that will be an area where Improvement can happen uh going forward because these are all things we want implemented and it has been challenging with the staffing issues Mary Joe well I just I just want to compliment um the police department on the budgetary and financial Administration they're never late they always have their ducks in a row and um you know we have a town meeting we have schedule and they've never held us up and I appreciate that very much uh okay uh I would like to ask um how we are going to constructively address um in inadequate policy implementation so that in 3 months when you have your next review with this board that won't include me um um how we're going to measure um the necessary pro pro progress which means in my mind that we have to set benchmarks and goals and we have to report out on them so how are we going to do that chief for policy implementation yes um so as I've spoken to we are an accredited agency we are working towards um a level a uh version six accreditation which brought about many changes that touched policies in uh some significant ways and some simply ruming and rebolting and um we there is a team in place to to work on that uh I'm meeting with a vendor um soon uh I I've been in conversation and haven't said a date but I to get to that right after the marathon uh to bring that vendor in and will be a um a great source for us in both um ensuring conformance as well as um I I'm believe it'll be bring before you to educate you to in a deeper uh level on on the process and I could bring that in uh we could do that on a periodic basis as we move forward as far as benchmarks the clearest Benchmark is to be in compliance with the post regulations I believe we are about to receive um notice that we are compliant with post I believe we are but that formal uh in conversations today with Detective Sant and ralton who's been working with uh the commission uh he's uh explained that he's we're very close to getting that so establishing benchmarks I think what we could do is um Target uh since we're once we know we're post compliance I think we should first Target uh the low any low any remaining low frequency high-risk policies address those use of force is one of them but that's complete um what I would ask for your consideration is uh if we could have have a discussion at some point on what that looks like uh with hundreds of policies uh what was done in the past as policies were written and uh implemented some policies um I feel and we spoke to this need to go uh to other people including th those stakeholders for instance the schools relative to school resource um Human Resources relative to recruitment selection and hiring and in all those processes and I I think that I would like to formalize somehow amongst us normally I would do this with the town Manor's office um what kind of outlining these are our buckets of policies which ones can we collaborate with the union and com use the standards and and and Implement um and which ones do we want going to legal for review and which ones do we do you uh you directly want to interact with um you know you do have an opportunity for feedback and uh I want to respect that but I don't know if you want to be reviewing a basic policy like author um I mean we have to outline our geographic area you know and do we want to be sending that to Legal so I I think we should um definitely communicate and and work together with that and then I need to I want to understand how moving forward you would expect me to do that traditionally most of that would go through the the town manager's office and if you want a more active role I want to support that so I I would suggest that um when I think about it I think about it a couple levels down um you've you've over you've given us an overview often but um what I think that you need and what you need to be able to report to whenever you're interacting either with the town manager or the board are the um are the the breakdown of the steps you know what it is that it is going to take to achieve success with each of these policies for example one of them could be a review process with the board that you just outlined and would be speaking for the future board we'd be interested in um supporting you on that right but you're going to have to design um the steps needed to operationalize that to action make that actionable um and then report on progress in a way that people can see over time and also you I mean that's how that's the only way I can imagine um managing the work myself but some mechanism for um really sort of benchmarking the underneath steps everything that's going to make the work um rise to the success Mark for the CH yeah I I just want to interject I think um yeah having a kind of laid out plan on each of those how and what are the paths activities that you may need to do to reach out having that would certainly help and getting feedback on that when you have some roadblocks or something how we can help and for each of those maybe the stakeholders or as you're saying the um uh people who are going to help review or approve or accept are a little bit different so kind of build those those um working groups for each of those in your mind and drive through them and making them aware and also if you don't hear any response or something get stuck somewhere escalate it or bring it to you know larger attention to our attention when we talk about the boards about the reviews that way we can also help on those CU I bet um there's a lot involved uh in the process and especially going through so many Stak folder and getting everyone on the same page that said I'm also happy to see that um these are above and beyond the post foundational requirements in many cases uh as I heard and as I have seen uh so that's uh I I think something we always have encouraged and we always have wanted to see progress and institutionalized in our Police Department so we just need all of our hands together to get it done and uh last one um for my understanding is there any type of um benchmarking across towns in terms of these type of policies for example body camps in the neighboring six or8 um and it's great I mean we definitely want to do that where do we stand and where others are from a industry perspective so if I understand the question where do we understand in relation to body cams comparatively to other communities to other communities body cams is an example but I in general wanted to understand that are we near the median I mean obviously we are foundationally uh solid uh but a lot of these are aspirational a lot of these are we want to be you know the best and we are the best we think so how do we measure if we say there are 10 policies that we will take us to that Nirvana State and out of the six towns that we want to compare with uh this town has done four out of six out of 10 and we are targeting 10 out of 10 that will give us you know kind of the peripheral view of things as well um to to know that are we falling behind are we ahead uh and will also help us improve in the future should we need to thank you and maybe going back to our earlier conversation as we interact with other communities we could develop uh some core questions um where are they in different initiatives and and how do they get there so maybe we could use that process to to feed that and more nuts and bolts those are all good ideas but you know it's great to know where other communities are you know to Benchmark ourselves for example on body warn cameras but we had a date certain that they were supposed to be done when we know that it's not going to happen there needs to be a reporting mechanism so that there can be um troubleshooting and and um and lean in from all the applicable agencies so we have to we don't track your deadlines I got into um trying to figure it out um but we missed them right all of the all all of those targets we missed them so you need you need the department needs a mechanism whereby you um you understand at a critical point in the path when you're not going to be able to meet it and and Report out why and what the correct action is that you plan to take or you need help with I I understand and one of the things I think that we need to all work together on is communication because we need to all be on the same page when setting priorities tonight we've outlined a lot of work to be done and I think we should and and however you want to do that prioritize these these uh these these things I had a suggestion along those lines that's okay but I was just thinking um how the t t manager does is T manager report for us every week and sometimes it's briefer than others um but maybe once a month you could give us a police chief projects report on just the status of each of these because I think we all understand sometimes things are outside of our control like those Transformers from eversource like every week There's no progress and they're not here and it's frustrating but just knowing getting that update has helpful but and I can see in what you've submitted to us now that the pro Phoenix after you uploaded the asral data it keeps crashing and so that's not your fault you're working with the vendor to get that fixed but just to we so we know the reason and and you know that you guys are on it I think that could be helpful not every week but maybe once a month the Project's status quickly I think that will help towards the quarterly meetings too as well set some some issues aside or you come in with a better understanding and we can be more focused on on areas of need yeah thank you Mr Camala I believe Jessica um what what I heard is that this summary is pointed out um under item number four I think the board is in agreement with overall um I did not hear any changes that are substantive that will require us to ad this section say that again you didn't hear any changes no I I heard that there were discussions about what could be done differently yeah however I don't see it changing the requiring a change in the weding that is used for a through H so I will say that a through H is so top level that that's challenging for me I'm not I'm not prepared to like dig in and provide changes but more depth those are those are actually the biggest pieces and got the least um least landscape and least comets so that that I guess that's a piece of feedback for the future is that's where I'd want to see if I was doing the job which I won't be in the future um I'd want to see more landscape devoted to the actual expectations per the chief's contract yeah in in fact that's a very good point um we we had an extended discussion in the office in terms of how best we could handle this section we thought about giving the topics as we did and then in setting examples and uh we we we moved away from from that idea so one one Improvement could be State the topic and then identify the examples that illustrate the language in the topic um and this is an area where I think that there substantial Improvement needs to happen particularly in just the actual work of the day benchmarking your work planning your work reporting your work um achieving um Target goals but not the day-to-day work rate because that's not but the projects for sure the yes this is the this is the major work stream I I I I appreciate that clarification the major work streams that are your responsibility for your department to see how you are benchmarking how we're making progress and um what we need to do so we don't miss Target dates does that make sense yeah um yes it does so again we we could we could do this even this year IE insert the examples under each a BC a through H we have those examples already yeah yeah but I I don't necessarily want to uh extend this process I think that that is definitely an improvement for the Future Okay um I I if if if it was my performance evaluation i i i pres I presume you provided them to the chief I'd want the examples for my own use oh each of our individual ones you mean no so the examples under those AB C and D is that something is that something you would want the examples that were provided under those those a through H categories any guidance and suggestions and feedback I would be welcome to and appreciate are you asking for because I did put examples under each of them when I filled out my you're saying think I'm that's what I think think I'm hearing is that this was a very we call it like thin slice of what the feedback came from everybody right um and so more depth in that I would think I I would want to see that next time I don't want to delay this process but I would think that anybody who's being reviewed would want to see the depth of that um and I think I just heard that you would welcome receiving it that when we move forward yes but you would get you would get those more detailed examples provided to you that was that came in as we move forward or turn up yeah yeah yeah yeah no right not not to extend this process but you get the information yes that's okay but I would not like to see the process extended no I None we are all in agreement on that no I 100% but but there's value in the feedback I would think thank you for the opportunity to comment um so the additional comments um I'll just read them quickly I think that I've looked ahead and many of them I think have been talked about the chief has demonstrated leaders ship during the last couple of years by steering the department during difficult situations his pres Presence at the community events and organizing police events with the community projects is a positive a positive impact in image of the department with progress in hiring now focused needs to be more on retention a periodic employee survey and feedback mechanism would be helpful for ongoing pulse checking and New Opportunities need to continue to focus on the new Deputy Chief and Lieutenant hiring and training and complete the ongoing success plan with some of the recent challenging situations despite progress some key projects seem to have slowed down Chief will now need to focus on these more closely also there are some additional areas that came up from the community that may need special attention as below plan and timely execution of the body cameras seek stakeholder help from the board the town manager as needed completion of pro Phoenix Software setup explore and plan for GPS enablement in cars as appropriate review all protocols to bring them up to date as needed establish a more robust communication framework with the select board and town manager for periodic progress reviews and Foster more collaboration so sha I'll give you first swing Madam chair yes is that expected in three months is what expected in three months that all of that are those these are additional comments that came in that didn't I I I have to believe they were all part of the actual categories but they didn't fall neatly into what was summarized is that what we understand yeah so it's not this is not an expectation this isn't like a work piece this was a summary of additional comments you have you have you have this yes yes so I just just to put want to leave tonight with an expectation that I can accomplish that in 3 months no I no and I didn't um I don't think I put any time on it either but yes thank you I appreciate the clarification go ahead yeah through the chair thank you for reading actually the additional comments um were mostly WR by me in in these um and the I can give the context of my writing this um but along those lines it's um essentially that we I tried to summarize all the conversations and move to the Future how we want to see the progress and where uh so these are mostly what we talked about right uh so to summarizing that U you had certainly shown um leadership and um your expertise in running the department through this difficult situation and difficult times we certainly appreciate that and uh with progress in hiring now as I mentioned earlier I want to see more retention from focus more measurement of you know satisfaction moral all those good things and uh certainly we see the continued Focus um and closure of the deputy chief liant hiring and then the succession plan that we mentioned uh and overall um the and again these are covered other places I didn't have any other place to put in uh because of the structure a little bit so the body cam we heard and we also heard and talked about the proix software uh I know there were some glitch that we encountered how we can overcome that and Implement those and there were questions raised about the GPS and other um I am I don't didn't fully analyze the appropriateness or the efficacy and the practice but something since it's came up uh would like to hear your thoughts or the Department's evaluation of that and how we can what we can do about that in future and uh on those notes um we Al so uh and I tried to include some of the things we heard from the community so you are aware and we can work together to address those as needed so one was that uh there are some protocols that appear to be out of date with names and contacts um so what is the review process how can we keep them up to date and uh you know hopefully not but there can be you know some slips and misses but um two things one is what can we learn from from it uh first is how can we address and remediate it and then what can we learn from it and what are the measures and practice we can do going forward so it doesn't uh happen and then finally um the communication that we all talked about and I think I like the idea that having a periodic every 3 month review or two months review whatever um makes makes sense and we have you know key items key metrics eventually we build some of those we talked about some we can build together and the plan for some of the key items that we talked about and the plan doesn't have to be 3 month actually I would like it to see it you know 12 months 18 months as appropriate and 3 months too for the ones that are you know near uh so far near and now uh that's the concept based on that we can discuss periodically um uh 2 3 months and see where the progress is and uh be on the same page I think being on the same page is something um we all learned from this process or this uh media uh review as well that how can we be more in lock step and help each other help you help the department to continue your success thank you I really have nothing to add I mean I think I think we we've we've spoken about this throughout the evening everything has been kind of really fleshed out so really not much that am yeah I don't think I have anything more to add I think we discussed everything m Joe I don't have anything to add I just want to say that going through this process I think I have a better appreciation for the complex and complicated job that you do and um I just I thank you for going to the process with us thank you um so I do have a question about about the GPS enablement is there any reason why we wouldn't do that I don't see any reason I think that I don't see any reason why we wouldn't do it um it's I put a survey out to all the Chiefs um asking if someone had it to provide policies of started collecting policies it's a blend of written into the contract and and I've only had four responses which is unusual um some have it as a device in the car that just collects information and certain triggers cover trigger the recovery of the information um as and some uh have it as it's a board where you see every car on the screen so it it's very broad um why we wouldn't um I don't see that as being as significant as how we roll it out and um as we talk about a lot of these policies touch on very sensitive issues for employees um for instance the body War cameras we we're working through that I've gotten a great deal of feedback from the union on that um I feel they're what they're expressing for concerns and suggestions are are valid and uh some of the suggestions are very positive but as far as GPS goes we we would do the same process we would meet with the Union um address uh identify any concerns and roll out GPS at a at a price point and a return that was uh good return on investment see GPS ability not part of the pro Phoenix GPS ability is part of the pro Phoenix it is okay so it's not something we already own I this is a real question I don't well I what it is is what I'm seeing from the returns some have add- on add-on costs um but but Pro Phoenix have is and I can't speak to what other departments are doing with it currently but uh it would have the ability to with the GPS activated to um give turn BYT directions um but we would have to talk about what gets retained for information how long is it retained when is it when is it looked at and those are all issues that police departments have resolved and we could we could work through it yeah there there has to be there has to be a model out there because um there just has to be but I I understood I'm sorry there has to be there have to be models out there oh AB um that's like since I this conversation started I've been talking yeah I understood it to be part and parcel of the pro Phoenix I could have that wrong and it wasn't something we had to purchase something more about it's just implementing it is am I am I do we have to make an additional purchase to to uh have GPS capability trackers in the car already or was something we have to buy so there's there is the technology we have we have modems in the car that could be activated um we have Pro Phoenix which could provide uh GPS so I don't know I I yeah I'll share with you just embarked on the research part of it um the pro Phoenix roll out is staggered and that was that's been that's been pushed back as I said we're just now getting our conversion we're working with it it's uh we were the first in the state and we we've done a line share of uh the First full roll out uh using everything of pro Phoenix and we've done the Lion Share of a lot of work that was done um to bring it into the state fully and uh we'll now um one thing that I would report on director darad has uh taken a model from a prior software vendor that we were partnered with since the 90s of having having a user group and they've created a a user group that will work together so Pro Phoenix will hear from all the cities in towns that are are in and they'll work to establish the priorities for implementation so um I'm hoping for future towns their role out will be smoother um but they're very receptive and they're always there now we'll be moving past the records management phase the operational police phase um commutated dispatch phase and we'll move them into the cars and I I can report back on that functionality in Greater depth later and if I could um and you didn't mention this part but I'm sure it's on your mind too about um the redaction of data in the GPS because once we are tracking GPS people can make a public records request for it and then just like some crimes don't appear in a police log for redution reasons there'll be you know that a car was at a certain house sometimes can't be shared correct like so so that's a big process too and I know it's an issue with the body cams too some footage even though we will be recording it can't be shared but that it's harder to redact video than it is there are some complex issues but it's not insurmountable so um Mr camalo what did you hear I don't want to forget what I he is that the board is comfortable with the summary as provided um there are no additions to be made I would agree with that yeah um the uh uh the only thing that I've been thinking about in these last five minutes is what um what we owe in return right communication is a reciprocal thing and I just I just heard the chief um ask about how to prioritize all that we talked about tonight so I think that that's an action item for us mhm um to take home and provide some some input into um priorities that are ours to make some of them aren't ours to make some of them are yours to make right but um so that that would be you know that would be a future conversation too but I think that we should all um if you agree make sure we have that information um for the packet not to bring you back necessarily but for the packet because it's public information at our next meeting so that we can provide it to you the public is aware of what we provide Ed um certainly you would be invited to exchange with it I'm just saying I I didn't I don't necessarily think that it has to be a a big conversation unless you want to you want to do that I mean I want the ongoing conversation so anytime you want to come before us and talk about that is fine but I thought just to get priorities into you um but tell me what you think what would be the best what would make the most sense um in in whatever the appropriate form is if you would collaboratively collect establish your priorities and then I would have I feel comfortable that I would always be given the opportunity to give you any additional information that might where might I might say want to offer that a certain priority is isn't needs to be Advanced as long as um I I'm comfortable I would have that opportunity to off more information right to me I just want to make sure that we I mean that makes sense to me there's an awful lot of conversation talk to about it's hard it's hard to synthesiz we don't I don't none of us know what what the priorities will eventually be from this board because we've all been listening to the same conversation so there's no way the chief can know without us putting some work into that I think I I agree I think we we owe him a deliverable on our priorities and I think uh the chief is stated very very well stated there are going to be times where other things need to be prioritized and um as long as he lets us know I think works for me through the chair I think um two things one is that um the summary that Norman and Jessica are going to help that'll be one package right I mean we discussed and you had summarized so that is going to be in some shape or form or yeah this is so we'll get a final right that's one respectfully here's the suggestion there's a reason why we provided this draft or be it we provided it late there's a reason why at the end of each goal we summarized and this recorded my recommendation respectfully to the board is to remove a motion to authorize the chair and V director to finalize as was discussed tonight okay so Moe second second all those in favor I any opposed any extensions okay it's a good suggestion okay so that was the first one so that's now and then just to my to my suggestion that we we do some work to help prioritize or to help speak to our priorities for the next three or six months does that make sense ye yes it does um my my thinking is the conversation does not end here when the document is summarized the chair will sit down with the chief and then work out a plan in terms of how the board and the chief will work on developing the priorities okay yeah okay I don't I don't hate that I had two points so I talked about first one and I wanted to touch on the second one sure oh yeah yeah yeah so the second one is um that the priorities that we are talking about we have collected um I hear you saying that we want to take a homework and bring the priorities and discuss I wasn't very clear on that but I think we discussed enough priorities uh or a lot of priorities tonight and some of those are immediate which are already in your goals for rest of the year uh but if there are thoughts to change those we we should talk about that and communicate clearly so the expectations are clear and then there are some that are our long term U or near term um goals so for those I think I like the idea that we all bring or someone summarizes it from this discussion then at some point we get to discuss that with you and get your feedback as well and set those priorities for longer term and then what I think would be a good communication plan is having that far near now plan uh on the board when we meet every uh few months periodically and see where things are and which ones you want to tackle next from the long one or far ones uh that's just my thought on that so let me see if I'm clear so we are going to finalize the the summary for this um and um yes we talked about a lot of priorities what I was thinking was is that we would not not change them but just capture them so that we're all saying the same thing right you and I heard different different things in the conversation just capture it if there are priorities that we can provide that are helpful to the chief does that make sense sure right I just communication is this tricky tricky thing and you said it um I don't let me put words in your mouth um that there was a lot talked about tonight and what are the priorities I just think that there's an ongoing conversation to help shape um that if that is helpful communication is think we all agree is Big Focus going okay uh anything else when I take this opportunity subject hold on yeah go ahead no go go ahead ahead go ahead mine is a totally different subject um a week from we don't have another meeting between now and the marathon which is a week from Monday and I just wanted to remind the people of the town that we're going to have a children's Road Race there's going to be a little entertainment I believe on the common and there's going to be some vendors again this year and uh we are really would like the town to come out and support the activities that might be going on over the weekend and and uh last night we had a we had a a lovely time with the baa and the uh Arts cultural Council and uh 26.2 and the marathon committee uh and and us and mural and the board accepted some wonderful gifts to the town on uh the evening of their 100th anniversary uh the race has been 100 years as of this year and and uh we want to celebrate and you'll be seeing some of those things as they come into town that we were given and uh I really want to see people participate that's all I do have the gifts if I don't have the right car with me I didn't even take them into my house for two reasons I want them to get lost my husband would meet me at the door and tell me that they can't come into the house um but I have the wrong car I will bring them to town hall um lovely gifts um so yeah really nice of uh Mr camalo back to you yeah um we a town hall value feedback um as an organization we have prioritized um performance conversations on a very regular basis with employees um we at Town Hall work under various legislative regimes beginning with uh we have Union contracts they they do Define how performance evaluations are conducted for Union employees um we also have nonunion employees their performance evaluations are conducted under the employee handbook we also have contracted positions to manager police chief and fire chief as an organization we are a learning organization um we are always looking for opportunities to improve processes uh as we know and I think generally is accepted that uh unlike in the private sector when we have to conduct performance evaluations in public uh it becomes very awkward um and combining that with the fact that we a learning organization yes times it's going to look clumsy it's going to look messy uh however I want to take the opportunity now to to thank the board for staying with what you needed to do as a board I want to thank the police chief and your team uh for contributing immensely to how we got to this point uh I want to thank the assistant Town manager as well as the new HR Director also for dedicating their time insights uh um towards getting us to this point I also want to reach out to the community uh and thank the community for its input um we did receive a ton of feedback U from the community um again as I always share with my colleagues at Town Hall we work in the public sector we are accountable to the community and at various points the community will always tell us what it thinks about our performance um I have shared with my colleagues that yes some moments is going to be painful but we need to find a way to deal with the realities of the work that we do again want to thank the board for staying the course want to thank the chief for your patience I want to thank your team for contributing to this process want to thank the town hall staff that make performance evaluations uh what they are here were learning organization and there will always be opportunities to learn from some of the mistakes we make you thank you thank you nor chair move Jour any discussion all those in favor say I I any oppose any thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you