--------- You're back live, ma'am. Check. >> Hey, very good. >> Sitting there. He's sitting right there. >> Oh, he's sitting right there. >> You're hiding. I'm so sorry. Well, welcome. Uh, come on up, Dr. Clarkson. I'm sorry I didn't see you come in. I
was wondering why he was starting the video so so soon without you here. So, welcome. Anyways, um just want to say your resume speaks for itself and um as we did the first uh round for the candidates, we're going to ask three
questions. Um we'll do one round, then we'll do a second round and a third round. If there are any additional questions, we'll we'll ask you. So um I know that one for one of the things that I am always um ex I have expectations for is leadership and management,
budgeting and financial management, uh community uh relations, strategic planning, operations and service delivery, e ethics and accountability, vision and um uh county specific. So uh I guess we'll start this time we'll
start with uh Commissioner Hanley. >> Sure. Just a brief uh opening statement. Um, thank you for coming and good afternoon. As we begin these interviews, um, trying to state clearly my expectations uh, for this role for where Plymouth County stands at a unique
crossroads. Uh, we've had proven ourselves as national leaders in the fiscal efficiency and stewardship, specifically through our work and the federal relief funding of CARES and APA. However, my vision for this county is not merely to maintain current operations, but to become powerhouse for
regional progress. I'm looking for a county administrator who acts as an architect of our future. We are moving towards a model where the county leads a portfolio of complex multi-year regional infrastructure projects ranging from long-term water quality to utility
management. And it is critically to sustain uh programs like the food resiliency and the waste to energy initiatives to succeed. I'm looking for you to do three things. First, as a strategic project manager, you'll be
managing multiaceted portfolio and I need to know you can handle the intense administrative demands of these projects which will be over several years. and I'll be looking for a commitment from three to five years uh from our next administrator. Second, as a fiscal
entrepreneur, our revenue structure is unique, built on deeds, excise and community assessments. I want to make sure you're able to use our limited local dollars as seed capital to leverage uh significant state and
federal investment. and I'd like you to demonstrate how you can turn our proven reputation of efficiency into a financial advantage, ensuring that every project clears is clear and delivers a long-term of investment for our 27
communities. So with that, this role is not uh in my mind as a caretaker. I'm looking for a leader who is prepared to commit to that three to five year vision and drive for legislative change and secure the infrastructure uh for our
future. So thank you for coming Dr. Clarkson. >> Thank you. Very good. Okay. Did you have an opening statement by the way? I didn't know if you wanted to start up. I'm sorry before I started. >> No, Madam Chair. Yeah. With with your indulgence. Yes. I would like to pass something on to each of you if that's
all right. Sure. What I've done is just compiled I know you have my resume but I did put some highlights uh together not just of my educational experience but of some highlights of some of the accomplishments that my team and I have
been able to achieve uh and Bridgewater in Hanover and in the last seven and a half years in Brockton. So it gives you some highlights that will be the springboard perhaps for some of our discussions in our time together this evening. Uh I als this this list
also includes I think some other highlights some recognition that I'm humbled and grateful to have been awarded by my peers uh both for my professional work and my charitable work at home and felmouth. So I'm grateful to be here tonight.
This is a familiar place for me. Uh I I was honored to be the county administrator from 2008 to 2010. uh and have had stops along my career as you can see in places within Plymouth County after that. And so you may I suspect be
wondering why am I back here and why would I want to come back here? And I think the reason for that is uh is that at no time I think in my career or in frankly in our lifetimes has the opportunity the need uh for
regionalization been more acute than it is right now. Uh as we can see in everything from municipal finance to water supply uh communities in Plymouth County uh are struggling because the funding mechanism of Proposition 2 and a
half is broken. Communities are struggling to meet their everyday demands. Uh but also I think the boundaries that were set 400 years ago in some cases uh are are no longer valid. Right? an aquifer below the
surface doesn't recognize geographic borders, right? And we know just in the last several weeks the reports that we've seen of communities in Plymouth County that are struggling to meet the water demands. And that's just one instance, I think, of the opportunity uh to bring communities together, to bring
people together uh to look at government a different way. And that's something I've been doing my entire career. Uh I also included in your packet I write a column uh in Fmouth and have for nearly 20 years and I write exclusively about local government and over the last
several months I've written actually two columns about regionalization and about opportunities. Uh and so I include those for you as again a spring springboard for discussion tonight and uh and perhaps moving forward. And so I'm honored to be here tonight and I think
because I've made a career of bringing people together uh of innovative hopefully we'll talk about some of the things we've been able to achieve in Brock despite very difficult circumstances and uh and initiating programs that that conserve resources
that save money uh and that ultimately benefit the taxpayers of the communities in which I work. So, uh, I'm very happy to be here today and look forward to engaging with you, uh, over the next several minutes, uh, about opportunities for us to work together. Thank you.
>> Very good. Thank you. Sorry, Commissioner Valins, I cut you off. >> That's okay. Um, >> uh, Troy, thank you very much for applying and for being here this evening. Um, like you, I'm excited to chat. I do have, um, couple of questions. Mine don't necessarily fall
in the buckets the chair put out, but with the affiration I'll ask them. Um, one of my questions, uh, do you currently derive income from other employment? Uh, whether it be self-employment or otherwise. >> Yes.
>> Would you mind? I'm sorry. I receive very, very modest renumeration for the column that I write. I'm happy. It they uh they pay me $25 per column. Uh I I uh I also am a labor arbitrator uh and have
been for many years, but I I see that as uh an attribute that that's very positive. So I am a professional in labor relations and I arbitrate public sector and private sector unionized labor cases. And so what that means is when municipalities or private companies
and their unionized workforces have disputes, they refer them to me uh and [clears throat] I write binding decisions that have the force of law uh related to those disputes. I've been able to very successfully balance the demands of
that. I carry a fairly light case load, usually two or three cases. Right now I have three cases that are ongoing. One of them is scheduled for hearing in December. And always when uh I I have a day that requires me to hear a case and I they I
take time off from work. So I'm able have been able to with the support of my employers uh to balance those two uh responsibilities. And of course should I have the privilege of being appointed as the administrator. Uh
that would be my utmost priority and my responsibilities in Brockton for the last seven and a half years. I was a appointed an arbitrator while I worked in Brockton um would have been my priority and I've been able to with the support of
three four mayors three different people uh balance those responsibilities >> just on that madam chair only so just to clarify to me because when I went through the resume um I saw Troy Clarkson Consulting LLC so is that the
LLC you use to like book the arbitrator like so that's your your legal entity to do that. Um >> about how many hours a week 1 hour 10 hour no hours varies roughly. It does vary. As I said, I carry a fairly light
case load intentionally because my priority or my my main professional pursuits uh I would say when I have a case, it's a full day of a hearing. Usually one day, sometimes two, but generally one day. Okay. And then uh a day or two uh to write the decisions.
I'll usually frankly do that on the weekends. Okay. Uh so I would say maximum maybe three to four days per year. >> Okay. Um, and then just to be consistent since I opened the last one with the with two questions. Um, so Bristol County
currently has a larger staff, larger budget staff. They also have an agricultural school. Uh, their administrator currently makes $110,000. Uh, given that, what do you think the pay the Plymouth County administrator should be given that the county of Plymouth has half the budget, 1/8 of responsibility?
>> Well, great question. Uh obviously uh the the pay that I earn now is significantly more than what was advertised for the administrator. I do think uh I'll point to the points made by Commissioner Hanley uh during his opening statement. I think what you're
looking for and what excites me about this position is you're looking for someone with the experience, the energy, with the capabilities, with the relationships to to take this county and bring it to the next level as a consumer
of Plymouth County, right? Uh for the last almost 20 years of my career, uh I know what you've been able to build. Uh the existence of CARES and ARPER were a gamecher for Plymouth County and and all
of you know because you were in Brockton presenting checks to to the government. What a game changer that has been. And what I see is that outstanding foundation that's been built can and should be built upon. Uh, and so I think
what you you need and I think what I provide is the again the ability to build on that and really build something to the next level that really helps communities regionalize and provide services. Uh, and I think to have
someone with the experience to be able to do that, it warrants compensation. What that number is, should I be appointed? Hopefully we can have negotiations on that. So, uh, I understand, uh, that Bristol County is a
is a different entity, but what I believe the commissioners are looking for is someone that can come in and be a dynamic leader, uh, and and really take the county to the next level. >> Thank you. >> Very good. So, my question to you would
be, um, what do you see as the biggest challenge facing county government and, uh, over the next five years? When I speak in my travels to people about county government, uh, which I do frequently, as you all know, I live on the Cape, which has, like Plymouth, an
active county government, but I describe the fact that it all started right here, not too far from here, just down the street where there's a little rock sits on the beach. And these people came seeking freedom, uh, and seeking self-discovery and self-governance. And
it did they did okay for a little while and then a couple of people got in an argument and that's how Duxberry was quite literally how it happened, right? And then that repeated itself 350 times and those borders and those walls are as
psychological as they are physical. And so I think one of the challenges uh is finding ways to break down those barriers and actually convince communities that regionalization is part
of their future. Convincing town administrators and town managers uh and select board members and council members that maybe Plymouth County doesn't need 27 assessing offices. maybe it doesn't
need 27 fire departments. Uh so I think one of the greatest challenges is being able to bring communities together uh so that they're willing to break down some of those barriers and regionalize. But that's just one of the
challenges. I think another is the the revenue issue uh that that Commissioner Hanley mentioned. I think the budget itself and the revenue is not very dissimilar to what it was when I left here in 2010. Uh and so the challenge to
bring in additional revenue uh to leverage some of the assets that that county has. I was here at the meeting when you discussed uh what's going on with with the wood lot and so building on some of those public private
partnerships to try to build other sources of revenue is is a challenge. Uh, I think seeking out grants. Uh, I created a grants office in Brockton just a few years ago and since we did, we've been able to capture more than $10 million in grants for the city of
Rockton. Uh, and and as I believe you know, uh, you're able to capture generally with most of those grants up to 10% of uh, those grants can be build directly for administrative costs to the government energy. So 10 million, you
know, 10% of that, over a million dollars in additional revenue to the city. And so we were able to hire two full-time grant writers and more than pay their salary based on the revenue that they were able to bring in. But that opens up other doors. Uh so I think
how we uh get beyond the issue of breaking down those borders is through relationships. And I think one of the things that I offer to the commissioners is uh nearly [clears throat] 20 years of relationship building here in Plymouth County. started in 2008 when I assumed
the role of the county administrator and I've worked here ever since and have built relationships and have relationships with uh with county leadership in communities throughout the county with elected officials uh with legislators and and I think it's really
important that you have someone that can use those relationships again to open up some of those doors. I I talked uh and in my opening remarks about water supply just because that's a critical issue here in Plymouth
County right now. Uh one of the columns that I wrote that I provided to you talked about regionalizing desalination. Just think about that as a potential issue for Plymouth [snorts] County to champion. Whether that's through the establishment of some regional water
collaborative or the county leading efforts itself. There are billions and I with the billions with a B of dollars of grants out there uh and the opportunity for us to be a regional leader to provide water and and I think we're only limited by our imagination by the way
you know maybe someone watching this says well is Plymouth County really going to build a desalination plant you know somewhere uh on on the eastern coast of the county well why not and so I think I present myself as the kind of thinker that can think about things out
out of the box like that, but make them a reality. And I'm answering this question in a long-winded way, but it's an important one. Let me give you a real world example. Brockton, like many communities in Plymouth County, had crushing pension costs that were going to double
between 2020 and 2036 from $30 million a year out of the operating budget to $60 million a year out of the operating budget. And I know many of the Plymouth County communities are favored challenges just like that. But rather
than just accept that $30 million increase because out of the budget if you have to spend $30 million more and pension costs and there's not a lot of additional revenue coming in, then that money would have to come from police and fire and education and public works. So,
what we did is built on a program that started in 2005 and actually convinced the city council uh that we should go out and borrow $360 million to save $95 million. Now, that sounds
counterintuitive. So, what I did was bring together a group of professionals from legal professionals to bonding professionals to actuaries and we met for a year and a half. I even brought in my predecessor and we met for a year and
a half, excuse me, and put together a plan that was ultimately adopted by the city council uh that saved the city an estimated $95 million. What we were able to then do with that savings, the city had tried to build a new public safety building for a generation and was not
able to accomplish it. using that savings from the pension bond program, we were able to build that public safety building without raising taxes. And so when I talk about the priorities for the county over the next 5 years, what I
present to you is not only someone who is experienced in dealing with some of those challenges, but in creating innovative solutions and and I think that uh that presents an opportunity for all of us, >> right? And I have a follow-up question.
Um, since I asked the first question was, uh, I think at one point when you were in Bridgewater, we had a discussion about, uh, town managers not wanting to give up any of their, um, functions that they have in the town, but now they're
all facing such hardships. Uh, do you think it's a time now where it's the right time to address the fact that, uh, they can't, you know, be sustainable with everything that they're carrying? 100%. Oh, thank you, Tom. Uh,
absolutely. And that's what I meant in my opening remarks. I don't think there's been a time certainly in my professional career, but I think would say in my lifetime where it's been more ripe for regionalization because of that. If you just look at Bridgewater as an example and and I and I will
[clears throat] offer some of the highlights. When I got to Bridgewwater, they had negative $750,000 in free cash. negative free cash and and as you know commissioner because you were involved in Bridgewater back then in two years we turned that into $2 million in positive
free cash but it was a very different time and we were able to [clears throat] change our our uh projections on revenues and bring some new revenue into the town uh to help with that turnaround.
Uh but now things are much different. As I said, the the funding mechanism for Proposition 2 and a half is uh is broken. Uh if you look just in the general area where we're at here right now, uh regional school districts are are struggling and looking at overrides.
The town of Marshfield is $7 million upside down. [clears throat] Um throughout Plymouth County, you have communities that are considering overrides uh or significantly cutting services. And so it I think
regionalization is an absolutely necessary piece of the puzzle. Is it the only solution? >> No. But certainly uh and I'd like to by the way thank my grandson. My grandkids are visiting here from Raleigh and they brought with them smiles but they also
brought with them a cold and that's what I'm suffering to hear. So George Buckley if you're watching thank you very much. Thank you. I appreciate that. So, uh, now I think because the environment is very different than it was in 2008 when I first worked as
the county administrator because communities just they don't have other ways to look and uh, I was [clears throat] speaking with a former city councelor in Boston the other day and uh, you know, he said, "Well, maybe we call it proposition three and a half and maybe there's some energy in the
legislature to change it a little bit." But I think changing that function, tweaking that just a little bit is not going to solve the long-term challenges for municipalities in Massachusetts and in Plymouth County. I think we, and when
I say we, I mean the commissioners and me and the team have to help change the narrative about how governments deliver services. If you go throughout the United States, you'll look at the way they deliver
services. In one of those columns, I write that the the the Cape Cape Cod has 15 towns and 19 fire departments because town of Barstable has five separate and distinct fire departments because they fund it through water districts.
The county of Los Angeles, and I forget the exact number, but it's in there, uh, serves, I think, over 300 municipalities, and they have one fire department. So, I'm not picking on the fire department, but I use that as an example in the
column. My point is we need to change the paradigm and the dialogue around what service delivery means and how we can help. the parking program uh is an excellent example, right? Uh I think we just need to go beyond that and build on
that and demonstrate to the communities that we can be an effective service delivery provider. And I think we have the trust and the credibility thanks to the programs of the commissioners and of the treasurer with ARPA and and CARES.
And so the momentum is there to build on that and really take I think the county experience to the next level. Very good. Um I know uh Deputy Jeff Welch does a great job in the park and I know he's built it, you know, to a uh many towns
uh right now and you know I'm sure he would be open to anything that you would have to bring forward to, you know, make it better would be a plus. But he's done a fantastic job. We just had to put that in. So uh Commissioner Hanley, you have any?
>> Yeah. Um, securing the future of the county requires winning the support of the 27 communities and na navigating through the state legislative and federal processes. What's your strategy for maintaining political uh momentum across multiple budget cycles and how do
you ensure that the projects that we speak of water quality, anorobic digestion, food resiliency, how do we um ensure these projects are are viewed with a shared success with the communities? >> The simple answer to that, commissioner,
is it's all about relationships. Uh, I think the more complex answer is it's about building relationships as elected officials, encouraging and supporting the commissioners and your pursuit of building relationships with fellow elected officials in the county, but also as an appointed official having the
ability to have some credibility and trust in those communities uh within the county and present ideas in a way that there is shared success. and that it's not a threat to somehow
challenging the sovereignty of those communities. Right? To go back to that original example with Plymouth and Duxbury and how this whole thing got started, I think finding ways to be able to have conversations with select boards, with town administrators and
town managers about ways that we can solve problems along with them, not on necessarily on their behalf, but along with them and form coalitions. So maybe some of these challenges, the county has an entity or a department that addresses
those issues. But maybe with some of those challenges, water quality could be one of them, we actually are the lead to form collaboratives um where we partner with other communities. Uh back in 2009,
Plymouth County uh started an initiative to provide regional dispatch. Um and and our original plan was to have all of the communities in the county join in and have one dispatch center. And as I went to the fire chiefs and police chiefs in the county,
>> we reminded them that at the time I I forget how many dispatch centers there were in the county, they I mean in Massachusetts, there were hundreds of them at the time and the state of Texas had six. And so we were able to use that example. Now,
those regional dispatch centers didn't pop up uh throughout Massachusetts as they have over the last 15 years because we started the dialogue. But I believe that us starting the dialogue helped out some of those communities come together
and legitimized some of those discussions. So, there's so many different roles we can play as the county government uh to bring stakeholders to the table and to to to help solve problems. And I don't think I said it before, but I'll probably say it two or three more times before our time
together concludes. We're only limited by our imagination. So I don't think there's a challenge that's too small or too big. Uh I use the assessing example all the time because I think it's lowhanging fruit in every community. Uh no matter if they're half a million
people or half a thousand people in Massachusetts, they have to go out and evaluate their properties. And generally they use the same software. They certainly use the same methods. Uh easy way that we could provide some support and do that on a regional basis
or the whole how do we provide to a half a million residents in Plymouth County clean Passfree drinking water right huge multi-million maybe in the billion dollar issues. But I think our approach is the same. It's being able to with
credibility bring elected and appointed officials to the table. uh be willing to to have the energy and the staying power to do those things over the long term. Some of these efforts are going to take years to come to fruition. But what I think I
learned and what we proved with our pension bond program is, as I said, that was a year and a half's worth of work. And just last week, we completed it by issuing the final $59 million. Uh and so I've been able to bring people together and sustain that action over the long
term. Uh keeping elected officials informed and engaged and up to date on on what our tasks are. So uh I think that that's the key uh is making sure that those relationships are
nurtured and sustained. Uh I will say as an administrator and manager uh one of the keys to that is finding effective ways to keep the elected officials informed. uh having served as a select board member for many years 30 years ago
uh but also as a town manager. I think that the relationship between the elected officials and the appointed officials is critical to to that success and making sure that the appointed official is carrying out the wishes but
also communicating those activities. So, I've found ways through regular reporting, uh, providing detailed reports to elected officials that allow them to cull through what's going on in the office and then at a meeting ask questions
because that's one of the the greatest challenges I've found is where the sort of policym uh job of a an elected board ends and where the day-to-day activities begin. And so I also offer that as something in
which I've got pretty significant experience and and have both appointed and elected colleagues in every community where I've worked who will gladly have conversations with you about my approach uh should you want to do
that. So that it's not just me sharing my experiences with you but real experience from again both elected and appointed officials in every place that I've worked including Rockton. um that that can speak to my ability to bring people together and to achieve goals.
>> Thank you. >> Great. Commissioner Valenz, >> thank you. Um Troy, can you discuss uh other positions you may have been a finalist for over the past two years? >> Over the past two years. I can only
think of one and I applied for a similar position in in Barstable County. >> Okay. Um and if I may, just a quick followup. Madame Chair, so you were a finalist, but you weren't chosen. Do you have any thoughts on why that may have been?
>> Well, yes, I do. Uh, but perhaps the the the commissioners would be better suited to to to answer that. We all live commissioner in a in a world full of politics and uh and I think all of you know uh I'm not the only uh person in my
family engaged in politics. And so, um, my wife, uh, is the sheriff of Barable County and, uh, we'll leave it at that. >> Understood. Thank you. >> You're all set.
>> Yeah. On that one, I mean, I still have the other two that I'll ask after, unless she want to do them now. >> Okay. Um, so I'm sorry, I kind of got lost here. Um, oh, do you believe that federal funding is uh a better source of grants versus
state? Uh, and would you focus specifically on uh well, you said you would be focusing on grants bringing in? So, do you think we have a better chance uh federally versus state uh grants? >> That's a great question and I think
you know if you would asked that question two years ago, maybe the qu the answer would be different. the as we know the federal government today uh has reduced
funding for many many programs. Um but I can tell you that with the right approach there's lots of federal funding still available. Um we today in my
office were discussing uh the priorities for half a million dollar federal earmark that we were able to achieve working with Congressman Lynch uh for additional equipment for the new
public safety building. So there's through the federal government what we uh what we used to call the earmark process uh is still available uh but also significant federal funding. We have uh several grants that we're
working on for the the redirection of the traffic on Brockton's main street. Uh projects for some environmental review through the EPA to revitalize some vacant properties. So there still uh I think are
lots of grant opportunities through the federal government. One of the challenges is not knowing when and if some of that money will be clawed back. So there is significant funding available at the state level through a
variety of programs uh that that are consistent with the services the county provides. So [cough and clears throat] I wouldn't say that one or the other is preferable. I think it's worthwhile very much so to
pursue both. uh and but also there's significant grant funding uh in the nonprofit sector for public agencies out there. Uh and and we have a a grant that we just received from the Bar Foundation uh to help us hire a transportation
planner to uh to bring on an employee to help uh look at redirecting traffic in the downtown area and how that's going to impact uh the downtown area. We're about to put one of the I think one of the most
valuable properties in the metro south area for redevelopment, the police station on commercial street uh out to bid to be sold and redeveloped uh because we built that new public safety building up the street. >> So having a sense of
what grants are available to to help with that. Not so it's an interesting question because of our times but the as we know elections have consequences and uh I'm not here to support any candidate for president in
2028 but but the environment may still change then and we'd have to redirect and so I think the key is that in me you'll have an administrator who has experience successful experience at navigating those challenges. is whatever
they may be. >> So, I have one follow-up question. I know I've been trying for several years to get a gun range going for uh police and also training for the fire departments. Uh do you see or do you
think that there would be any possible funding through federal or state for that for safety? >> I without a doubt. Yeah. Absolutely. uh particularly because having some familiarity with that
project uh because there would be regional benefit and I think one of the the things that uh some of those larger DOJ grants look at is whether or not there's there's regional benefit. >> The other question I'm sorry
commissioners um this is just a followup. Uh would you be willing to do or how do you reach the communities? Uh would you do it by social media and cable? would you, you know, be willing to go out on the radio stations or cable uh maybe on a monthly basis and get our
uh programs out there? >> Of course. Yeah. I mean, I I I would submit to you that that's one of my strengths and and something in which I have pretty significant experience. Uh I mean, at at home, an active presence on local cable access
uh many years ago received an award as a volunteer of the year for the local cable access. uh station. Uh I I think today uh we have to meet people where they're at in terms of communication. So I don't think it's one strategy. It's not just
interviewing with Kevin Tachi, although that's really important. It's not just reaching out to the traditional print media, although that's important. It's not just having a social media presence, although that's important. I think it's understanding that people gathered their news in so many different ways. We have
to be flexible and again using that I word innovative in how we communicate. My uh my 32-year-old daughter is very wellinformed. She's very politically engaged. Uh she gets almost all of her news from Tik Tok.
>> I don't get that. I don't understand it. Uh, but I understand that I have to meet her wish, but she's she's well informed and and she she has a political philosophy, but she seeks out information from lots of different sources so that she can synthesize it
and try to to come to her own conclusions. And so she doesn't just seek information from sources that are aligned with her political philosophy. And the reason I bring that up is I [clears throat] think that taught me a lesson about how government needs to
communicate, right? And so, yes, making short two-minute videos that we share on Tik Tok and Instagram and having an Instagram page, uh, but also having more traditional approaches that cater to people maybe in, you know, in our
demographic, and I use that loosely, uh, u, >> thank you. [laughter] in our demographic. Uh [clears throat and cough] so I I think and that's something I've been able to do do successfully in in the past uh because I think it's really important
you know uh a lot of people aren't familiar with their select board members or their county commissioners uh or even their governor or or their representatives in Congress. But there are ways I think that we can push information out and engage uh at a at a
greater level so that some of the things that we've been talking about tonight uh can can reach more people. >> Very good. Commissioner Hanley. >> Yep. Um you already answered two of my other questions that I asked the previous candidate, but you had
mentioned uh regional programs in assessing was lowhanging fruit. Are there other examples that are lowhanging fruit [snorts] that don't require a grant? Are there ways or economies of scale that can be gained by, you know,
regional dog officer, veterans agent is what they have up in uh Norwalk, weights and measures. Uh they have a different model up there, but you know, with the revenue that we have and the budget we put together this year, we set aside 150,000 for regional projects. And I'm
just wondering uh you know we're saying we're talking about a tenure of between 3 to 5 years on the big projects. What about the lowhanging fruit and how quick would you be able to initiate that type of change? >> I'll answer the last question first. I
think I'd be able to initiate it immediately because part of the answer to Commissioner [clears throat] Wright's question too was actually getting out to meet with administrators and select boards and talking about I
mean it's the perfect time, right? We have a new budget that starts this week. So, we have a whole year uh to go through that process to see what we may be able to do to help some of those communities. Uh and you you mentioned a couple of them, Commissioner, right, that uh
veteran services, there's a requirement in the statute uh that governs how communities provide veteran services, but they're allowed to do things on a regional basis, and some communities do. Uh I I would say virtually any of the
financial functions of communities are ripe for regionalization. uh public works uh uh some of the the the services that that they provide engineering back when I worked for the county the last time right uh after the
several of the 14 counties were eliminated some of them realized that they they needed to do things regionally Franklin County created a council of governments uh because they they knew that it made sense and they [clears throat] started providing
engineering services on a regional basis Uh so it's it's almost limitless. You mentioned animal control. Another one. Uh does every community in Plymouth County need to have vehicles and equipment and firearms? Do you know that
animal control officers discharge their firearms >> uh on a per capita basis far more often than police officers? Uh and there's so there's lots of equipment and intense spending that goes with that. Could we relieve that and provide some regional
services? Of course. [clears throat] I think the key is to get out into the communities and meet with the elected and the appointed officials and find out from them what's important to them. Uh what could they regionalize or shed when I was the town manager in Hannibal, we actually talked about combining the fire
department with Raleigh. Uh and and there were legitimate discussions. they then broke down over some of the boundary issues that I spoke of earlier. Uh so that's I think the key is having momentum on some of that lowhanging
fruit while not losing sight of some of those real big 8 10 20 year issues. And I think the list of achievements that I've provided to you prove that I can can do that. Keep the eyes on the prize on sort of keeping the trains running.
uh but also be able to have the ability to shoot high and look at those long-term issues. That relates to a question that I wrote about frequently in my academic studies and somebody people ask me all the time
actually, what's the difference between a manager and a leader? My answer to that is a manager gets the trains to run on time where a leader gets people to jump on the train with them. And and I think what I offer to you and what I
think is needed at Plymouth County at this point in its history is both someone who can handle the day-to-day activities and work on some of those uh lowhanging fruit issues, but also have the experience and the vision to really look
at things on a regional basis and say, could we have uh a a countywide approach to the fire service. Could we have a countywide approach to providing PASF free water? Could we have a countywide
approach to municipal finance? Uh but on the same token, could we have a countywide approach to providing shelter for animals that are picked up uh by animal control officers? >> Sure. And and and and so I think that's
frankly what excites me about about this position. Uh, all of you know me, some better than others, but I've always been excited by the opportunity to to to innovate and to create. And that's what excites me about coming back to Plymouth
County is really continuing the good solid work that all of you have done uh and building on. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Bald. >> Thank you. Um Troy, you did kind of answer my next question through um your
answer to Commissioner Hanley. It it is relative to funding and and revenue. I will uh just disagree uh on one point you've been making about the funding mechanism of two and a half being broken. I think the funding mechanism for two and a half um is the one thing that stands in the way of property
taxpayer and and our constituents from um from those higher property taxes. And not that I think that highly of myself, but I think if you let me loose on some of these municipal budgets, we'll we'll find some areas where we can streamline and execute some savings. Um, but that is sort of dovetailing into what we're
talking about with revenue. As you're aware, the county is presently um in a surplus uh in an environment where, as you pointed out, municipalities are struggling um for reasons obviously two and a half, but naturally state uh as well being a major part of that. And
like I said, you did kind of answer um what was the second part of the question I asked the first um the first interview, which was what would you what would be some of those things you would do? But you answered that part of why we've been able to generate these surpluses the last few years have been
making some tough decisions as as a group uh collectively, the three of us, but as a team overall outside of the commissioners. Um what would you do to ensure we solidify that? because we're not unlike most entities whether it's the state with tax revenue. Our revenue
frankly is a little more predictable. It's the real estate market. Uh and you can kind of predict that candidly a little better than some of the other markers you deal with in Brockton of course as a CFO but obviously what the state deals with. So um how would you solidify that to ensure that we continue
that surplus? And like I said you did kind of answer the followup for that but I'll just re ask it again in my own way. Um, what would you use some of that low hanging fruit on? As we know, and I think the chair just mentioned it, we go around to communities and we have these ideas and we all share the enthusiasm of
these ideas and the towns and uh their leaders look, go great, do it, but we're not paying for it and we want you to pay for it. The county now, given that we do have a little surplus, is in a position where we might be able to actually pay for some of these things without having to ask communities uh to uh pay for some
of those upfront programs. So, what would you do? Again, you already kind of answered it, but maybe you want to expand a little bit further. What what are some of the things you would try to bring online um with um with what has been so far at least two straight fiscal years of our surplus and hopefully more down the road?
I think the key to answering that question is making sure that the fiscal approach that has allowed the county to create those surpluses continues. Uh,
and that's something that I offer uh a record of success at every place where I've worked. I mentioned Bridgewater that had negative free cash and $2 million in free cash when I left. Um, my time in Hanover, we were able to
completely wean that town off of the use of free cash to balance the budget. So when I got there, I think they were using I'd have to go back and check, but it was in excess of a million dollars a year for a small town like that. That's a lot of money and free cash to balance the budget. When I left, they were using zero free cash to balance the budget.
Situation here is very different now. Um but how we did that is we made difficult decisions. Uh and and in this well, let me go back a couple of years. I mean, there's no secret that there was a financial crisis in Brockton a few years ago. Uh it was because of the fiscal
policies that I had put in place that was supported by a couple of different mayors u that we had the reserves on hand to protect the city from becoming insolvent after the the the school department overspend its budget by $18
million. Um and and so and by the way uh we put after the mayor and the then superintendent asked me to step in and take on a greater role in overseeing the schools, we put in some some processes working with the then acting
superintendent that resulted in significant reductions in spending. Uh so and I offered that as an answer because that that has to be the foundation, right? It's great to have surpluses, but if you spend them away in a year or two or three or four, then
>> then the whole purpose of having the surplus has gone away. So, we have to make sure we're looking forward. Just today, uh I concluded a consultancy uh that we received through a community compact
grant from the Commonwealth uh to put together a long range financial plan for the city of Rockford. Unlike other communities that used some of the federal relief funds from the pandemic to plug holes in their budget, you know, you you
all know because you were our partners in that. We didn't do that. We invested that money in infrastructure. So, when that money dried up, we weren't looking to plug holes. Now, balancing the FY27 budget was a real challenge. We reduced the requests from our departments by more than $20 million to balance that
budget. and almost every department uh had to reduce their staffing, including my own. But I'm able to make those difficult decisions uh because that's what we have to do. Uh you know, we do a lot of
things that give us satisfaction for the work they do. One of the toughest things I've ever done, and I had to do it many times, unfortunately, is tell someone they don't have a job anymore. Well, with me, you would have someone that would have the counties and your best interest at heart to be able to do that. Having
answered that first half of the question, I think the the second half is that surplus gives us the luxury of actually initiating some of the programs I talked about tonight and putting the human infrastructure or the technical the technology in place uh to be able to
actually create a regional service and then offer it to a community and then maybe do that at a discount uh or for a year without a cost with the understanding that if it works out then communities would pay for it. I think that's a great approach that having a surplus would give us the ability to do.
I also think with that and this something else we've innovated on in Brockton, uh I think we're missing the boat if we don't look at how artificial intelligence might play a role in that. Uh and you know, I know that can be
controversial. Uh but I think AI is doing things now uh that can save governments tremendous amounts of money. I think we have to I think my role as the administrator would be to bring policies to you, uh, programs to you. It would be your
decision as to whether or not to adopt them. Uh, but that's the kind of I think constant search for improvement that I would be doing to try to make sure that we're offering programs and spending that money wisely. So again, so that we don't have uh we're not sitting here
three years from now trying to find ways to balance the budget. uh and and so I offer the concrete experience in in that area. The long-term fiscal stability I would say is the most solemn responsibility of the commissioners but
certainly the most important responsibility of the administrator. >> Great. >> Just I just have one more madame chair. Um hopefully the easiest one for you, Troy. What is something about yourself that you feel you may need improvement on? And what is a fun fact about
yourself that maybe we don't know? I do enjoy your book though, so you can't quite use that one. >> Thank you. >> Well, you can if you'd like. Maybe others don't know about it. But >> the first question, I think I I am someone uh who seeks constant
improvement. I recognize uh that uh I mean you're all familiar with my life's journey outside my professional status, right? I'm very grateful to uh to be someone who's in long-term recovery and I speak publicly about that because I think it shows uh other people
who may be struggling uh that that's uh that that it's possible to achieve recovery and have not only a successful career. I mean, not because of what it says on my business card, but because I'm able to to give back and and and that's really
important. Um and but I do see constant improvement on that. That's something that uh you know I I didn't coast into recovery on the wings of victory by any means. Uh and I need to do work every day to maintain that. >> Uh and so I seek constant improvement in
that area and constantly seek ways to help other people uh and to give back uh and and and that's really important to me. Um, I do find ways to balance that responsibility with my professional
responsibilities. Um, but I think it's important they can know that that's that that's a side of me that's uh that's really important to me. >> Uh, something that you may not know about me, uh, how's this? There's so many of those, you know. Um when I was in when I
went to college uh as a freshman in college, my intent was to uh to go into the priesthood. >> Wow. >> Uh and I actually did some work toward uh entering into a vocation uh and and
it's family dinner hour, so I won't say why I I decided not to go down that path. uh uh but it did involve uh a Penn State football game and uh my former wife. So uh uh
but but I my faith is still very important to me. Uh and uh and that's a big part of my approach in life and giving back as as well. >> Great. Thank you. >> I think great. Any further questions? You're all set. >> Madam Chair,
>> you're all set. >> Thank you. >> I think I'm all set. Uh, I thank you so much for coming in. It was a real pleasure to hear you and um, we look forward to uh, talking in the future and I'm so happy that you brought up uh, about the social media and cable and I
really would like what I would like to see in Plymouth County is um, I don't know what you want to call it, county's uh, corner and like a weekly update uh, to the community. It's not that a lot of people listen, but you know what over time I think you get more and more people in, especially those that really
don't know what county government is. And it's always a a training process uh to find you know get them to know or outreach to them and let them know. So thank you very much and uh we'll talk to you later. >> Thank you all very much. Take care.
Madam >> chair I make a motion to recess the meeting. Second in >> favor I Part: 2
Madam Chair, >> very Sullivan, thank you for coming in this evening. We do appreciate it. Um, I know that uh your resume speaks for itself and some other things, too. I know that my uh expectations are a little bit
different than my colleagues, but um I like to see leadership and management, budgeting and financial management, community relations, strategic planning, operations and service delivery, ethics and accountability, vision, and county specifics. I know in your resume you've
hit on quite a lot of those different items or things. And uh there wasn't really too many questions that I had because I had already read it. But uh go ahead and if you have an opening statement, go right ahead. >> Thanks for having me. First, just wanted to say thank you all. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Thank you for that for that intro. Um yeah, no, we're really excited to be here. uh when this position, you know, was posted, I I kind of was looking at
that going, that could be pretty exciting. So, um some of the things that are drawing me here, um Norwell was just a great run, such a positive experience in Norwell. They have a great team. I think we've set them up, um really, you know, as best as you can in these times,
right, for success. And I'm kind of excited for my next um professional move here. And I feel like for the county level, you know, we got 27 communities in Plymouth County and I feel like on this level with some of the municipal experience that I have over 20 years and
and actually in a lot of different areas of operation, right, I started um with assessing and I became treasur collector and then um you know, assistant town administrator, finance director. I've been and then town administrator. So I kind of have a unique perspective on the pains and the needs of um on every level
in a municipality. So, um, to me it's exciting to think about coming to the county and maybe working with the commissioners to see your vision through as best as we can with achievable, reasonable, sometimes timing comes into play, right? And being able to either
afford to do things or be able to manage it with the staff of the human capital that we have. So, yeah, I'm super excited. I bring um a large a long background of management experience. I worked for Verizon as you saw. I was a while ago on my resume, but I was there for 16 years. Um was a man went worked
my way up and was in management there. Um was in customer building operations. Um I think I'm a natural problem solver in a lot of ways. So um when six sigma came around years ago as one of their five people they've picked in their footprint to to learn and implement six
sigma um practices in Verizon and you know I saw um you know good results from that and um it was a lot of fun in that way. So I kind of take that with me always and try to approach um things in a really methodical um manner and keep
mindful of all the stakeholders and um impacts of every change and um who who maybe we should should pull in and and hear from to be the most successful with either process improvement or change or even just um solving conflicts. So, um,
not to go on, I guess if I I don't want to like take the floor, but I guess, um, some of my strengths, I would say, would be, um, conflict resolution, bringing people together, um, kind of going across what you, you know, what you hear the word silos, and they they exist,
but, you know, I find that my style is definitely, um, to pull people in the same room, and usually a you come up with better solutions, b the conflicts get solved pretty quickly, um, you know, and c you walk away I think with a more diverse um you know perspective than you
have when you walked in that room. So um you know just just a leader I think in a lot of ways and um I enjoy it. I love people. My favorite part about working in a municipality was working with the residents. I loved being a collector even though you think that was a horrible job and I used to feel like
every night let me go to heaven because I felt so down to him. But really in in the end um you know it was a really did a great job and the people behind me I think are better collectors than even me or treasurers than me because you want to pass that on. You want them to be better than you ever were. So, um I feel
like working with residents, you know, if you listen to them and it's mostly what people want to be heard, if they even, you know, a lot of times you can solve the problems, but if not, at least if they have an understanding of the situation and understand that what you're telling them is reasonable and truthful, um you know, they walk away at
least satisfied and um I've had a great experience over the years. I've made a lot of nice connections um along the way throughout my career with residents and um even like you know leaving Norwell from every level of operations that I was in. Um have a lot of nice folks coming up to me and memories just
individual ones of them or working you know it's great. So, that's where I'm at and I'm super excited to try to work with the county on a on a larger level and uh just get some regional collaboration going on and maybe um
offer more. I think what we offer right now or what the county offers right now is good and great. So, we we take advantage I've taken advantage of um good good prices for our road salt. We've definitely procured um public s you know public safety vehicles through
the county frequently um in some of our highway vehicles as well and have done well with that. Um we haven't used the dredging or anything like that but I know we do offer that. So um you know I think what you offer is braid and if we can move the needle in the right direction I would love to be person to
just move the needle in the right direction. >> Very good. Thank you. How we're going to do this is uh each of the commission is going to ask a question and if we have follow-up questions, you know, we'll then ask and uh so I think we'll start with Commissioner Valenza.
Uh >> yeah. Um first, Darling, thank you for applying and for being here this evening. Definitely looking forward to the conversation. Um my first question, and I' I've asked the same ones of everyone, um but do you currently derive income from any other employment,
whether it be self-employment or otherwise? >> No. >> No. Okay. And then my second one just dubtailing that. U so Bristol County has a larger budget than us uh staff and they also have an agricultural school. Their administrator makes 110,000. Given that
what do you think the pay the Plymouth County administrator should be given uh should be given that we have half the budget and 1/8 of the responsibility. >> Well, I understand the question fully um and where it would be coming from because I respect it. So yeah, I mean I
know what you posted it at. Um I would be, you know, willing to move on what it was posted at. I think um honestly I'm going to give 300% because that's the person I am. I'm a workhorse, so you're you're going to get 150% for
me regardless. But um yeah, I mean no matter what, I know I'm going to be taking a reduction in pay coming to the county. But I'm okay with that because um I'm kind of making some changes anyways. I've kind of been very reflective over this past, you know, year or so. And so I'm excited for an opportunity. I'm okay with that. I'm
actually not driven by money. I'm driven by um trust, respect, being heard, and u kind of beloved. You know, I want to be liked in the place that I work at in a good way and earn that. So I'm driven really from a lot of
other things outside of money to be honest with you. So I work with you on that. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Commissioner Handless. >> Thank you, Miss Helen. Thank you for coming. We haven't worked a lot together, but the time that we did, you helped me with a a family that had a horse farm and was being taxed in
different ways and they were under a little bit of duress and you were the one that solved the problem. So, I'm grateful for that. I mean, that's our first sand thing. Didn't sound like much, but for that family, it was huge. So, thank you for that. I've also had a number of phone calls about you from
people from across the county that gave high regard. So, and that was proactively. They called me. You know, I wasn't >> that means everything. >> Um, I read this opening remark to to all the candidates. So, these are my expectations of what I'd like to see in
a uh administrator. So, thank you again for coming. As we begin these interviews, I wanted to clearly frame the expectations that I have for this role. Plymouth County stands at a unique crossroads. We have approve we have proven ourselves to be national leaders
uh with our fiscal efficiency and stewardship of cares and opera and our work with um the communities that were impacted. However, my vision for this county is not merely uh to maintain the current operations but to become a
powerhouse for regional uh progress. I'm looking for a county administrator who acts as an architect of the future. Uh we're going forward on a model where the county leads a portfolio of complex multi-year regional infrastructure projects as revenue projects uh ranging
from long-term water quality and utility management to critical sustainability efforts like food resiliency and uh waste to energy initiatives. To succeed, I believe you must do three things. First, as a strategic project manager,
you will be managing a multiaceted portfolio, I need to know that you can handle the intense administrative demands of these stretch projects while ensuring the day-to-day excellence that we and so this is an expansion. We have
uh two um assistants that are now here. Frank, poor Frank all the years. He he worked by himself uh and did a tremendous job. And I think the resources of additional labor are going to be have to be managed on the day-to-day. I'm looking for a leader who
can uh go out and seek the initiatives um that I'm looking for. So as a strategic manager um I'd like to say that our projects will be managed um on day-to-day excellence um of our core county services. Second, as a fiscal
entrepreneur, our revenue structure is unique. Uh it's built on deeds excise and community assessments and limited grants. You must be able to use our local limited uh dollars uh to seed capital projects and leverage
significant state and federal grants because we think grants is uh a good way for us to supplement and augment uh the way we get funded. I need you to demonstrate how you can turn our proven reputation efficiency into an financial
advantage. I think the uh accolades that we've received from the US Congress on how we handled CARES speaks for itself. Um and finally uh I'm looking for a persistent coalition builder. Uh launching these initiatives are going to
require more than administrative skill. It'll require navigating the state and legislative processes and winning the consensus of 27 distinct city and towns. Um, I am looking for a leader who can maintain political momentum across
budget cycles and ensure that every one of our member communities sees these regional projects as a shared success uh not just an added layer of government. So, this role is not for a caretaker. It's for a leader who's prepared to
commit to at least 3 to 5 years of a vision to drive the legislative change and secure the infrastructure funds that will define the future of the county. So, thank you for coming and uh my first question uh if I can find it.
>> Did you take my question? >> No, sir. >> Uh well, building from there, I I can go from memory. Um basically, what in your experience, um based on that opening statement, would you say uh is most
fitting for what I had just said to you? What can you tell me about something you've done in government? um that tries to achieve that growth for for >> I think a lot of what I've been doing um ties right in and if I'm going to narrow
down the entire statement to two words it's going to be communi well maybe three communication and good planning like real planning um so in terms of you know being someone to be keeping your infrastructure projects um going and you
know in in a productive manner and getting them to the finish line if we've got construction. Is that what you're talking about? Infrastructure projects or like your PAS and your >> Yeah, remediation. Yeah, >> absolutely. Water quality. >> We've been dealing with that um even in on the level in Moral. We were able to
get like some um granulated carbon uh filters that look like a huge Brit filter really and we have zero PA fast coming out of our S street and we're looking at an $18 million water treatment plant. So, you say well that's you know $18 million. So, I'd have to kind of see more. So, I watched a meeting or so on the uh the water um
when I have in my notes there, but you know, your your water district basically that Frank is usually on for those meetings and I understand um a quality of water, you know, for that piece of of this and also just water as a resource is a challenge and
it's going to be a challenge moving forward. So, um you know, I'd be deeply involved with those meetings for sure. Um, I am a person who will I'll absolutely reach out um to whomever I need to, like I said, even on the legislature or trying to move those forward if we need to do that. That's
going to be beneficial to our communities and to the county. Um, in terms of, you know, like capital planning, I put together five and 10 year capital. Um, and we make sure that we are able to address what we can address each each year and and keep prioritizing that. And I'd be leaning
into the commissioners, you know, for your insight as well. what's important, what are your priorities, what's, you know, what's a safety issue, um what's the leaning into for those priorities? Um financially as well, I've always approached that in a strategic manner. I've got um a fiveyear plus, but you
know, five years is more reasonable keep it keeping. The more you go, the more less reasonable it is to that, but um so I look at a five-year um strategic budget plan as well. And I'm leaving Norwell with that with a plan um for them as well, how to navigate these next
five years or so. So I'm always looking forward in um to the future. So I think that you know you mentioned um I I was on for the food food resiliency meeting as well. So I understood where we were kind of at with that. Um and practice still under way right now still managing
a little bit and some of the information still coming in. Um waste burning waste all of these things I I touch and have negotiated contracts um as well. So remass um we've worked with waste management. So, you know, I kind of want to lean in and see where are you at with
some of these things, but also where do you want to go with some of these things? Do you want to offer um do you want to offer more to the communities in some of these areas like better, I don't know, supply rates? If we can do that on a regional basis um better rates uh per ton on, you know, again, maybe running
to waste through rem. But um you know just trying to see kind of where you're at with this um revenues I understand they can be limited and and they are as well in in communities. We only have certain certain revenues that we're allowed to utilize. Um as you well
know as well and all that is um you know operating budgets we only have we have the levy we have a local receipts whatever our community uniquely has for our local receipts or in ladies as well. Um so you know you're kind of up against it. It's all about choices and it's all
about um fiscal restraint and being able to make the hard decisions and say no if you need to or time things better. So you I don't know if I helped you at all, but I think on a on a certain level I already am doing all that as a town administrator. I'm reaching out and I'm
negotiating all those contracts and it might take me a couple months but I'm going to get the rate that we're looking for and um and then there's a handshake and there's respect at the end but but it's a you know it's a long it's it's not a battle but it's a respectful um debate in a sense you know working on
behalf of the residents because um and and again even just on this level I always remember who we're working for working for the people is working for the people in Norwalk people in Hannibal in this case we're working for all the residents in 27 7 communities. It's a much broader base of people and
residents working hard out there. That a dollar, you know, is valuable to them. Every dollar is valuable. So, we've got to be smart about how we approach things. Work smarter, not harder. So, I think I've got a a good perspective on long range planning, short range,
short-term, short range planning. Um, pulling people together, absolutely not afraid to make phone calls and to build bridges. um absolutely like a collaborative worker. I've been able to work with legislators as well. I was on the legislative committee even on the
collective treasuries association as well um talking about things and you know advocating for things that were um maybe wouldn't make sense and and on on the side advocating for things that made total sense to to get move forward. Um I have a question kind of back for you. Do
you find um with the county that you have difficulty with getting anything from the state or are do you feel like they're pretty open? You feel like it's something that we don't hit enough that we don't actually just reach out and t tap into enough.
>> I think you know the recent um progress and success of the county is being more recognized. But for I've been here 13 13 13 years and every year the legislature the governor would file a question to
abolish us. Okay. Uh and it would get defeated. U but we've also sought out revenue through a change in the deeds excise formula which I think what is eight eight times we filed legislation and we were just never heard. So I think the one thing we learned in our
stewardship of cares and opers that we provided a benefit to the member communities and along the way the administrative uh overhead that you know helped pay some bills around here the interest income alone generated $6 million and therefore you know took a
lot of and I'm proud to say that our treasurer brought at our last meeting a notice that we have zero debt. >> Right. So that is an an accomplishment. So from here sustainability, how do we service
and you being an administrator in Norwell, who amongst your colleagues have you spoken to where there's common uh interests? Like when I was in Hullbrook as an administrator, I had a regional dog officer with the town of Randolph and Avon. I had uh changed the
veterans uh uh district to include uh Brainree as the hubber and Avon. So, what regionalization, what lowhanging fruit, I think is the the word we used with the last applicant, um would you be able to bring in short order? Um that
something that maybe as a Norwell administrator with all your connected uh communities around you, what what could we do to help them and at the same time sustain growth here >> in a revenue basis? >> Got a couple of thoughts actually. Um
and they're not really interrelated. So, as I sit here and say, where was some of my pain points and others pain pain points? Um, we don't we didn't have the luxury of having someone that could assist with a grant writing and also seeing it through because you want to make sure you have that spend down and that things happen and our accountants
do a great job and that's great. But you know something like that communication um person liaison if we could do a shared one like that more messaging more you know public messaging could get out because that transparency and that communication as much as everyone's doing the right thing you know trust is
the most important thing in public service um and so I think the more you can communicate the the more trust is built so I think communication liaison are important I think that procurement is you know we're procuring left and right for everything you know over
15,000 and you know certainly have we have our resources to go to estate business and all those things but um I think that if we could have like templates procurement I've got some thoughts on that if I was a successful candidate on to bring that forward which would be low hanging fruit I don't think it would cost a lot of money but I think
you'd have people jumping at that because you get folks like myself saying oh my god I've got four RFPs that are on my desk right now and I've got to I got to get them out then I have to see them upgrade them there's a lot of work that goes with that so um I know I put all of our stuff on ecinvid which was free. Um
but it was nice because I wasn't getting hit with public record requests. They're able to just go out there and take a look at the RFPs and everything. Um I'd love would have loved to gone full eidd I would think procurement could be a really a really smart thing to do. We could have like templates certainly
scope can be tweaked for each town but I think if we got contracts in place that made sense run through Shannon you know making sure that everyone's good and they can have their own town councils look at it that could be that could be something that would be super helpful and an easy resource and everything's online e bidding and questions and
responses everything's sent back that way so be helpful um you know more mun maybe more municipal training I I think just getting out there to these communities I'm not afraid of going and seeing if I can get some time on a on an agenda to come out and not only talk
about what what maybe we only need 15 minutes and we can do a really good elevator speech on what are we already doing great um and and I know you guys have been out before it's not not the first time that um that we've had folks from the county come out and do this but I think it's important to do it you know
at least once a year more you know to each community because the relevance as much as we're relevant um I think that you just need to keep making sure that people remember you're there as a resource because as we're in the dayto-day and you're dealing with all these things that are coming across your
dash tend to just handle them and you forget that maybe I can reach out to the county for this you know or maybe I can reach out to the county and say suggest this and maybe we can get there a minute or two. So you know I'm definitely not afraid of making calls. I'm definitely not afraid of going up and maybe grabbing some folks from different areas
so of operations if we needed to. I have a good network of folks that u I've known along the way and get in front of legislators, you know, have some coffee and drive up there and and chat about maybe even with one of one of one of one or a couple of you
supposed to but or at least one of you to um to go up there and and just have some time at the table and tell them what's important, what we're doing, and how we'd like to work collaboratively even if we can with the state. Um we'll get this afternoon. I'm just not afraid of making the phone calls. I'm a doer.
I'm a taskmaster and a doer and uh I like to talk to people and I love to make a good deal and I love to move the needle. So kind of like a horse at the gate. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you Daniel. Um what do you see as
the biggest challenge uh facing county government over the next five years where APA funds have ended? Um revenue uh sources, programs and grant writing. Uh, how much money have you actually brought in for grant writing?
>> We brought in a lot of money um with grants. I'm constantly looking at grants. Even the town hall, I probably utilized three grants. Um, even if it was just down to getting 20,000 from an ADA grant for the doors. So, you've got to be kind of creative. This there are some grants to be had up there. Um so a
lot of money over the time um million probably more than that much more than that because we had the ARPA that's not including ARPA with two million coming in from ARPA but I mean self sought grants I need a timeline to give you the dollars but a lot long way
>> um but I think for some of the the challenges with limited revenues and being able to deliver services to the communities you know and understanding that everyone's fiscally strapped um you know we have to kind of model out and see what would the impact be to the
assessments if we thought and we need to make sure we had buy in um before we even move moved on that on these aspects. that if we had something that we thought could be a really great win for the communities and the communities are in are buying are buying in and have
a part of this as long as there's stakeholders and they're part of this and they can see that the cost benefit is worth it and it's saving them maybe maybe like I said with procurement now maybe someone that I didn't have the I didn't have the luxury of having that involved but there are communities that have a procurement officer who we ended
up making it more streamlined ebidding it available with the contact um maybe they get rid of those the benefits and the the payroll for that person. So there's like a cost benefit that needs to happen. I'm not afraid to have those conversations, but I always will walk in
with all with all the answers laid out before we even talk with obviously input from everybody here at the table. So I don't know if I got to the point on that, but it's more, you know, we might need to maybe we need to increase the revenue somewhere if we really think we
have a win. That's just, you know, that's a challenge though. So, you ask what's the challenge? The challenge is asking for more money in these times. Right. >> Right. Especially when we're trying to pay off the pension, you know, for the folks that have the pension liability and all that health insurance increases. So, um, but it's a tough question and
that is a challenge. So, hey, uh, Commissioner Hanley, do you have another question? >> Um, I'll let Jared go first. I think we're going in order. So, thank you. So, I did appreciate um Miss Sullivan
your question to us about getting more from the state. I and I Commissioner Hanley covered it broadly and I'll just give sort of my own personal take on it. Um one of the biggest things we run into is of the 14 counties on paper, there's only six of us that are existent uh with
with governments, right? So obviously in a legislative body with 40 senators and 160 representatives, we're trying to convince legislators uh from the other eight counties across the state, which includes Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, give us a little bit more money. And those legislators in those eight counties, you know, why are we
giving your county government money when we don't even have a county government? So I think that's >> it is a hurdle. >> It is a big hurdle. And and obviously sometimes it's the old expression, can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. I remark to my legislative friends that are not within existing counties, you
should consider reviving your counties because I think that conversation would then help us collectively be able to drive that question about getting more from the state, but I I appreciated your question on there and Commissioner Hanley covered it really well and then I just wanted to add my own um my own
color to it. Um I will ask again I'm just asking the same questions. Um can you discuss uh and maybe it's none but any other positions that you've been a finalist for over the past two years. >> Um just talk administrator >> in Norwell. Yeah. Correct. Okay.
>> But I was basically promoted promoted within. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Great. Um so that negates my followup. I can ask um I'll just get to my fourth question now if the chair will will allow which is fine. You already did kind of answer it because it's somewhat similar to Commissioner Hanley's uh
question. Um, so right now, as you may be aware, Plymouth County has had two back-to-back fiscal years of surplus, which in these uh in these times, as you know, as a municipal leader, but across the county and the Commonwealth, uh, a lot of budgets are are tight. Um, so I'm
proud of the fact that collaboratively we've been able to turn uh not so insignificant surplus, but certainly not one that's, you know, not one that's going to necessarily change the world either. Um, part of how we got there was through some difficult decisions, uh, reallocating assets within the existing
budgetary structure. We talk a lot about revenue. I've often made the statement that our revenue is no different than a municipality or even the Commonwealth. You have your tax receipts. You mentioned them, I think, in your opening. Uh, whether it be your local receipts, what state aid might come in,
what the state brings in. Ours, believe it or not, is actually maybe a little more predictable. It's driven by the real estate market, right? So we kind of can get a decent idea of where that's at. Um thankfully 2008 aside, it doesn't fluctuate too often or at least it doesn't fluctuate on a on a collapse
level, right? Um so my my question is how do you solidify our surplus and ensuring that we are able to continue to maintain that surplus? And then you did um you did again kind of answer this uh through uh comm your answer to
Commissioner Hanley's question, but I'll just sort of answer it again in my own little way. Um what are some programs again if we're looking at an $800,000 surplus? You think might be able to get off the ground that the biggest hurdle I think we face collectively is when we go
into municipality. Great, good idea. Do it. We're not going to pay for it, but you pay for it, right? So, um, where do you think we could, um, utilize some of that surplus, uh, you know, in a responsible manner, of course, to start addressing, um, some of the lowhanging
fruit. >> So, depending upon whether you want, um, projects or people or, you know, where where your vision lies for the commissioners for say FY27 and forward, >> do you want to invest in infrastructure? Do you want to invest in people in
process? So that because I'm not living this right now, I I would have a much better idea if I was like in the in the seat living it. But um again, just understanding if you knew what way you wanted that to go. I kind of go into the treasurer mindset of a stabilization
fund um of some sort. So because you have the surplus now, I think you need to be measured in planning and spending. So, I think you I think now is the time to plan. I think you need to invest it. I think you should probably have a stabilization fund where you know it
does lock it up. I don't know if it locks up quite as much like it does in municipality as it does in the economy to get to release it, but that's not a bad thing. So, you want to be purposeful about what you think your intent is for utilizing these funds for the type of stabilization you want and or you part
of that may should maybe just be invested and not locked into stabilization so you have seed money and flexibility. So, I think it's really going to depend on when if I were the successful candidate, what would I do? Of course, I didn't staff anything. Should I be sitting with each of you too to say what where is your what is your
vision? It's kind of one of my last questions to ask each of you, but um what is your vision? What what is one thing you'd like to see happen in the next three to five years or even one to five years? She might have a short-term goal or a long-term goal just to kind of get an idea of where where we're at,
what you what you maybe you've had for a couple of years or longer, you know, wish list like we do in a community too. Like these are the things we love to do, you know, like boy would I love a grant writer. I was looking for grants that would pay for a grant writer, you know, to try to get the funding for that. Um,
so what's your wish list? And and how, you know, reasonable is it? Can we get buy in? and I'll definitely reach out if I'm a candidate and see if we can get some buy in um and see if it makes sense and I'll probably know from the gate most likely um that's worth making the
phone calls or probably not and here's why and we'll have good discussion and maybe you talk me off the ledge and we go who knows how that how that discussion is but um so I I don't I know I feel like I'm giving you like an answer that's gone around the corner but it's because I'm not sure what your vision is is
>> and and what the what the prior vision um of the county is you may have some things on the wish list I'm not aware of that would like to provide it and I and I know some of these other counties provide you know sometimes big list of um different services that they provide to the community so I'd network with
them as well and how did you do it best practice can we save time can we save um time on process and what what did you learn from the experience I've done that before other town administrators okay this you know this company's kind of for our town and what would what in hindsight what would you tell me we got
some good feedback that way. Um, so you know, I would reach out to these other other communities and counties and if there's anything that you've seen that you say, "Boy, I'd love it if Plymouth could do that for our people." Um, I'd be happy to reach out and get get the answers for you and and get it get see
how we could get it done. So, hope that helps. >> I can answer the vision question, Madam Chair, real quick if you want. Okay, I can start. Um, yeah. So, real quick, um, just to answer your question, and I do appreciate that, when I was first sworn in, a grant writer was something that I
had envisioned. Regional, again, small, medium-sized communities just don't have the bandwidth. Um, that's something that I think and candidly, I think we can maybe responsibly start looking at um, in the very near future. >> Um, water resource uh, program. Yeah, we
had had uh a lot of feedback from your current colleagues in the municipal administrative world and then a lot of select board members. Um and that's something that I think can really fit into a wheelhouse we're doing now. I think we do rock salt vehicle procurement. We handle several
procurement of items already. Um, so being able to do that on a regional basis as well as the equipment, I think it's something we could do and I kind of consider those maybe sort of the one and one a of like I think we can probably execute those in the next couple of years. Something that I think we can probably execute in the next three to
five would be solidifying mobile integrated health. That's an incredible program that is not only obviously keeping folks uh healthy in their homes, but it's aiding I'm sorry, not necessarily keeping them healthy, it's aiding in their recovery, right? um it's it's after that hospital visit. And then
something that very well could happen in my lifetime if uh the folks uh so desire to continue to return me to this uh position would be an agricultural school. That is something that I would put in a 10 to 20 year range based on the amount of first of all the financial
aspects of it, the moving parts. But again, it's something we already do incredibly well through our 4H department, but expanding that um not only for the county. Um but uh as you probably are aware again as an administrator, the cost that is borne by
each of our member communities to send their students out of county uh to attend those schools in Bristol and Norol, both the per pupil cost as well as the transportation cost. So um that is uh that is a dream of mine. I I I
think I see my colleagues nodding. I think that candidly is a is a 10 to 20 year uh goal. Um that would require legislative buyin. That would require community buyin. It would require an incredible amount of money. It would require finding a school building that has 100 acres that we can utilize,
right? No small task, but that that to me is my my long long term. And uh maybe someday we can get there. >> I've been through the MSBA process and now we're in the middle of actually writing riding it. you know talking to Dr. hickey over social region especially
when he goes to structure the debt even though I'm stuck employee I'm happy to be I'm happy to >> to chat with him and yeah in terms of normal as well we're in the middle so >> you know it is a process as you said and it's um but it's a pretty organized process >> it is yeah
>> so it's you know something that could be looked at just check interest but you're not wrong out of district transportation is huge even if you couldn't do a school could you do something where you could offer transportation Thank you. That was absolutely a dovetail as well is is
>> right one point maybe a year or two ago about just chatting about that a little bit because just the cost you know I know what our students go through. We have one you know students that will go to um you know a van at a particular location um that's where they have to they have to get dropped off at a
location take the van to ban to here take the bus it so expensive just one student and it's a lot it's a long day for them. we could, you know, streamline that that better create transportation. That's huge. >> Sure. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> I appreciate that.
>> I think that uh back to you, uh, Commissioner Valenzo, we had lost the opportunity when we had looked into Sacred Heart when they were selling that property. It would have been a perfect spot for an agricultural school. >> Yeah. >> Uh, we just weren't >> $40 million a lot. Not to drop the chair, but >> Well, that's what you say. You know,
long term. >> Yeah. It's right long. >> Yeah. Long term. Um, so I guess one of the things that I uh would ask is what role should long-term financial planning play in county government and do you believe that federal funding uh is
better a better source than uh state funding and grant writing? Um, no. >> It might be a better today. It might be a better source for the county. Um, you know, it's probably probably getting more federal funding than you are right
now for the state. I'm sure you are. But um no, I think it I think it would be worth it to to continue to try to pursue state. I mean, I can we could try to work on that together, get a seat at the table and have or have them even come here and just really talk to them and
tell them, you know, I think part of it is how do you communicate it to show the benefit of, you know, why should we keep this? Why won't we just give it to our communities directly and get rid of that extra layer, right? I think that and and you do charge relatively low administrative fees, but part of it
could be um one stop. You've already felt it a long way. You've lived it, Tom, and you've directed it and executed it. Um transparency, so one area where money is coming in, positive reporting back out in a timely manner, managing it. A lot
of communities get busy. We have there is a response back if you're talking about grocery or something like that. I'm just throwing things out to say that. So, um I I think there's could be a benefit to still having to having state funds come through the Cong. We have to show that benefit and we have to
have a true benefit for that. You can't there isn't one then okay you have to agree with them. So I think in terms of you said uh the what's what the next was it five years or so did you say >> uh no that was the other question I
think uh the what would uh the role should uh long-term financial planning uh play in county government and then I went on to the uh federal funding versus state funding. So, I think that long-term planning, no matter where you're at, clean in my own
house, I do it. So, I think that it plays a critical role, although I understand your revenue sources. So, no one no one has a crystal ball, right? So, we don't quite know um what the future's going to hold, but we can certainly look at a longer term history and see where it kind of should be uh to
be able to to move forward and and estimate those revenues. And you do a great job on seeing your reports, too, Tom. Um, so yeah, I think it's important to have long-term planning. I know we may not have a lot of capital projects right now going on and maybe we maybe more I'm aware of. Um, but I think it's
important to have a capital. I think it's important to have long-term fiscal financial planning looking forward. I wouldn't go longer than five years. I mean, you can, but it just become, you know, it's not stable, but I I certainly think you should have five years in five years looking back. five years looking forward no matter what you're looking at
with those capital funding projects that are on the horizon most especially projects on the investment because then you decide is it doable right and then what and then what is it maybe we don't have debt now I don't want to say a bad word and say I have debt okay but um
maybe some of the 800,000 is debt service and not just blowing it all on capital if that makes sense so maybe you structure your savings and say well that could get us miles because debt service on these things would be such and such. I'm not saying to get you into that, but it's not a bad word either if you do it
the right way and you show that you're investing in the county's infrastructure. >> And are are you folks doing a recovery center or treatment center for for >> No, but I have another question here. Uh what methods do you gather community input before uh any major decisions? I
mean, how would you know? I think for my vision would be I've always wanted to get regional services and get really involved in that. And also, um, grant writing and, you know, how would you get that out to the community? Uh, I know, you know, we've talked about social
media and cable. Um, so would you be willing to do like a once a week, once a month cable show and, you know, update the public and and what we're doing and and how we're doing it? >> Absolutely. I'd be more than I think it's smart to do that. Um I I go on ATD all the time. Jared, I know you're on
ATD all the time. I think that's a nice media as well. I'm on just about every other week um for the select meetings and giving them a rundown um or even after meetings sometimes more frequently. But it's important. It's tough because even in a town um >> you don't have everybody's emails and
not everybody wants to be engaged. So um and I know that's tough to say that it's the truth. So um I I think that you need to have multiple media, right? So, absolutely cable, definitely the radio. Um, I think if you could put something out there for survey and then market the
fact that you have, you know, an an option on your website to provide responses back to the to the county and you really get that out there and you kind of make it exciting because everyone's part of this. It's important to do that. So, I think that's important. Um, I think getting out to
each one of the communities and maybe have them pop us message is a way to do it. Um, for sure. And you know, I I know I've got um some good friends and um good relationships and a good reputation. Um I will tell you I will always speak the truth. I will always be
honest. So um that's just who I am. Um so I think people know that. They know what I'm saying. It is what it is. Um and in some ways I'm never going to gloss over and just always something's doable, it's doable. We've all come to a decision
that's not able to communicate that and be able to explain why and maybe have our other options. >> I know we broadcast live on YouTube as we are now. Uh but there are other you know entities that we could uh get into and uh get the word out about county.
>> We did do a social media policy recently um in Norwal. So we got that pushed through and you know we do have social media from some of our it's a little bit siloed too. We have it when public safety's got it and COA has it and stuff. So I mean counting on our website you do that we have you know a few
different few different links maybe when you put out a news blast it hits those platforms as well and blasts out the people that say they prefer Facebook if they prefer something else not necessarily in wouldn't have anyone being able to sit there monitor and answer back but it could be a nice way the information push to social media
website >> people questions by from my commissioners >> just one last question on Talon Orwell do they participate in Plymouth County Oped Trust and do they participate in the Mayflow Municipal Health Group? >> We did participate in the Mayflow
Municipal Health Group and I left Kelly and Chill and it was a great experience. So, um, right now we're still with Maya, but we were looking at it this past year and I can't say that we would continue to look at Mayflower Group again. We just timing was of the essence and we ended up staying with uh with Maya with
this with the information we got back from the consultant. So, right now we're in the midst of land design. So, we're working with the unions right now. Um, and in terms of the OPED Trust, great job. Um, and and you guys do a great job with the Plymouth County OPED Trust, but
right now we do not do that. We're not part of it, but we were kind of ahead of the game back when we had already had our trust investment policies, um, our trust fund committee like years before people did. We were already investing well into our OPED trust fund. as of
last June, I want to say we're 22% funded. Um, which is pretty good. And we have a more aggressive plan coming up in a few more years. So, um, I do benchmark and I'll I'll have the the firm that we use. I have them come in and we talk quarterly and we check ourselves against
EPOT, we check ourselves against the index, we check ourselves against state. So, we make sure that we're doing well. Um, and if we're not and it's a long enough time span where we say we might need to now move into a total totally totally open to that and I've always been trended even though I'm not no
longer going to be there the messaging along the way with committing to everyone else's um yeah just stay on it and if you see enough of a trend because we understand how this liability is and all that but see enough of a trend we think it's now going to be beneficial to move to a pool at a certain point in this then we would do that but we're
doing great we're we're better doing better than much and what our discount rate is. We're at a 7 and a half% discount rate. We are um meeting our fully funding fully funded schedule. I created a funding schedule um years back with a light at the end of the tunnel to
show using the actuaries um test sheet really. Um so every year we're meeting that and we're doing it in the operating budget and with the article. So we we've been exceeding what we really need to put into OPAD and really being faithful.
We need a strong management towards that. obviously buy in from the top like we're doing. So they've been it's really on them as well as managers to continue with those good decisions and they've done a good job. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Yeah, just one last question. Um Madame
Chair, so Darlene, um what is something you feel you may need improvement on? Uh for you just for yourself and what is a fun fact about yourself that uh folks may not know? um improvement on I I tend to be um I know this is the worst uh thing to say
for one of these answers, but it's true. I tend to be a perfectionist. So I I always want the A and um I you know sometimes I and I recognize it, but sometimes I have to pull myself out of the weeds a little bit and go, okay, reset, you know, reset, you know, but um so yeah, I tend to be a little bit a
little bit hard on myself, a little bit perfectionist, but um but not on others. like I feel like in that sense um I can definitely manage I can definitely discipline if I needed to but um I love to pull from the strengths of the team so I'm not afraid to delegate so even though I get in the weeds a little bit I
love to delegate I love to uh have people bring their best up and feel productive and happy in the day so that's that's one thing but my negative is I sometimes can be too much have to get reset um and then the second question was um what would I what was
the second question >> fun fact Fun fact. I was trying to avoid that. >> Fine. Oh, okay. Well, hey, >> did you bet that? >> That's okay, too. >> No, I'm kidding. Um, all right. Fun fact, I would say um to say this because then everyone's gonna want to think of
So, I um I am a seventh degree black belt. >> Oh, karate major group. Okay, >> but you know, it's been a few years. I got a couple pounds on me, but I think I can still hold honestly. just um just a lot of fun body, mind, spirit type stuff. So um
yeah, looking forward to just kind of hitting reset in some of those areas too. But that's just the fun fact. >> Like that. Thank you. >> Now not to mess with you. >> Maybe Shannon, I don't know. >> Just uh one last question I guess I have
is why should we consider you? >> So you're gonna have you I'm up against tough competition and it really has to be a good fit. has to be a good fit for you. Has to be right time, right person, right everything. I get that. I've done a lot of hiring and sometimes it can be one of those things, but both whatever.
I think that if I can leave you with a piece of who I am, I think you if you if I was going to be a successful candidate, why should you hire me? Exactly who I am tonight other than a little less nervous um is who I am. So, I'm an honest person. I have a work
ethic, strong work ethic. I have a strong moral compass. Um, I like I have a good sense of humor. You get to know me. I like to laugh. Um, I like to work hard and have people happy and I come to work and be looking forward to going to work and looking forward to putting a good day in. Um, so, you know, I'm going
to give you 200%. I'm not going to embarrass you. I am not going to not lean in to you, you know, when I need to. I'm going to communicate to you. I'm going to ask for your advice. Um, we're going to have honest discussions and um, and I like that. I don't even mind a
little back and forth is a good thing because sometimes, you know, one one of us needs to stay, you know, be like, "Wait a minute here. We I'm not seeing that perspective." We see it. So, um, you know, I'm a someone who will work and collaborate with others, whether it's my own staff. And when I say my own
staff, I say that I come to work and I work with everybody. We all work together. We're all important. We're all moving the wheel in the right direction every day. We're all everything we do is critical of whatever level that we be. So, you know, I'm a leader who's respectful of others. I have empathy.
I'm just I try to just be a good human and um try to do the right thing always. I will always find the right answer. Will never do the wrong thing. If they make a mistake, then I made a mistake and I'll say I made a mistake and this is what happened because I'm not going to do it again. And you know, let's move
on from here and hope this is how we resolve it. doesn't happen a lot, but it's, you know, if it happens, I'll be the first person to be open. Let me just pick up the phone and tell you what happened. Um, so right now, >> well, thank you so much for coming in
this evening. We appreciate it and uh we look forward to, you know, talking with you at a different time. >> Thank you so much. Good luck. I appreciate your time. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Okay. So this Wednesday evening, we'll
be having uh a vote for the candidate and um so we'll vote for the candidate, but uh we will not vote for the uh salary. We'll have a negotiation for a contract um on Wednesday evening. So
it'll just be a vote for the candidate. >> A motion to adjourn. >> Okay. A motion by Commissioner Hanley, second