Morristown’s top administrator plans to leave his job by the end of June, he announced this week, close to two months after the town’s selectboard chair also resigned.
The decisions by Eric Dodge, the town administrator, and Bob Beeman, the board chair, followed months of contentious local debate over the Lamoille County town’s proposed 2024 fiscal year budget, which voters overwhelmingly rejected on Town Meeting Day.
The budget was controversial in part due to its size — more than $10 million, which a small but vocal group of residents argued was too large for the 5,500-person community — as well as salary increases it included for town employees, including Dodge.
A revised budget set to go before voters next month still includes those increases. All Morristown employees have been slated to receive what Dodge has described as an 8.7% cost of living adjustment, though some in certain pay grades would get larger raises.
The town administrator read a resignation letter at Monday’s selectboard meeting, saying that his decision came after “uncountable hours of contemplation.” He didn’t say why he planned to leave; on Friday, he did not return a request for comment.
“My reasons for making the decision are personal,” said Dodge, who was hired in April 2021 after serving on the town’s selectboard. “I do not intend to air them publicly.”
After Dodge read his letter, several board members and town officials — who, in some cases, appeared to be crying or holding back tears — said that while they respected Dodge’s decision to leave, they were disheartened by the position the town was in.
“It’s very troubling to me,” said Don McDowell, the board’s vice chair. “It saddens me that we’re at this point.”
Beeman, the former board chair, resigned his seat with a year left in his term just days after the March election. He chalked up his decision, in part, to the town’s political climate becoming “extremely negative and volatile” over the past year, he has said.
At Monday’s meeting, board member Laura Streets said recent months had marked “unprecedented times” for the town. Streets is one of two members elected in March, along with Travis Sabataso, who had campaigned against the proposed budget.
“I’m actually very sorry that these were your two years in this position,” Streets told Dodge. “It’s been incredibly stressful.”
Streets and Sabataso voted to accept Dodge’s resignation, while board member Chris Palermo voted against it, having said earlier in the meeting that he disagreed with Dodge’s decision and wanted him to stay. Judy Bickford, the board chair, abstained, setting up the possibility that the board would not approve Dodge’s request to leave.
McDowell, who had the final vote, paused for almost 30 seconds before granting Dodge the board’s approval. His “yes” vote was “the hardest vote I’ve ever taken here,” McDowell told his colleagues.
Dodge said he intended to stay on until a new town administrator was hired, but he said he wanted to be out of the job by June 30.
Monday’s meeting also saw some discussion about the 2024 fiscal year budget, which officials have slimmed down in advance of the planned revote on June 6.
The new proposal totals about $9.4 million, roughly 13% higher than the budget voters approved in 2022. It’s estimated to increase local tax bills by about 10%, compared to the roughly 25% increase that had been proposed on Town Meeting Day this year.
Town officials said they were able to reduce the size of the budget in part by drawing on about $250,000 of the town’s reserve funds, as well as putting off hiring a new highway department employee. The proposal still includes funding for a new police officer, which the local agency has said is badly needed to bolster coverage on its overnight shift.
All five selectboard members voted in favor of the latest proposal.
Dodge has defended keeping the salary increases in the budget as a way to keep town jobs competitive at a time in which many other municipalities are vying for workers. In the letter he read Monday night, he spoke highly of the town’s employees.
“My intent when I stepped into this role was to create a work environment built on trust, mutual respect, open communication and personal accountability,” Dodge said. “I couldn’t have selected a better team to bring these concepts to.”