Local issues drove high voter turnout in Killington for the August primary Tuesday as residents weighed in on a special revote on the town budget. 

Over 40% of the town’s voters cast ballots on the $7.6 million budget, with 59% of those who voted supporting the measure. Voters previously shot down a budget that was $600,000 more on Town Meeting Day in March.

The budget vote comes against a backdrop of tumult in Killington’s town government: large water and road infrastructure projects have ground to a halt due to a staffing shortage and town operations are being managed by an interim employee after the selectboard placed the current manager on administrative leave earlier this summer. Meanwhile, the town’s finances are undergoing a forensic audit after voters called for the accounting in March.  

Town politics can be byzantine but the turmoil in Killington has been going on for some time and the list of grievances is long. The selectboard chair has faced ethics complaints from town residents and the board faces a pending unfair labor practice charge from the municipal employees’ union, for allegedly retaliating against unionization efforts by discussing slashing town positions.

On Tuesday, voters elected a fresh face to the selectboard, Celia Clancy, by a landslide. Clancy ran against Roger Riveria, who was appointed to the board after a selectboard member resigned in May. 

Gary Scannevin, a Killington voter who works in psychiatric rehabilitation, said at the polls that he hopes the town moves beyond animosity and “comes to some peace.” 

At a selectboard meeting on Monday, board member Bill Vines said the town has “made some mistakes” and the problems the town is facing date back several years when “irregularities” appeared in the town’s financial reports, causing members of the community to request a forensic audit. 

Disruption in Killington’s town leadership including the lack of a financial director has caused at least a six-month delay for water and road infrastructure projects, which have already seen holdups due to the Act 250 state land use permitting process, said Stephanie Clarke, planning consultant for the town. The projects are necessary for Killington Resort’s plans for a 450-acre retail and residential center. 

Town leaders face scrutiny

The role of town manager has been filled by an interim manager since the selectboard placed the current manager, Patrick Cushing, on administrative leave on July 9, only months after he filled the post.  

He faces potential disciplinary actions, including possible termination, due to alleged misconduct, according to a July letter from the selectboard to Cushing. Among other allegations, the board wrote that Cushing was “insubordinate” because he refused to follow a selectboard directive to identify a town position to cut from the budget.

In a two-part response letter provided to VTDigger, Cushing defended his actions. He wrote that the finance director left after the selectboard directed him to cut a position, and the remaining two positions — office manager and bookkeeper — were both part of a newly formed municipal union. 

“I continued to tell the Board that I did not believe either position could be eliminated without harming the Town operations and financial operations,” Cushing wrote.

In Cushing’s absence, Robert Kovalesky is serving as interim town manager, making him the seventh person in that role in the past five years. 

The selectboard chair and zoning administrator Jim Haff also has been under a cloud of two ethics complaints lodged by Killington residents in the spring. At Monday’s board meeting, the  board voted to accept part of the findings of a probe of the complaints by an outside investigator that found no wrongdoing and exonerated Haff.

The selectboard discussed adopting a formal ethics policy going forward. In the process of addressing the allegations, the town discovered its previous policy had not been properly vetted by the public.

‘Not in a bad place’

Despite the turmoil, the finances and staffing issues are being worked out, Kovalesky, the interim town manager, said. 

The town paid off maturing debt and is securing a loan to cover expenses while working to hire a contracted finance director, Kovalesky said.

“As the interim town manager, I am moving with appropriate urgency and transparency to stabilize to help our financial position and establish sustainable administrative practices,” Kovalesky said.

The town of Killington is focused on establishing better processes and procedures, said Jon Wysocki, vice chair of the selectboard. 

“We are moving in the right direction and contrary to what some people have said, we are not in a bad place,” Wysocki said.