Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer this week confronted manager Bill Seward for Seward’s recent attempt to postpone the Small Boat Harbor expansion project.
Seward sent out an email July 6 directing public facilities director Brad Ryan to postpone the controversial project and inform stakeholders of the decision. About seven hours later, Seward retracted the directive after learning funds dedicated to the harbor couldn’t be transferred to the Lutak Dock project, which Seward saw as a more pressing priority.
Friedenauer said her issue was not with the harbor project itself, but with Seward’s lack of authority on the matter. She put the question to Seward point blank: Was he aware he didn’t have the authority to make such a move, or did he understand and just do it anyway?
“I had no intent of defying the assembly,” Seward said. “I did not cancel anything. I just asked my staff to postpone any work while I could research some avenues to address Lutak. That’s all I did.”
“I flipped the switch back on as quickly as I switched it off, the same day,” he added.
Friedenauer said Seward’s behavior over the past three weeks since he started on the job has threatened the development of trust between Seward, the assembly and the public, though she said that could be turned around.
Friedenauer also seemed offended that Seward would think the assembly was unaware of problems at Lutak. “We know the seriousness of the situation and the challenges we face to design and fund it. This is not news to us or the community.”
The email postponing the harbor project “lobbed a very fiery volley in the middle of an already contentious issue” and represented “an incredibly divisive move that in some ways pitted members of the community against each other,” she said.
Friedenauer placed some of the blame on the assembly for not taking the time to meet with Seward and develop a transition plan, goals or expectations.
“We hired for our community an individual with zero experience in municipal governance and zero experience working within this type of structure with an elected body and this strenuous of a public process, and that’s on us,” she said.
Friedenauer encouraged Seward to develop ideas and share them with the assembly, but emphasized who was in charge. “I stress that they are ideas, suggestions and recommendations, not directives.”
Assembly member Diana Lapham said she agreed with Friedenauer that the assembly needs to develop a transition plan so Seward is aware of the group’s expectations.
Lapham also said the learning curve for the manager position is a year to 18 months and referred to the harbor email as “a pothole in the road.”
“To expect a person to hit the ground running and get everything right, don’t. Don’t,” she said.
Assembly member Mike Case praised Seward’s “energy” and desire to tacke issues right away.
“I didn’t agree with a lot of the things he did, but I sure admire the fact that he jumped right in and said, ‘There are lots of things that gotta get done, and I want to be sure they get done,’” Case said.
At the end of the meeting, Seward thanked the group for bearing with him and “helping me get along through these hiccups.”
“I know you hired the one without any municipal experience, but I’m hoping I can return that by learning as quickly as possible and capitalizing on the strengths that I do have,” he said.