Politics & Government
Concord City Manager Receives ‘Satisfactory’ Review, 2.5% Raise, But Sabbatical Request Gets Trimmed
City Manager Tom Aspell will be off for six weeks this summer; four councilors vote against raise;
CONCORD, NH — Two out of three ain’t bad, as the song goes, but not without a bit of arguing.
Long-time City Manager Tom Aspell received a “satisfactory” rating from the Concord City Council after approval of his annual review on Monday night. He will also receive a 2.5 percent cost-of-living raise during the next year. However, the three-month sabbatical Aspell requested earlier this month was shortened to six weeks.
Jennifer Kretovic, the Ward 3 city councilor, served as the chairwoman of the city manager evaluation committee, which recommended the satisfactory rating.
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Kretovic said there was some confusion among the public about the role of a councilor. Councilors, she noted, are responsible for four functions: establishing policy, adopting the budget, setting priorities for the city manager, and evaluating his performance. The city manager serves at the direction of the councilors, Kretovic said, and is responsible for supervising employees and implementing policies.
The review, she added, did not require councilors to agree with every decision made or with how they were implemented. It is also not the process to “relitigate votes taken by this body.”
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The committee, she said, followed a set structure, “which has evolved over time,” after eyeing performance evaluations by the councilors. The same process, Kretovic said, was used with every city employee, and all those performance reviews are kept from the public.
Kretovic said Aspell had accomplished a lot during the past year, including beginning the construction of a police station, preserving the city’s bond rating, and keeping the city functioning during an environment where finding good employees was difficult.
Ward 5 Concord City Councilor Stacey Brown said she would vote against the satisfactory recommendation, claiming Aspell approved $5.4 million in reserve fund transfers without oversight by the trustees of the trust funds. She also said he approved the cutting of more than 250 trees at Memorial Field.
“That’s a resource we won’t get back for centuries,” she said.
Brown also accused Aspell of mismanaging city employees. She requested a separate evaluation she submitted in May be included with the findings and Aspell’s file.
At-Large Councilor Fred Keach asked, in a point of order, if Brown was allowed to participate in nonpublic meetings concerning the evaluation. While he did not mention it, concerns had previously been raised about whether Brown should be able to participate in the review of the city manager, since Aspell has the authority to promote and fire her husband, a police detective.
“She was,” Mayor Byron Champlin said.
Champlin said he would vote in favor of the recommendation, noting that, in a year of challenges, Aspell offered creative solutions and got the city through them.
Ward 4 City Councilor Mark Davie asked, “for the public’s transparency,” what the voting option was for councilors who offered no opinion during the nonpublic sessions. Champlin said there was no neutral option; it was either for or against the recommendation.
“The city council rules do not allow the option to not to vote unless you’re recusing yourself for conflict-of-interest purposes,” Champlin said.
Brown requested a roll call vote, and the satisfactory recommendation was approved 13-1.
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A 2.5% Cost-Of-Living Increase
After approving the satisfactory recommendation, Kretovic moved to approve a 2.5 percent wage increase for Aspell.
Kretovic said Aspell’s contract allowed for a 2 to 5 percent pay increase, and he was requesting 2.5 percent, which was toward the minimum amount required annually. She said Aspell had been a dynamic leader who put the organization ahead of his own personal interests.
“To suggest that the city manager is somehow tone-deaf to the financial challenges facing our residents is to misunderstand the kind of leader he has consistently proven himself to be,” Kretovic said. “Every day, he bears responsibility for ensuring that hundreds of our city employees receive a paycheck, that essential services continue uninterrupted, and that taxpayer dollars are managed responsibly.”
Employee pay raises were made last year, ranging from 5 to 5.5 percent, she said. Kretovic said the city was working to close the gap by aligning pay scales with the marketplace. To pay for the pay raises and limit the tax rate, cuts were made across every department, she added.
During Kretovic’s remarks about the raise, at least two people who attended the meeting to support firefighters upset over stalled contract renegotiations scoffed at her comments, prompting glares from some councilors at the audience.
Kretovic said Concord remains one of the best places to live because the council consistently invests in public services and “quality of life that defines our community.”
Brown said she would vote against the pay increase, noting his 2025 base pay was $222,000. She said Aspell’s pay was “the most generous package” of any city manager in the state. Brown added the city paid 100 percent of health care premiums for him and his wife, something other city managers or employees did not receive, and that he had 12 months of severance pay, while the standard was 6 months.
“I do not believe that a 2.5 percent increase is warranted and, per his contract, it is subject to the city council’s sole discretion. I think it’s a slap in the face to our community members to say someone with such a generous package deserves 2.5 percent (more) on top of ($222,000).”
Keach said he would support the motion and cautioned councilors to do their own research, since Brown often made inaccurate statements.
“She has a long history of promoting inaccurate facts,” he said.
Brown tried to interrupt, an unidentified councilor requested a point of order, and others gasped.
Keach then said, “Let me finish, please, councilor.”
Brown, instead, said, “You’re lying.”
Keach then said, “I would urge the council to do its own research, gather their own facts, ask their own questions.”
Ward 1 City Councilor Brent Todd followed up on Keach’s remarks, stating he looked up the salary of a city manager on a website and found the median to be $197,000 nationally, not including benefits. Considering Aspell has worked for the city for more than 25 years and has been the manager for 20 of those years, he said the salary was not off the mark.
“I’m going to be supporting it,” he said.
Ward 9 City Councilor Kris Schultz said she had done extensive research on wage issues and represented many low- and medium-wage workers who were renters or in senior housing.
“It’s not personal,” she said, before announcing her opposition to the 2.5 percent increase.
Schultz said she “highly respects” Aspell, too, but there was a “dissonance between reality” when eyeing what the public and city employees were earning.
Ward 6 City Council Aislinn Kalob, too, would not be voting for the increase,