Town Hall Update

From Tom & Erica | Morris, CT | January 2016

During our campaign, we promised to improve communication between the Town Hall and town residents. We have
started a Town of Morris, Connecticut Facebook page to provide updates and news on a day-to-day basis. We will
periodically publish this digital Town Hall Update newsletter to provide more in-depth information to townspeople.

Unfortunately, after taking office on November 16th, we

quickly discovered that most of the offices files, both
electronic and hard copy of town-owned property, were
either missing, deleted, or destroyed. With help of our IT
team, we have recovered some of the electronic data
from the two computers in the Selectmans Office but we
are still without contracts, legal opinions, bids, service
records, and other relevant data to conduct business.
Despite this major setback, we have hit the ground
running and had a productive two months.

Town Clerks Office : New Hours!

Starting in February
The Town Clerks Office will be open until 6pm on
Thursdays and will be open on the first Saturday of
the month from 8:30am until noon!

We have hired a new Executive Secretary, Laurel Gillotti,

to work in the Selectmans Office. Laurel has years of
experience managing a legal office. She is professional,
helpful, and has proven to be a tremendous asset to our
Town Hall team.
We voted at our last Selectmens Meeting to combine the
Beach and Recreation Director and Senior Center
Director positions into one, new position called the
Activities Director. We estimate that the combination of
these positions will result in at least a $10,000-$15,000
annual savings in salary, plus significant additional
savings on insurance, accrued time, office expenses,
program fees, supplies, and more. More importantly than
the financial benefit of combining this position, however,
is the anticipated increase in town-wide programming
and the integration of the Towns senior and youth
populations.
Time clocks have been installed in the Town Hall, Town
Garage, and Transfer Station in an effort to streamline
our payroll process and ensure that our tax dollars are
being spent efficiently.
Currently, we are working with the Board of Finance and
Town Treasurer to establish a smooth and effective
process for budget season.
Our doors remain open for questions, suggestions, ideas,
and friendly conversation. Selectmens Meetings are
held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month,
alternating locations between the Town Hall and the
Senior Center. Meetings are open to all and public
comment is welcomed!

Smokey Hollow Bridge

The Smokey Hollow Bridge Project is officially underway. There

Agreement between Town and Union

The last three contracts between the Town and the Union are
on the website along with a spreadsheet of notable changes for
those interested.
The employee Union has filed the following against the Town:
- Complaint regarding a memo from the First Selectman
stating that there are no non-work related activities allowed
on Town time
- Grievance concerning the implementation of a definition of
FlexTime
- Grievance over the hiring of the Executive Secretary
- Grievance following employee discipline
- Demand to bargain over the new Activities Director position
- Grievance concerning the First Selectmans looking into the
windows of the Town Hall after seeing lights on
It is unfortunate that all of this takes money. We have hired a
labor attorney out of Hartford to guide the Town in its
relationship with the Union. We will continue to implement
business practices that we feel best serve the town to minimize
spending and maximize services and productivity for our
residents.