Angelina “Angie” Lopes Ellison gestures as she responds to a question during her interview for the Town Administrator job in Fairhaven on 2/10/22, when she was offered the job by the Select Board. Photo by Beth David.
By Beth David, Editor
The Fairhaven Select Board interviewed and offered the Town Administrator job to Angelina “Angie” Lopes Ellison, who has strong ties to the region. Ms. Ellison told the board she has family in New Bedford, and attended UMassDartmouth.
“I think I might have come to one or two parties in Fairhaven,” said Ms. Ellison.
The board voted to interview only Ms. Ellison after the other two finalists withdrew at the very end of the process. Board members decided that Ms. Ellison had risen to the top of the group, so she deserved an interview.
SB chairperson Bob Espindola was hesitant, but board members Stasia Powers and Keith Silvia were insistent on granting the interview.
Mary Alcardi from the Collins Center asked most of the questions that were chosen by the board members.
Topics included ARPA funds (American Rescue Plan Act); various personnel/human resources issues; her approach to handling conflicts; her approach to dealing with the public; her ability to interact with other officials on the state and federal levels; economic development, and waterfront issues.
Ms. Ellison told the board that she is comfortable working in collaboration with different parts of a community, and has worked on regional approaches to issues.
She said her “strategic vision” is based on the town’s Master Plan. Her job as the TA is to work to get the plan implemented as much as possible. She said her strategy is to break things down into manageable pieces.
Ms. Ellison said she believed that Human Resources is an important function and that she enjoyed that aspect of her work in previous positions.
“I think it’s important for people to feel welcome and valued in their work environment,” said Ms. Ellison, noting that COVID has made being an employee anywhere difficult, and that municipal employees have had an “undue” burden.
She would meet individually with employees and department heads to find out more about the current state of morale in town hall.
Angelina “Angie” Lopes Ellison shares a laugh with the Fairhaven Select Board during her interview for the Town Administrator job on 2/10/22, when she was offered the job. Photo by Beth David.
Ms. Ellison has worked in a variety of positions in Higher Education, including Dean and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs.
She said she would rely on her experience in higher education. It is important to rebuild trust, she said and will work to do that.
Her approach is to get employees to perform at a higher level, and that improves morale.
Answering a question about “underperformers,” Ms. Ellison said employees have an ability to grow and develop. As a manager, it will be her job to find out what is going on with an underperforming employee, because very often it is due to personal issues.
She said it is important to “be kind to people because we don’t know what goes on in their lives,” and the assumption that they are okay, may not be true.
Many times, a person does not understand the job, or does not like the job, so there is an opportunity to learn and grow.
However, sometimes it is just not a good fit, she said, and she is willing to do what is necessary to remove someone who is not capable of doing a good job.
Every municipality should have an HR person, said Ms. Ellison, even if it is regional. She detailed some of the functions of HR beyond payroll and benefits.
“It’s become more complicated,” she said, and is too detailed oriented to have another position just do it by default.
The board also asked a series of questions about capital planning and expenditures, discussing the pros and cons, and various configurations of a capital planning committee.
Ms. Ellison said she has worked with different configurations.
A five-year plan is good she said. Anything beyond five years is not a capital project, it’s an RFP (Request for Proposals). She told the board she had experience getting large capital projects completed.
The board also asked questions related to ARPA funds and the requirements for projects to qualify. Ms. Ellison said she is working on ARPA funds at her current job in North Adams.
“So I’m familiar with the process,” she said.
Ms. Ellison also said she watched the four-hour goals and objectives meeting the board held on a Saturday. The list is long, she said, but doable.
“I believe in setting goals and accomplishing goals,” said Ms. Ellison, adding that if it keeps getting put back on the list, “That’s not a goal, that’s a wish list.”
She said she would break it down to tangible tasks.
She agreed with the board’s stated top three goals, telling the board that they are the “vision.”
“You give me the guidance and direction and I make it happen,” said Ms. Ellison.
As for her top goals short and long term, Ms. Ellison said her first task will be to let everyone know she is there. She will work with employees on staff development and morale to develop trust.
She also said it was important to develop trust with the residents and voters. She noted that Fairhaven had a recall election, a result, she said, of people not trusting their government.
In response to a question about improving the perception of government with the public and business, Ms. Ellison said it all ties in with transparency and communication.
“I really love engaging with the citizenry,” said Ms. Ellison, adding that residents often do not know how government processes work.
It is important for residents to believe and trust their government, she said. because “ultimately, at town meeting, you’re asking for their vote.”
She said it is important for all public information to be readily available, with as much as possible being easy to access on the website.
The board also asked about an article in the Telegram and Gazette about her departure from a “rocky tenure” in Uxbridge, where she was town manager.
“It wasn’t a good fit,” said Ms. Ellison.
She explained that she found some financial discrepancies with the town accountant. Ultimately, he was charged with embezzlement in two towns. She did not tell her board, she said, so as not to compromise the Attorney General’s investigation. That, she said, was a mistake.
“It was my mistake,” said Ms. Ellison.
When the board members found out, “our trust was broken.”
“I learned from the experience,” she said, adding that it is unfortunate she chose a field where, “when you make a mistake, it becomes Google-able.”
“I own it,” she said.
And now her model is lots of communication.
“I’ll give everybody any information you want and I can’t own what you do with that information,” said Ms. Ellison.
As for dealing with contentious situations with the public, Ms. Ellison gave en example of how she de-escalated a situation that was on track to having the police called. A resident was extremely upset about her tax bill. Ms. Ellison made sure someone explained how the process works and why her taxes went up.
“You’ve got to meet people where they are,” said Ms. Ellison, and not assume to know what they are going through.
She said she returns every call or email she gets, even though it may not be the answer they want.
“But I make sure that people are at least heard,” she said.
As for how to deal with conflict, Ms. Ellison said that conflict is a good thing because it actually helps people develop and grow.
“Conflict resolution is something I constantly do,” said Ms. Ellison. “I believe that I’m level headed.”
She said she understood that most people on various boards live in town, they know each other, they have a history. Sometimes that history is not known to government officials or employees.
Other topics included Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI); climate change; and the Board of Public Works being independent from the TA.
When asked why she wanted to come to Fairhaven, Ms. Ellison said she sent to school in Dartmouth and has family in New Bedford. She is familiar with the community, and sees a lot of positives as well as challenges.
She said she recognizes we have an aging population, and wants to find ways to keep young people here.
The board deliberated in open session while Ms. Ellison stepped out.
Ms. Powers said she loved Ms. Ellison’s approach, and believed she has the ability to bring the town together. She was well-informed and “did her homework,” said Ms. Powers.
She was confident, she said that if Ms. Ellison does not know something, she will find out.
Mr. Silvia said she was very knowledgeable, and rose to the top three out of 39.
“I don’t think you can go wrong,” said Mr. Silvia.
Mr. Espindola said he was impressed that she actually watched the whole goals and objectives meeting.
“She has a nice, diverse background,” said Mr. Espindola, and noted she has a working knowledge of five languages (English, Cape Verdean Creole, Portuguese, Spanish, and French).
The board voted unanimously to offer her the position. In a followup interview the next day, Ms. Ellison said she was, indeed, still interested.
She and the board will need to negotiate the terms of the contract. She can start in about a month’s time, she said.
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