On April 18, Department of Public Works Director David Smith abruptly announced he was terminating his employment with the town effective that day, one month earlier than he was scheduled to leave. Smith had resigned in March, alleging that three of his employees were making the department dysfunctional. His last day was to be May 19.
In his termination letter, Smith said, “I can no longer stand the abuse and attacks that the union stewards present to me on a near daily basis.” He added that the DPW will be a “dysfunctional department” until the two union stewards are removed.
Assistant Town Administrator Allyson Mitchell confirmed to the Press that Smith’s last day was April 17. She said voicemails left for the DPW will be checked, but for now, emails, which are all being automatically forwarded to her, will be a better way to contact the DPW. Mitchell said she and Town Administrator Dan Nason are handling the administration of the department, and she is working with the foreman on daily operations until an interim director can be hired. She said the director position will be posted in the coming weeks.
Smith’s original resignation letter alleged that the three employees were taking long breaks to go to out-of-town restaurants, making derogatory comments to coworkers, causing segregation among the employees, and taking liberties at the expense of their coworkers.
Smith said he tried to address these behaviors with the three, but said that’s when they began to retaliate against him and a few of the other employees who sided with Smith. When the Press spoke to Smith at the end of March, he said that working every day in what he called a hostile environment was taking a toll on him. He said he was 61 years old and didn’t need the stress or the money from this job. He also said he had little hope that the town could do anything short of firing the three employees to remedy the situation.
Mitchell told the Press that the town has contracted with an outside human resources firm to conduct a cultural assessment of the DPW, and to examine the allegations made by Smith against the union stewards and by the stewards against him. No further information on that assessment will be available until the firm produces a report for the Select Board, she said. Jim Durkin, legislative director of AFSCME Council 93, the council that represents the 11 full-time Harvard DPW workers, told the Press the union would not comment on this matter.
In a statement to the Press, Mitchell said: “We’re doing everything we can to make sure we resolve any issues that have existed (some for decades) the right way. … Mass. General Law and labor law has a lot to say about how we can handle various personnel issues. … We can’t rush the process; if we do, we’ll just repeat history and find ourselves in the same boat with the next director.”
