NORTH SMITHFIELD – Scott Gibbs has announced the second element of his platform in his campaign for town administrator, pointing to a vision to create a Town Hall that is recognized internally and externally as the best in Rhode Island.
“Organizations are only as good as the people that work within these organizations,” said Gibbs. “For organizations to be high performing, the people who work within these organizations must feel respected and valued. Also, people who work within these organizations must believe that they are part of something bigger than themselves. In other words, part of an organization that is committed to being the best and providing the highest quality service to residents. It is the town administrator’s responsibility to be a leader in creating such an organization.”
Gibbs noted that all employees in town government deserve to be treated with respect and in a manner consistent with the town’s employee handbook including administrative policies pertaining to harassment in the workplace.
“The employee handbook must be reviewed by legal counsel and approved by the Town Counsel as a public policy,” Gibbs said. “Employees in Town Hall and Public Works should have a current copy of the employee handbook and indicate by appropriate means that they have read and understand the handbook. These employees should also participate in an annual, online training program regarding harassment in the workplace. These requirements will need to be coordinated with the appropriate bargaining unit for employees that are members of a union.”
Gibbs also said that the people and businesses that interact with the town need to be documented.
“By using readily available technology, contacts – customers – are documented including what they are seeking, what are their concerns, and how and when the town can satisfy their needs,” said Gibbs. “The town administrator and his/her team can check on an ongoing basis whether deadlines are met and whether customers are satisfied. Not only does such a system ensure that the Town Hall meets the expectations of customers, but it also enables the town to follow customer needs and concerns and make changes as part of a process of continuous improvement.”
He noted that the team in Town Hall needs to have a clearly defined set of rules and procedures to follow to ensure that the operations are efficiently and effectively delivered.
“It is the responsibility of the town administrator to engage all members of his/her team in the identification and critical analysis of how town business is typically carried out and how it can be improved,” he said. “The conclusions of this process need to be documented and used as a guideline for all team members to follow. If it can’t be measured, it can’t be improved.”
“It is the responsibility of the town administrator to execute the laws of the town and to administer the operations of the town government,” Gibbs added. “The town administrator must also provide the Town Council with the appropriate information, data, and analysis that is critical to the town council’s ability to conduct thorough and fair discussions concerning issues and taking legislative action.”
“With 40 plus years of demonstrated experience and success in managing complex projects and initiatives, including managing and coordinating a diversity of stakeholders, I am uniquely qualified and skilled to fulfill the responsibilities of the town administrator.”
Mr Gibbs,
Good for you for answering the questions open and honestly! It shows you’re a professional and we need this in town! Good luck with your campaign!
The amount of money going to him from developers, sand and gravel operators and also ex town officials who were pro development and solar is VERY CONCERNING!!
He’s identified who he’s received the contributions from JP. Aren’t you concerned about John Beauregard’s campaign finance report? He reports contributions of over $5,000 dollars and lists only one donor who contributed more than $200. Aren’t you concerned that all the other individual donations may have come from Green Energy employees or other developers. He’s received several $1,000 contributions in the past from people who had ties to that company. I find it interesting that you only seem to have concerns about Mr Gibb’s very detailed report. Are you posting in order to improve the chances of his opponent? Seems probable.
Mr. Gibbs, can you explain why, according to your campaign filings, 40% of your campaign donations come from people who work for Holliston Sand and much of the rest from other private developers with interests in town?
I have to agree that this is a very interesting group of people who have donated to the campaign who are all going to expect certain favors for supporting your campaign. I also see a number of donors who are supporting candidates for town council who have a propensity to spend with very little concern for the ability for the town to afford and the taxpayers financial situation.
I don’t dispute your numbers but merely point out that 40% of the donations come from one sector and one company in particular. People can draw their own conclusions.
Mr. Cranston:
Thank you for your comment. Based on your previous comments on The Valley Breeze, it is understood that you are a supporter of Beth Newberry. Therefore, your comment is designed to discredit me, even though you longer live in North Smithfield. Nevertheless, let me state some facts.
1. I have never solicited any funds from any company, nor would I.
2. I have never asked any individual to donate funds to my campaign and all that have donated have done so on their own initiative.
3. Funds provided to my campaign total as follows; 18.6% by individuals who work for Holliston, 45.74% from others, and 35.66% of my own funds.
If you want to consider the donation from Attorney Paul Baillargeon as someone who works for Holliston, then the campaign donations from people who work for Holliston is 26.36%. Nevertheless, I have known Paul Baillargeon for 40 years as an attorney, including when Paul was the Town Solicitor for North Smithfield.
Let me state another fact. I have not received any other donations from what you reference as individuals with a development interest in North Smithfield. And for the record, Mr. Baillargeon has previously made campaign contributions to Representative Brian Newberry, who is Ms. Newberry’s campaign manager. Finally, all campaign finance information is available to anyone on the Rhode Island Campaign Finance website. Your misrepresentation of the facts is unfortunate.
The data doesn’t lie. Nor does the names on your donors list and their affiliations and past records.
Also, didn’t you first file for council vs. administrator? If so, why the change of plan?
I’ve got to say I’m very impressed by your style and your willingness to address questions and comments so directly. It’s refreshing. Good luck Scott.
I will agree with you here Michael. Mr Gibbs isn’t afraid to answer questions directly from constituents. That being said, I don’t want my next leader to have to have “permission” from his wife to attempt to run for election. It’s a NO for me on that alone, but there are other reasons as well. I wish Mr. Gibbs well, good health and fortune whether he is elected or not!
You wouldn’t talk about a potential life changing event/opportunity with your significant other?
Sounds like a single guy talking. Or someone who doesn’t respect his wife and consider her an equal partner in their marriage. Does it make you feel more manly to exclude her from your lifechanging decision?
Nice words and a lot of work. One thing keeps nagging at me. It seems like more than a side gig. I am referencing his Facebook page where he describes himself as being a development consultant who is looking for a side gig. Probably meant humorously but I would like to see him say how much time he actually plans to be at work.
Really organized individuals are adept at multitasking and Scott’s background, indicates to me, that he get’s things done. To be truthful, we have had a TA that has spent almost four years getting nothing done. With that being said, for a professional person, with his background, he could probably clock twenty hours and give you output for forty, but that is not the point. He will get the job done and bring respectability and professionalism to our Town Hall and our personnel.
Richard, thank you for your comment. The “side gig” comment was made a long time ago (estimated 4 years ago) on LinkedIn when I wanted to send the message to the market that I was open to considering andditional opportunities. At the time of that comment, I had never considered running for Town Administrator. When discussing with my wife the desire to take on the TA challenge, it was with full realization that this challenge would demand my full attention and availability. If I am going to lead by example, I need to be the first at work and the last to leave. Given this responsibility, I wanted my wife to be on board, which she accepted before I made the final decision to run. So when elected, I want the town residents to know that they have my full attention. We will have a lot to accomplish to make our town the accepted leader in Rhode Island.
Thanks for the clarification. I found the side hustle statement quite concerning. I believe whoever takes on that position will have a huge responsibility requiring an almost 100% wake time devoted to analyzing and processing the myriad of issues and conditions which require TA attention. So many of my Facebook connections jumped on the economic development bandwagon that I was also concerned about all the other facets of being TA.
Sounds like Scott is going to be cleaning house at town hall. Also need to have town hall open 5 days a week where employees work 40 hours weekly. Maybe I can get an accurate tax bill next year.
And maybe they can answer the telephone too…..we’re not talking about a huge town here folks. So why they cannot pick up the tel has me wondering if they are so overwhelmed that they cannot or won’t. Hope the new TA looks into that! Better customer service.