Date: Fri 07-Aug-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Hurley-Highway-Dept-study

Full Text:

Hurley Responds To Critical Highway Dept. Study

BY STEVE BIGHAM

When the highly-critical study of Newtown's Public Works Department became

public last week, the spotlight was suddenly pointed at the man who runs the

operation -- Fred Hurley.

This week, Mr Hurley responded to the study's harsh findings, saying changes

would be made, but not without the support of both the Board of Selectmen and

Legislative Council, which tends to cut the department's budget on an annual

basis.

"There has to be the political support in order for there to be change," he

said Wednesday. "Without that support, nothing will change."

And the study, headed by Robert Weiss of the Connecticut Conference of

Municipalities, did point out that a lack of resources had much to do with the

department's shortcomings in road repair and other areas. However, the report

also criticized Mr Hurley's department for a lack of vision which has resulted

in few objectives being reached. It also indicated that virtually all public

work services "fail to be done in a cost-effective, professional manner."

The study's finding also called the agency's entire management system into

question and said basic professional standards are lacking. It said there

seems to be a lack of teamwork among the 37 employees who make up the

department. The report also stated that staff members have little idea about

what others within the department are doing and show little interest in

finding out. It stated that personnel lacked direction, accountability and a

solid foundation.

These were just a few of the barbs which irked Mr Hurley and his staff.

"I just thought they were way out-of-line in some areas," said Mr Hurley,

calling the harsh descriptions of personnel unhelpful. "We need to focus on

where we need to go from here."

Mr Hurley, who said his staff was initially upset at the way it had been

characterized, said the study team came in with its own philosophy on how a

public works department should be and, in effect, had 80 percent of its report

completed before "they ever walked into town." He said the two men who

conducted the study are both town managers for two Connecticut towns, but

Newtown has a political system, where decisions are often based on politics.

Therefore, Mr Hurley said, the philosophical perspective on how a public works

department functions is entirely different.

"In every given town there is a different state of evolution," Mr Hurley said.

"What worked for a department in the 80's doesn't necessarily work today."

Mr Hurley said he agreed that more frequent evaluations of goals and missions

need to be done.

Mr Hurley also noted that the study gave very few recommendations on how the

department can improve.

"You kept waiting for recommendations and they never appeared," Mr Hurley

said. "They tried very hard to get their philosophy forward by using this

shock treatment, but there were very few recommendations."

The study made no mention of the work done by Mr Hurley in his involvement in

the town's sewer project.

Mr Hurley said the important thing is to move forward in making sure the

town's infrastructure remains solid.