Grafton Town Administrator ‘brought a level of mutual respect’ to municipal employee contract negotiations

The president of the Grafton Municipal Employee’s Association took the unusual step of praising Town Administrator Evan Brassard for his role in contract negotiations, noting that working with the previous administrator was “difficult at best and were not always cordial.”

Appearing before the Select Board Tuesday, GMEA President Tammy Kalinowski said negotiations on the employees’ contract began with then-town administrator Tim McInerney in November 2019, with negotiations stalling with the COVID-19 pandemic and, later, McInerney’s July 2020 separation from the town. By the time Brassard was hired, the contract had been expired for nine months.

“Within the first few weeks of Evan starting, he hit the ground running and made negotiations a priority,” Kalinowski said,

While the full contract, including details about pay raises, has not been made official, Brassard said some of the changes included recognizing Juneteenth (June 19, celebrating the emancipation of slaves following the Civil War) as a paid holiday, allowing DPW workers to leave before a shift change if they have worked for 24 hours plowing snow, and other tweaks.

“We feel that Evan was honest, forthright, and fair,” Kalinowski said, continuing to read from the GMEA statement. “There was no arguing or negative back and forth. Eye contact carries immense importance in any interaction and Evan made a point to have eye contact when each of us had something to say and really listened and heard our concerns. The negotiating team feels Evan brought a level of mutual respect to negotiations that has been missing from previous negotiations.”

The complete GMEA letter to the Select Board:

The negotiating team for the Grafton Municipal Employee’s Association would like to thank Evan and his team for their work during negotiations. At the time Evan started with the Town, the Association’s contract had been expired for approximately 9 months. Negotiations originally started in November 2019 with the previous Town Administrator, however, due to circumstances beyond our control, negotiations were put on hold. We later made a good faith attempt at negotiating with the Temporary Town Administrator. After careful consideration, we ultimately felt it best to wait until a permanent Town Administrator was in place. Within the first few weeks of Evan starting, he hit the ground running and made negotiations a priority. 

The Association’s negotiating team feels it is important to note how negotiations went with Evan and his team. Three members of the Association’s negotiating team have had experience with negotiations and two members were new to the process in November of 2019. Previous negotiations had been difficult at best and were not always cordial. We would very much like the Select Board to know that this experience, for all of us, has by far, been the best experience we have ever had with negotiations. We feel, after having negotiated with both the previous and Temporary Town administrators, that Evan was the easiest to work with and made negotiations a positive, pleasant, and enjoyable experience. We feel that Evan was honest, forthright, and fair. There was no arguing or negative back and forth. Eye contact carries immense importance in any interaction and Evan made a point to have eye contact when each of us had something to say and really listened and heard our concerns. The negotiating team feels Evan brought a level of mutual respect to negotiations that has been missing from previous negotiations. We look forward to working with Evan in the future! 

Respectfully, 

Tammy Kalinowski, GMEA President 
Cheryl Barker, GMEA Vice President 
Cynthia Mercier, Dispatcher Representative 
Christopher Caron, Administrative Personnel Representative 
Peter Gagne, Highway & Cemetery Representative

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