A labor lawyer for the town of Aquinnah said the board of selectmen acted within its authority when it voted to pay former town treasurer Peter Graczykowski from a separate town lighthouse fund for extra hours auditing and compiling reports associated with the Gay Head Lighthouse relocation project. Former Aquinnah town accountant Kimberly Brown, who resigned in April, objected to the decision to pay the treasurer from the fund.
Jim Newman, chairman of the board of selectman, and Adam Wilson, town administrator, said the payments to Mr. Graczykowski were properly made for extra work he took on in addition to his regular duties, a position underpinned by a legal opinion the town sought from special town labor counsel John (Jack) Collins in response to the questions raised by Ms. Brown.
Ms. Brown resigned on April 10, Mr. Wilson said, because she was unable to meet the requirement that she be in the office weekly rather than bi-weekly, as she had requested.
The issue arose last summer as fundraising efforts hit high gear and the town made plans to take ownership of the lighthouse. The goal was $3 million, and there was a need for accounting services associated with the complex project.
In a seven-page memo dated March 21, 2015, Mr. Collins wrote, “There was consensus by the fundraising chairwoman and the board of selectmen chairman Jim Newman that the treasurer would be the best person to handle this requested task. He already had access to the turnovers and payables to vendors associated with the project, and the required analysis and reporting was felt to be within the scope of his job duties as treasurer. As far as the additional pay was concerned, it was designated to be able to come from the gift fund since the work was part of the relocation effort.”
On August 5, 2014, selectmen voted to have Mr. Graczykowski work an additional 10 hours per week. The town ledger shows Mr. Graczykowski was paid an additional $674 every two weeks from a $25,000 town lighthouse fund approved at town meeting to pay for fundraising efforts.
Meeting on Nov. 18, 2014, selectmen, acting on the recommendation of the personnel committee, changed Mr. Graczykowski’s title and job description from treasurer/benefits administrator to treasurer/human resources director. The change came with an additional five hours and an increase in pay. Selectmen acknowledged that the change was temporary and would need to be approved by voters at town meeting. The additional payments increased from $674 to $706. Mr. Newman and Mr. Wilson said the second hike did not come out of the lighthouse fund.
All of which was legal and within the scope of the authority of town selectmen, Mr. Collins said in his report.
Mr. Collins said “several months” after selectmen approved the additional 10 hours, “the question of the payroll came up with the accountant.”
Mr. Collins said he consulted with Aquinnah town counsel Michael Goldsmith, and both men agreed the payments from the gift fund were allowed. He said he relayed that information to the accountant, and thought the matter was settled, but later learned it was not.
Mr. Collins used six pages to address all of the accountant’s objections related to payroll, ethics, personnel bylaws, and procedures. Mr. Collins concluded that the town had acted appropriately.
“It appears that the primary reason for most if not all of these objection lies in the payment to one town employee without letting others know, and possibly be considered for the extra money,” he concluded.
“… Certainly had monies been spent on matters unrelated to the lighthouse project, this would be a different story. The relatively modest amount involved to provide good financial oversight seems in keeping with the intent and purposes of the voters.”
Needs not met
“There was nothing hidden, it was all above board and approved by the lighthouse committee,” Mr. Newman said. “They needed somebody to do their accounting with all the money that was coming in and going out.”
Mr. Newman said there not time for him to do it on town time, and there was no money budgeted for it.
Mr. Newman disputes the notion that the town forced Ms. Brown out when she objected to the payments. He said it was the expectation from the beginning that she would be in the office once a week.
Mr. Wilson said Ms. Brown had her concerns, and that was why the town sought a legal opinion, and she was given an opportunity to address each one. “She resigned because she could not accommodate the selectmen’s needs to have her here once a week,” Mr. Wilson said.
Not everyone was on board with the decision to pay Mr. Graczykowski out of the gift fund. In an email dated March 10, Ms. Brown told members of the fundraising committee and selectmen that that the town’s $25,000 fundraising account had a deficit of $3,229.
“The expenditures in this account include $6,103 in payroll to Peter/Treasurer,” Ms. Brown wrote. “It is my view that no payroll should be charged to this account. Please consider reclassification of these expenses. This would bring you to a positive balance. It is my view that when town meeting voted to use town funds for this article, they did not envision that it would be used for town employee payroll.
“I also believe that it is imperative you clarify the legality of a town employee receiving additional payroll from gift funds in addition to their regular town pay. At a minimum, there may be ethical steps that need to be taken in order for the situation to be acceptable.”
Beverly Wright, co-chairman of the fundraising committee and a former selectman, responded to Ms. Brown by email that same day.
“My recollection is that when we [Lighthouse Committee] realized that a more in-depth accounting of the funds needed to take place, we spoke with the selectmen,” Ms. Wright said, “in particular, Jim [Newman]. It was decided that Peter could use the extra hours, and that the town would pick up the cost.
“It was never discussed that the funds would come from any fundraising efforts. Personally, I would be opposed to the use of these funds to pay a town employee.”
Ms. Brown, who now works full time for the town of Walpole, stopped work on April 10. That same week, Mr. Graczykowski resigned to take a full-time job with the Dukes County Sheriff’s department as director of finance.
Mr. Graczykowski continues to work for Aquinnah on a part time basis while the personnel committee searches for his replacement.