Concord Mayor Backtracks After Booting Ward 5 Councilor From City Manager Review Process: Follow-Up

CONCORD, NH — Despite advice from the city’s legal counsel and believing there is a conflict of interest himself, the city’s mayor is backtracking on banning a city councilor, whose husband works for the city, from participating in the review process of her husband’s boss.

In a letter on Monday afternoon to Ward 5 Concord City Councilor Stacey Brown, Mayor Byron Champlin said, “after due consideration,” he was rescinding his ruling, banning her from participating in the review of City Manager Tom Aspell. Champlin wrote, “although I continue to believe a direct conflict of interest exists… you are free to participate in the evaluation if you wish.”

The decision is a surprising about-face by Champlin, who made no mention of the decision during Monday’s council meeting or after. No notice was sent, either, from the city’s public information officer to Patch.

Brown’s husband is a detective with the Concord Police Department, and she usually recuses herself from items involving the department. Aspell, who has been the city manager for two decades, has direct oversight of decisions regarding Brown’s husband’s career here, including promotions and compensation, which is why it is a conflict for her to participate in the evaluation.

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“Too many people in the public seemed to think my actions were politically motivated, when they were not,” Champlin said Tuesday. “I continue to believe that a conflict of interest exists. However, ongoing drama at city council does not serve the interests of the public for good governance, and that drove my decision.”

The conflict street is not one-way: A city manager could trade something of value with an elected official — like rewarding a spouse or relative who was a city employee, to curry favor with the councilor, as one example. Even though such a scenario was doubtful and, frankly, wild, it could still happen. Hence the need for a recusal.

Regardless of whether she participates or not, Brown has already made up her mind about Aspell’s job performance.

After being banned from the process, Brown took to Nextdoor and her newsletter to write a scathing 1,000-word review of his performance.

Using a 14-point manager evaluations guide put together by the International City/County Management Association, Brown accused Aspell of mismanaging the city’s finances, improperly using capital reserve funds, and being one of the highest-paid municipal employees in the state. Those issues, though, lay at the feet of the Concord City Council, which approved all Aspell's recommendations as well as his pay package. They also voted to approve city budgets and transfers. Other than the police retention bonuses and pay raises, Brown and other councilors voted for raises for workers without any way of paying for them — which is one of the main reasons the city is facing a budget with a 5.5 percent tax increase for the next fiscal year.

Brown accused Aspell of mismanaging staff, including Annmarie Skinner, a former city planner with nearly 30 years of experience, which was covered by the Concord Monitor (Skinner was not named specifically by Brown, but she alluded to her). She also said he was promoting “disunity on the city council” after banning her from speaking directly to city employees. However, she ignored her own role in this decision after making unfounded accusations against city staff. Brown’s badgering led the former golf course manager to quit his job, according to a Facebook post.

Beyond potentially driving more employees out of their jobs in the city, there is also a precedent for limiting her interaction with employees.

Former City Manager Duncan Ballantyne never allowed city employees or department heads to speak to councilors, according to prior interviews. All communications flowed through him. Aspell served for several years under Ballantyne as assistant city manager before being promoted in 2005.

Brown also claimed Aspell mismanaged city resources, buildings, and parks, including Memorial Field.

Several residents were upset by the stark post-tree removal landscape at Memorial after dozens of large pine trees were cut down.

She also complained Keach Park faced a strict no-profit use policy, but the New Hampshire Golf Association, which is a nonprofit organization, was given free use of Beaver Meadow. Brown also said there was a lack of public input on the final clubhouse design for the project. She also complained development policies were described as “anti-housing and bureaucratic,” despite an unprecedented number of new apartments, hundreds and hundreds, many with income restrictions for those needing affordable units, being built in the city during the past few years.

“These decisions reflect inequitable, inconsistent, and non-transparent management of public assets, prioritizing select recreational interests over broad community needs and resident input,” Brown wrote, while not acknowledging her own role in many of her complaints about Aspell’s performance. “Across the 14 ICMA core competencies, the city manager has failed to demonstrate good financial stewardship, staff management, and resource oversight. His mismanagement of city finances, staff, and resources has resulted in higher taxes, loss of experienced staff, council tensions, inequitable treatment of neighborhoods and public spaces, and reduced public trust.”

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