LAKEVILLE — At Lakeville Town Administrator Ari Sky’s second review at the Select Board meeting on Monday, Sept. 18, board members praised Sky’s financial prowess, but flagged communication as an area where they wanted to see more improvement.

“Generally speaking I think there’s a lot of things that are going well,” said Select Board Chair Brian Day. “I think a strong point of yours is absolutely fiscal detail. You are on top of the numbers all the time.”

But Day also flagged what he described as “minor things to work on” in his review. “A couple of department heads have mentioned at times, and this just might be getting through the first contract period, that they feel like they are maybe a little more micromanaged than they are used to,” Day said.

Select Board member Evagelia Fabian’s review of Sky was a bit more negative. “Compared to last year some of my numbers went down a little bit,” Fabian said, referring to the rubric that board members were using to review Sky’s performance. “I just feel like there’s been a little less communication. I feel like I’m not knowing everything that I should be.”

Fabian agreed with the other Select Board members that budgeting was a particular strength of Sky’s.

One focus of the review was on how increased communication might be needed in light of future changes to the Lakeville Select Board, which will be expanding from three members to five.

“I know there are concerns going into the five member board that it’s going to be more taxing on you, so I’m hoping you will find another vehicle to communicate with the five members,” said Select Board member Lorraine Carboni.

Sky told the board that his job responsibilities as a Town Administrator were defined by legislation. “Right now we have a really strong Town Administrator act in place,” Sky said. “If I didn’t assume those responsibilities I wouldn’t be doing my job. Unfortunately some of that sometimes causes some pushback.”

“If you go from three members to five members… then the need for executive authority is greater, not less,” Sky added. “The need for a town administrator who has [the] ability to assume some control over things is greater, not less, when you have five members. But if that’s not what this board wants then we can always try another direction. That is absolutely the board’s decision to do so.”

Fabian said that she thought the increase in the size of the Select Board was a signal that Lakeville residents wanted more involvement in how the town was run.

“The town has voted for more representation,” Fabian said. “The town has voted for a recall [process for Select Board members], and the town has voted down changing the elected position of the clerk to [an appointed position].”

“We still have to pay attention to how some of the folks feel,” Fabian added. “They feel it’s a very conservative town and it’s clear to me that they want more representation.”

“It sounds like there’s a theme where maybe all of us together need to find a way to communicate a little better,” Day said.

The specifics of Sky’s compensation or of his overall rating were not discussed at this meeting.

Overall, Carboni said, during the past year Sky had “certainly met all the expectations that were identified here under this rating criteria.” 

“I know going into the numbers that if you say it’s balanced, I have no questions on that.” Carboni said.