TRURO — Town Manager Darrin Tangeman has resigned effective April 8 after four years on the job and with two years remaining on his three-year contract. Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark has assumed his responsibilities, including preparations for the annual town meeting in May.
Tangeman’s resignation was announced in a three-sentence joint statement with the select board on Friday afternoon, Feb. 7.
“Mr. Tangeman appreciates the opportunity the Select Board provided him to work for the Town of Truro over the last four years and thanks the staff, volunteers, and community for their support,” the statement read. “The Select Board thanks Mr. Tangeman for all of the work he has done on behalf of the Town and wishes him well in his future endeavors.”
Tangeman did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
According to his contract, Tangeman could resign or be terminated at any time. If the board voted to request his resignation and he agreed, he would be entitled to one year’s salary, contingent on negotiating a separation agreement that included mutual non-disparagement clauses.
Either a voluntary resignation or termination for cause by the select board would entitle Tangeman to six months’ pay, the contract states.
Select board chair Susan Areson declined to clarify the circumstances of Tangeman’s resignation except to confirm that he will receive a lump-sum payment equal to 12 months’ salary in the first payroll period after April 8, along with accrued benefits and other negotiated compensation.
According to his contract, those benefits include COBRA medical coverage, full payout of accumulated vacation time, and compensation for 25 percent of unused sick leave.
Tangeman’s annual salary as of May 2024 was $199,200.
Areson would not confirm whether the select board had voted to request Tangeman’s resignation, and she disagreed with a reporter’s suggestion that the 12-month lump payment indicated a vote had taken place. She then cited the confidentiality of executive sessions and declined to speak further about the resignation. “There is little I can say beyond the joint statement,” she told the Independent.
The select board has met in executive session four times this year, most recently on Feb. 4.
Three of those meetings included agenda items related to strategy sessions, collective bargaining sessions, or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel, a category that includes the town manager. That is one of the 10 legally valid reasons to hold an executive session under the state’s Open Meeting Law.
Growing Tensions
Tangeman was hired in September 2020 after a national search to replace Truro’s former Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer, who served for six years. He began work on Jan. 4, 2021, bringing his 22 years of military experience — including 11 as a U.S. Army Green Beret — and five years in municipal management in Colorado.
Tangeman’s initial salary was $172,000, and the town provided $22,500 in relocation expenses.
His tenure in Truro was marked by vocal opposition from some residents, many of whom claimed that new municipal buildings or housing developments would harm the town.
A June 2023 petition calling for his removal was signed by at least 202 Truro voters and almost as many nonresidents and spurred several dozen emails to the select board.
“We have an element of our community who feels disenfranchised, and they have identified me as the person who should be accountable for that disenfranchisement,” Tangeman told the Independent that month. “I often run into people who stereotype military leaders as autocratic, heavy-handed, and iron-fisted. It’s something I avoid in terms of management style. I’m very sensitive to that.”
The select board, then chaired by Kristen Reed, rallied around Tangeman and voted to extend his contract by a 4-1 vote in an executive session on June 28, 2023. Areson, who was then vice chair, cast the lone dissenting vote.
By last fall, however, tensions between the board and Tangeman had become evident. The board repeatedly discussed setting a remote-work policy for the town manager and then spent four working sessions establishing a detailed list of five goals for Tangeman in 2025.
The board was also planning a “360-degree review process” for Tangeman that would include feedback from staff — partly in response to concerns about the board’s prior evaluation process, which included one-on-one private meetings between Tangeman and members of the board that raised questions about Open Meeting Law compliance.
A New Search
Although Tangeman’s official departure date is April 8, Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark “assumed the duties” of the town manager as of Feb. 7, the day his resignation was announced, she told the Independent.
The town is still working to finalize the budget for fiscal 2026, which begins this July 1, and the warrant for town meeting on May 3. Plans for a new Dept. of Public Works facility are still up in the air, with even the location of a new building not settled.
Tangeman had described the town’s staff as overworked, but Areson expressed confidence about the path forward.
“This is admittedly a busy time of year with budget finalization and annual town meeting preparation, but we have an excellent and experienced staff, many of whom have done this work for many years,” Areson told the Independent.
Clark echoed that sentiment and said that she has felt supported by many staff members since stepping into the acting town manager role.
“We are very fortunate to have a wonderful and dedicated staff team that will work hard to ensure that we continue to provide excellent service to the Truro community,” Clark said on Feb. 11.
The select board plans to discuss the search for a new town manager at its Feb. 25 meeting.
