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Darrin Tangeman

    RESIGNATION

    Truro Bids Its Town Manager a Costly Goodbye

    Darrin Tangeman’s departure comes with a $237K payout and a split select board

    By

    TRURO — Town Manager Darrin Tangeman will receive a $237,370 lump-sum severance payment from the town after his resignation takes effect on April 8, according to a signed copy of his separation agreement provided by the town to the Independent.

    Tangeman’s resignation was announced in a brief joint statement with the select board on Feb. 7. It did not elaborate on the circumstances of his departure, but during the four months before the announcement came, the board held four work sessions outlining five performance goals for Tangeman and had still not set a date for a planned “360-degree review” of his performance.

    Select board chair Susan Areson declined to say whether the board had voted to request his resignation.

    “It was a mutually agreed upon separation based upon the terms of my contract, and I gave 60 days’ notice,” Tangeman told the Independent this week. His departure comes two years before his three-year contract was set to expire.

    His contract entitled Tangeman to a year’s salary, full payout of accumulated vacation time, compensation for 25 percent of unused sick leave, and a buyout for the military buyback earned benefit program he is enrolled in through the Barnstable County Retirement Program. The severance payment includes $202,180 for 12 months’ salary, $24,049 for vacation time, and $11,141 for sick leave. The town will also pay $34,400 directly to the Barnstable County Retirement Program for the earned benefit buyout.

    Until April 8, Tangeman will continue receiving his regular salary while Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark serves as acting town manager. She took on those responsibilities the same day his resignation was announced.

    According to the separation agreement, Tangeman “will not perform any official duties for the town but will remain available for consultation on any pending matters.” He said he has not yet been consulted but can be reached by town staff until April 8 for questions about ongoing projects.

    The agreement requires Tangeman to cooperate in any legal or administrative matters related to his tenure. If called upon after April 8, he will be compensated for all time spent on these matters at the rate of pay he currently receives from the town, with additional reimbursement for expenses.

    A non-disparagement clause in the agreement prevents both Tangeman and town officials from making statements that could damage each other’s reputations, though it allows for public comment on town governance matters. By signing it, Tangeman also released the town from any legal claims related to his employment or separation, including “the facts that gave rise to his separation from the town.”

    A Divided Board

    The select board discussed Tangeman’s resignation in three executive sessions on Jan. 13, Jan. 24, and Feb. 4, according to Areson.

    She, along with clerk Nancy Medoff and board member Susan Girard-Irwin, signed the separation agreement on Feb. 4. Vice chair Bob Weinstein and board member Stephanie Rein did not.

    Weinstein told the Independent that he and Rein had been sidelined during the period that ended with Tangeman’s resignation. “We are the two members who were left out of the loop until it was a done deal,” he said. Weinstein and Rein were both present at the meetings where the matter was discussed, but by that time, he said, “the other three had already made up their minds how they wanted to move forward.”

    Weinstein described Tangeman’s departure as involuntary and criticized the severance payout as an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. “I’m not defending Darrin; I’m defending process,” he said.

    Rein declined to comment on her decision not to sign the separation agreement and would not address Weinstein’s claims, citing the confidentiality of executive sessions.

    Areson rejected Weinstein’s claim that he and Rein had been excluded. “All five members were included,” she told the Independent. “There was no deliberation outside of those meetings.”

    She added that the division does not undermine the board’s ability to govern. “Reasonable people disagree regularly and are still able to conduct business,” she said. “The decision-making process is only improved when differing points of view are represented.”

    The minutes from the three executive sessions have not yet been released. Areson said she did not have a timeline for making them available, as she is awaiting advice on that from town counsel. The state’s Open Meeting Law requires that executive session minutes be reviewed at “reasonable intervals” to determine if their continued nondisclosure is warranted — about every three to six months, the state’s Division of Open Government estimates.

    Search Delayed

    The select board had planned to discuss and possibly vote on launching a search for a new town manager at its Feb. 25 meeting. But at that meeting, the board decided to delay such a search.

    “Our town is in a fragile state,” said Areson. “We have divisiveness in the community and divisiveness on the select board. We have made progress, but we have a ways to go. I believe we should pause and not rush into the search for a new town manager.”

    Areson proposed waiting five or six months to allow Clark to focus on pressing tasks, including preparing for town meeting in May and upcoming union contract negotiations. Areson said that she thought the board should focus on helping Clark secure additional staff help in the meantime.

    “Kelly knows and loves this community,” Areson said. “She listens, she’s empathetic, and she works to solve problems. I believe she can help us heal.”

    Medoff asked Clark for her thoughts. “I am perfectly comfortable and confident in pursuing this path,” said Clark.

    TURNOVER

    After 4 Years, Truro’s Town Manager Is Out

    Kelly Clark takes on Darrin Tangeman’s duties at town hall

    By

    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.

    Town Manager Darrin Tangeman at a Nov. 28, 2023 special town meeting at Truro Central School. On Friday, Feb. 7, Tangeman and the select board announced in a terse statement that he would resign effective April 8. (Photo by Paul Benson)

    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.

    PERFORMANCE REVIEW

    Truro Select Board Ratings of Tangeman Vary Widely

    But members agree that the town manager’s job is misunderstood

    By

    TRURO — In an executive session on June 28, the select board voted 4-1 to extend Town Manager Darrin Tangeman’s contract, with Sue Areson voting no.

    Two weeks later, the board met in a public work session to discuss their evaluations of Tangeman’s performance. Using an evaluation form from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), board members had scored Tangeman in eight categories, with a maximum possible score of 93. Their scores varied widely.

    Areson gave him a 28. Stephanie Rein gave Tangeman a 61. Bob Weinstein scored his performance at 69, and John Dundas gave him an 82. Chair Kristen Reed gave Tangeman a 64.

    The average was 60.8, in the “good — exceeds expectations” range of the ICMA’s formula.

    “The reason I was the lone vote against extending the contract is that the issues raised in this performance plan are issues that I and other members of the board raised during his first evaluation,” Areson said on July 11. “I didn’t see any efforts or progress being made on these issues, and I saw increasing dissatisfaction among taxpayers.”

    The board conducted Tangeman’s review with the same approach they have used since 2018, Reed said. Each member completed the evaluation form and met individually with Tangeman, who had completed the same form reviewing his own performance.

    Following those one-on-one meetings, the board convened in executive session, citing one of the legally permissible excuses: “To conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel.”

    Under the state’s open meeting law, evaluation of professional competence is not a valid reason for a closed session.

    Mike Fee, a lawyer who lives in Truro, told the Independent that the select board’s practice sounded like “a work-around” of the law.

    At the July 11 work session —an open meeting without a public comment period — the board discussed the value of confidential evaluations.

    “Going forward, we should do this publicly,” Areson said, though she later added, “I agree that the one-on-ones are really important, and I think they should be done confidentially.”

    Reed said that her meeting with Tangeman was “pretty extensive” and lasted “about three hours.”

    Tangeman said he favors the one-on-one format “because it allows us to have really candid conversations.” He described the public work session on July 11 as “kind of experimental” because it combined private and public approaches. “This might be the way forward,” he said during the meeting.

    The Numbers

    Board members agreed that communication was a shortcoming in Tangeman’s performance. Four of them gave him aggregate communication scores between 6 and 9 out of 12. Areson gave Tangeman a zero.

    “To begin efforts at community engagement two and a half years into a three-year contract seemed too little, too late,” Areson said.

    Weinstein, who gave Tangeman a 7 for communication, pointed to the controversy regarding the damaged culvert on Mill Pond Road as an instance when communication was lacking. At the public information session held on March 8 to discuss replacing the culvert, DPW Director Jarrod Cabral and consultants spoke, but Tangeman did not. Weinstein described it as “a missed opportunity” for the town manager.

    Tangeman said that he and Reed had decided together that he would not speak at that meeting “because we didn’t want to politicize it.” But Tangeman said he saw Weinstein’s point. “If I were to do it over again, I would be out front and introduce it and take responsibility,” Tangeman said.

    In the subcategory of integrity, four members gave Tangeman a 9 out of 9, while Areson gave him a 6. In the “Truro specific criteria” category, Areson gave Tangeman a 2 out of 18, while Dundas gave him a 13.

    Moving Forward

    The board laid out nine goals for Tangeman “to improve outreach and communications with the town.” They include holding weekly community office hours, attending senior luncheons, and conducting at least two meetings with the Truro Part-Time Resident Taxpayers’ Association “to solicit feedback and ideas on community matters.”

    The board also discussed ways to combat the spread of misinformation. Weinstein said that the recent campaign urging the board not to renew Tangeman’s contract was proof of “a public, almost across-the-board misunderstanding of what the manager’s job actually is.”

    Weinstein suggested a public information session to clarify the roles of different parts of town government. It is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 8.

    “I agree that he’s been blamed for things that are not his responsibility, such as the budget, the direction of the town,” Areson said. “Those fall squarely on the select board and town meeting, so we need to take responsibility for that.”

    Reed mentioned the investigation that will take place regarding Areson’s alleged unauthorized discussions with town employees about Tangeman’s performance. “Hopefully, moving forward all select board members understand how the charter works and what our role is, and how we work together,” she said.

    TRURO TALKS

    A Campaign Is Waged to Oust Town Manager

    42 percent of the signers of an online petition are nonvoters

    By

    TRURO — A vocal contingent of Truro voters and nonvoters has waged a campaign in the last week asking the select board not to renew Town Manager Darrin Tangeman’s contract. As of June 13, the board had received at least 45 emails urging Tangeman’s ouster, citing a variety of reasons including high taxes, housing development said to threaten Truro’s rural ethos, and Tangeman’s “authoritarian” managerial style.

    An online petition initiated by Jonathan Slater, titled “Truro Needs a New Town Manager,” warned of a shift toward “suburbanization” under Tangeman’s rule. It had collected 391 apparent endorsements as of the Independent’s news deadline on Tuesday, June 13.

    Only 349 names were visible, however, because the platform iPetitions allows for anonymous “signatures.” Of those 349 signers, 202 — or just under 58 percent — are registered Truro voters.

    Tangeman became town manager on Jan. 4, 2021, and his three-year contract will expire on Jan. 3, 2024. “His contract remains active under an indefinite appointment under the current existing terms” unless a supermajority of the select board votes not to renew it by June 30, select board chair Kristen Reed told the Independent.

    The select board also received a handful of emails supporting Tangeman. Those letters argue that his role is misunderstood and that he is competent and responsive to community concerns.

    The Independent reviewed the messages, both negative and positive, after requesting them from the select board. All letters and emails to the board are public documents.

    Six of the emails cited excessive spending and escalating taxes as reasons to fire Tangeman. “Taxes have skyrocketed under his tenure,” Cheryl Best wrote. “There has been an overt, and ever-increasing inclination to over collect taxes.”

    In another email, John and Katherine Garran wrote that under Tangeman there was “too much spending, taxes too high, town spending money will-Nilly [sic] to make the special interest group feel good.”

    State law empowers town meeting to approve or reject all spending. According to the Mass. Dept. of Revenue, the select board makes policy decisions, including developing the budget. The town manager and finance committee make recommendations but don’t have final authority over budgets.

    At town meeting this spring, the $23.5 million omnibus budget passed easily. Two Proposition 2½ overrides, which critics have blamed Tangeman for, were approved at both town meeting and the town election in May.

    Several critical emails referred to overdevelopment and the importance of “keeping Truro rural.” Jytte Klausen of Cambridge, who signed Slater’s petition, told the Independent that the proposed Walsh property housing “has really been pushed through by the town manager.” She added that “most people who live on the Outer Cape do not wish to live in dense housing and it will profoundly change the character of the town.”

    Steven Sollog wrote that calls for new housing were “divisive” and “the Town Manager needs to take the blame for this.”

    In her comment on Slater’s petition, Karen Ruymann mentioned Tangeman’s “push to suburbanize this magical rural paradise,” saying that it spoke “against his ability to be a uniting leader in Truro.”

    Bob Panessiti, chair of the Truro Finance Committee, supported Tangeman’s contract renewal. He told the Independent that “people are talking about the direction that Darrin is taking the town, but Darrin does not take the town in any direction.”

    Panessiti posted a message on the town’s unofficial Facebook group, “Truro,” which has more than 4,000 members, calling attention to citizens’ role in approving the town budget. He wrote that he intended to correct “false narratives” and disputed anxieties about “suburbanization,” pointing out that 67 percent of the town is in the Cape Cod National Seashore.

    Panessiti’s Facebook post was deleted; he told the Independent that he hadn’t done it. The moderator of the “Truro” group is Helen Addison, who signed Slater’s petition. Asked whether she took Panessiti’s post down, Addison wrote in an email that “I don’t specifically remember any posts by Robert Panessiti though it could have been a post taken down because somebody else in the group objected to it.” Addison said any post that elicits an objection gets taken down.

    At the select board meeting on June 13, Slater said, “It is only one week since this petition was posted and its rapid growth clearly indicates a large and significant groundswell of opinion in the town.”

    Josh Grandel told the Independent that he signed the petition because he recognized the names of other signers and because “I’m not a fan of this big social agenda that’s going on with child care.” Grandel also said he thought the town manager was Bob Weinstein. Told that the town manager’s name was Darrin Tangeman, Grandel said, “I’ve never heard of him.”

    By far the most common grievance expressed by Tangeman’s critics is about his personality and leadership style, which have been described as “autocratic,” “bullying,” and “iron-fisted.” Several letters cited Tangeman’s military background — he was a Green Beret — as the explanation.

    “Our government is now run more like a corporation and the military than like a small New England town in which residents play an active role in policy formation and implementation,” Joan Holt wrote to the select board.

    “We have an element of our community who feels disenfranchised,” said Tangeman this week, “and they have identified me as the person who should be accountable for that disenfranchisement. 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.”

    Tangeman also said he saw a need for clarification of the role of town manager which, he said, is to implement, not create, select board policies and the voters’ decisions.

    Select board chair Reed saw a similar need. “The select board is always willing to listen to resident concerns,” she wrote in an email, “but we also recognize that many of the grievances in these emails are tied to a misconception about what the town manager is actually responsible for.”

    Tangeman said he would like to “apologize if members of the community tried to contact me and couldn’t get hold of me.” He added that in combing through his voicemail archive and email database many of those who complained about him did not appear. “I just don’t know where there was a ball that was dropped,” he said. “I’m always open to communication.”

    Some residents who support Tangeman’s continued tenure also noted qualities that echo the sentiments of those calling for his dismissal.

    Kristen Roberts, a member of the finance committee, served on the search committee that screened Tangeman. In a letter to the select board, she wrote, “I will be honest and tell you he was not my first choice, or even my second. I felt he was a little less collaborative and a little more authoritative than I would have liked to see.”

    But Roberts has been pleasantly surprised, she said, finding Tangeman “receptive to feedback.” Listing current development projects that put the town “at a significant crossroads right now,” Roberts wrote: “Despite any differences I have had with Darrin, I truly believe that he will be the best person to steer the town through it.”

    Panessiti also wrote the select board in support of Tangeman. “I think Darrin is a top-down manager, and that management style bothers some people,” he told the Independent. “That can be worked on.” He added that “the wholesale call for his dismissal because he’s not responding to everyone who calls him is a modern-day witch hunt.”

    Reed said that the select board believes Covid restrictions hampered Tangeman’s ability to engage with the community. During Reed’s one-on-one performance review with Tangeman this year (which each select board member held), “it was agreed that his focus for the coming year should be on communications and engagement, with a priority on civility,” she said.

    The select board will go into an executive session on Friday, June 16 at 10:30 a.m. with town counsel to discuss Tangeman’s contract renewal, according to Reed. The discussion will take place in an executive session because it falls under “strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel,” Reed said. That is one of 10 permissible reasons to hold a closed session.

    The select board has not yet decided when it will reveal the outcome of Friday’s meeting, Reed said. The decision may be made public at the select board’s next meeting on June 27.

    CIVICS

    Truro Wants Coloradan to Be Town Manager

    Tangeman says special forces career made him a social diplomat

    By

    TRURO — After heaping praise on Darrin Tangeman, 46, a former Green Beret with municipal and medical experience, the select board on Sept. 22 unanimously picked him to be the next town manager.

    The board members described the Kansas native’s attributes in glowing terms. He will be hired pending contract negotiations that should take place in the next two weeks. The choice of Tangeman comes after two rounds of executive searches, and after the town’s first choice, Robert Wood of Texas, dropped out over failed salary and benefit negotiations.

    “It’s sort of exhausting when someone checks so many boxes,” said Robert Weinstein, the select board chair, of Tangeman.

    TruroTM
    Darrin Tangeman. (Photo courtesy Darrin Tangeman)

    Weinstein particularly liked Tangeman’s medical experience. His resume states he was in the U.S. Army Medical Reserves Corps, managed a hospital information technology department, an emergency management system, and an ambulance service, and established the first telemedicine system in Afghanistan in 2002 while in the military.

    Select board member Jan Worthington raved about him.

    “He’s a leader, a people person, he’s a researcher, he builds bridges, he forms consensus,” Worthington said. “He’s an honest, ethical, engaging person and I think he’ll reach out in ways that we cannot even think of. He’s good on the budget and he’s good on the environment and he’s good on housing,” she said. “He checked almost every box I could see.”

    Tangeman is married and has two teenage daughters. He is currently the city manager of Woodland Park, a Colorado town of about 8,200 people. Before that, he was chief administrative officer of Pueblo West, Colo., since 2015.

    Prior to entering local government, Tangeman served 22 years in the military, the last 11 years as a Green Beret.

    He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Kansas and master’s degrees in three areas: public administration, from the University of Colorado at Denver; public and security policy analysis, from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.; and business administration from the University of Kansas.

    “Darrin seems like a real human being,” said select board member Sue Areson. “He’s not at all on a soap box and he listens and he is flexible.”

    Tangeman was introduced to the Cape while he attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government for a senior executive course in 2018, he said during a community forum on Sept. 18.

    “My family came with me, and we enjoyed the area and the history … and the beauty of the environment within the Cape,” he said.

    He said he was intrigued by the complexity of Truro, with its affordable housing challenges and the conflict between the year-round and seasonal residents.

    “A mentor told me to select a job for the community, not the job itself,” he said.

    Truro resident Ellen Anthony asked him on Friday during an online community forum how he would address the polarization that is dividing year-rounders and nonresident taxpayers.

    “You have to be very deliberate in allowing them [nonresidents] to have a voice,” Tangeman said. “And use social media surveys to ensure representative feedback from both sides of the issue. That’s how I would approach it.”

    Asked how a military man can switch to run a town, Tangeman explained that there is a misperception about the military style being autocratic.

    “In the special forces,” he said, “we prided ourselves on being social diplomats and culturally literate. That’s what I bring. We provided resources to those trying to solve the problems.” It was not about “barking orders,” he said.

    If negotiations work out, Tangeman’s hiring will end a process that has gone on for months since Rae Ann Palmer, the current town manager, announced her retirement in the fall. She attended her final regular select board meeting on Sept. 22.

    Paul Wisotzky, chair of the town manager screening committee, said Tangeman seems like a great candidate “and so fingers crossed.”

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