New Derry manager to start next month

DERRY | Derry will have a new town administrator beginning July 9.

The Town Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to approve a contract for new administrator Gary Stenhouse after weeks of arguing over the details.

After the vote, Stenhouse opened his tenure with a bit of humor.

"I see that Dr. Moody is breathing a sigh of relief," Stenhouse said of John Moody, who has served as acting town administrator for the past four months. "When I met him out in the parking lot, I said, 'Why is this man smiling?'"

Of the two councilors who voted in May not to hire Stenhouse, one was happy with the contract approved this week, while the other was not.

Councilor Janet Fairbanks, who cast the lone dissenting vote, was still not satisfied with the severance portion of the contract presented to Stenhouse, saying he should have been offered less.

But Kevin Coyle, who first raised issues with the proposed contract, voted to approve the deal presented Tuesday night, saying it was a good compromise.

Coyle had raised concerns about the contract two weeks ago, saying he was nervous about a severance package that would require the council to pay the rest of Stenhouse's proposed two-year deal if it decided to terminate his employment early.

"It's a reasonable compromise I can live with," Coyle said.

Moody declined to release a copy of Stenhouse's contract this week, saying it had not been signed yet. But Coyle said it didn't differ from the draft version of the contract except for the severance package.

That was a two-year contract with a salary of $114,000, plus benefits. Stenhouse would receive nine months of severance pay if the council voted to terminate his contract within the first year, Coyle said. Stenhouse also must move to Derry from Rochester, where he served as the city manager for nine years.

Stenhouse, 63, said this week that he will do his best and work hard for Derry residents. He starts July 9. Moody's contract ends June 29, but councilors voted to extend his stay by 18 hours to help Stenhouse become acclimated to the job.

Stenhouse left his job as city manager of Rochester in 2002 after the City Council there bought out his contract because of disagreements.

From Rochester, Stenhouse moved on to New Hampshire Public Risk Management Exchange, known as PRIMEX, a pooled insurance company in Concord that provides workers' compensation and unemployment insurance to school districts and municipalities. He has been there since.

Derry council Chairman Craig Bulkley said he is looking forward to Stenhouse starting his new job and taking on the charges of the council, such as hiring an economic development director.

Tuesday night was also Moody's last meeting as the interim administrator. He closed the meeting by reading a memo he wrote to councilors in which he called his time "complex, challenging and rigorous," alluding to conflicts with Fairbanks and Coyle during his tenure.

"Reasonable people can (and should) disagree agreeably," he wrote to councilors. "To that end, my only regret will be that I was sometimes drawn into the unhealthy vortex of negative dialogue | some of which I accept individual responsibility for."

But Moody said he welcomed the opportunity to serve his town and that it was a very positive experience.

"If I have learned anything over the past six months it is a more frequent dialogue on key issues facing the council ... needs be to conducted on a positive level, without rancor, bitterness and personal agendas," he wrote.

Moody said he leaves "with the confidence that I did advance the agenda for the town."