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Town Outlines Process with Town Manager Contract Renewal Approaching

In the final year of his contract, Town Manager Karl Kilduff must inform the town by July if he wishes to remain in Clinton or not.

In 2020 Kilduff officially started his role as Clinton’s first town manager. Though it may feel like just yesterday that Kilduff began his job, he is already in the final year of the three-year contract he signed. The Town Council is the body with the authority to hire and fire town manager per the town’s charter. The Harbor News reached out to Town Council Chair Chris Aniskovich to learn how the council will proceed.

Aniskovich said that Kilduff has until July 10 to inform the council of his decision of whether he wants to stay in Clinton or not. Aniskovich said that the council has not had talks about Kilduff’s contract other than to go over the timeline for when his decision is due.

Should he decide to stay, Aniskovich said the council would then have negotiations for a new contract during executive sessions. Per the town charter, a town manager cannot be given a contract for a length of longer than three years. That provision may eventually be changed in the future however.

Should Kilduff indicate he wishes to leave Clinton, Aniskovich said that the council will then need to discuss the next steps such as whether or not to form a search committee or use outside help.

“My assumption is we’d use a headhunter like we did last time,” Aniskovich said.

When the town was first looking for a town manager back in 2019, a seven-member town manager search committee was appointed and a professional search firm was used as well.

Aniskovich pointed out that this time around, a citizen-run committee might not be needed.

“We already know what the job’s description is and what the duties of a manager are; that’s already in place. So, in the event we do need to find a new town manager, it would be a case of making sure we find a person who is the right fit for our town,” Aniskovich said.

In 2018 Clinton voters overwhelmingly voted to change the style of town government to a town council-town manager form of government. Proponents of the move argued that the town could benefit to having a hired professional run the day-to-day operations of the town. Clinton politicians of all parties as well as town employees have publicly and privately told the Harbor News that they largely approve of the job Kilduff has done thus far, specifically when it comes to the streamlined budget process when compared to the old model.

Aniskovich said that he hopes the town demonstrates an ability to keep town managers without regular turnover.

“I’m hoping we don’t get in a revolving door situation where we’re changing town managers regularly. We should make sure we stay the course,” Aniskovich said.