New Town Manager Sends Open Letter to Town

After not-so-flattering news emerged regarding Cape Charles’ new Town Manager’s last tenure in Georgetown, Colorado, Rick Keuroglian penned this “open letter” to the town providing his point of view on the events that led him to resign from his role as Town Administrator.

To the Town of Cape Charles,
As I begin my new role as your town manager, it is important for me to be transparent, and therefore I’d like to address some recent questions that have come up regarding my resignation from my previous position as Town Administrator for the Town of Georgetown. Please allow me to provide some further context. While I am deeply grateful for the opportunity I had in Georgetown, several factors contributed to my decision to leave.

Primarily, I encountered significant challenges in effectively managing the organization due to an unfortunate dynamic among certain long-time staff members that wasn’t discovered until after my arrival at the town. This included open insubordination and resistance to change, including all efforts to correct this dynamic to develop a healthier work environment. Despite my repeated efforts to address these issues, progress was consistently hampered, sometimes with the assistance of elected board members.

Some members of the governing board repeatedly violated proper procedures, including holding private meetings with staff to circumvent the manager’s authority. These actions undermined basic transparency and created an environment that was not conducive to my ability to perform my duties. Despite bringing these violations to the board’s attention, the issues were not adequately addressed.

This dysfunctional situation came to a head with the hire of an out-of-town police chief, who was dissatisfied with his contract as soon as he arrived. He began to make unreasonable requests and threatened to resign unless his demands were met. I tried to stand up for the town but was ultimately undermined by this system. As a result, when the chief quit, he and certain staff members attempted to blame me. All I’ll say about that is that I acted in the best interest of the town. If given the same circumstances, I’d do the same thing again.

Due to all these factors, my professional integrity told me that it was time to move on from this unhealthy environment. Especially since I had previously disclosed to the Georgetown board that my long-term goal was to eventually relocate back to the East Coast to be closer to family. While I valued my time in Georgetown, the persistent internal challenges, coupled with my desire to return east, ultimately led me to seek other opportunities.

While not every detail of this situation can be disclosed, I do believe in this type of open communication, and wanted to ensure you had a clearer understanding of the circumstances surrounding my departure from my previous role. I am very excited about this new opportunity, and I’m committed to bringing my experience and dedication to Cape Charles. I look forward to serving this community.

Thank you,
Rick Keuroglian (Ke-row-glee-an)

About the Author

Wayne Creed

Administrator

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