New Bedford audit committee recommends no further action on review of mayor's office hire after questions about $225,000 cut

NEW BEDFORD New Bedford's City Council Audit Committee voted on Wednesday, Oct. 21, to recommend that the full council take no further action on a review of Mayor Jon Mitchell's new staff hire, after councilors questioned his chief of staff about how the job was paid for once the council had cut $225,000 from the mayor's office budget, according to the committee's minutes.

The review was Councilor at Large Shane Burgo's motion, referred to the committee Sept. 10. It asked the committee to look at the hire's position, pay, funding source and hiring process and to report its findings and recommendations to the council. Council President Ryan Pereira made the motion to recommend no further action and Councilor Joseph Lopes seconded it. The minutes do not record a roll call. Councilor Shawn Oliver chaired the meeting, with Burgo, Lopes and Pereira present and Councilors Naomi Carney and Leo Choquette absent.

What the mayor's office said

Chief of Staff Neil Mello told the committee that the Mayor's Specialist position had never been formally eliminated, the minutes say. It stayed vacant during the budget process, and the mayor chose to fill it this year. The minutes describe the job as supporting the mayor, managing schedules and logistics, and attending public and private events.

The minutes record that the mayor's office had spent $225,000 on positions to date, leaving a balance of $365,000 for the rest of the 2027 fiscal year. Mello said transfers would be requested from departments with surplus money to cover amounts owed and any shortfall. Asked by Oliver whether the mayor intended to honor the cut, Mello said discussions are ongoing, and that while there is a desire to honor the council's intent in good faith, the office must also keep operating as required. He noted that the mayor has publicly opposed the size of the cut to his office.

What councilors said

Burgo said he remained concerned that the mayor's office had not taken the council's budget cuts seriously. Pereira questioned filling a vacant job when, he said, the City Council Office had cut its own staff from five employees to four, and said his review of the recordings of the budget discussions showed the mayor's office had indicated the position would stay vacant.

Pereira said the mayor's office could ask to use free cash to cover the shortfall in what the minutes call the 100 account or submit a transfer request, and that if the council rejected either request, the remaining alternative, consistent with the 2027 budget cuts, would be for the mayor to consider restructuring staff within his office. The minutes say he acknowledged that the tax rate recap would be available at the end of the process but expressed his belief that "this approach would violate Massachusetts General Law." The minutes do not say which approach he meant.

Lopes said the office had already used more than a quarter of its budgeted spending and warned that, at that rate, the city could face a shortfall later in the year that would have to be dealt with in the recap. He asked City Auditor Quillan Lowney for a breakdown of the mayor's office spending for the first quarter.

City Clerk Dennis Farias said in an email Friday that no documents or other paperwork were given to the committee about the mayor's office staffing.

Health insurance consultant

The committee also took up Pereira's motion, referred Sept. 10, to review the city's health insurance broker and consultant fees and the commissions paid over the last three fiscal years. Personnel Director Jose Gouveia said Lockton, the city's benefits consultant, does not receive a commission on the plans employees use. When Lopes asked what Lockton charges the city, the committee was told it is a flat fee of $40,000, the minutes say. Gouveia said the city has been with Blue Cross Blue Shield since 2018 and that insurance programs are put out to bid, although most are subject to union negotiations.

Pereira asked Gouveia for six items of information and documents: a summary of Lockton's role with the city, a list of the programs it consults on with its fees and other pay, the Lockton contract and any amendments, an explanation of how the city evaluates and approves insurance and benefit programs, contracts and three years of commissions and fees for Trustmark and Boston Mutual, and the most recent requests for proposals involving Lockton. Asked how long the personnel director would need, the committee was told about three weeks, because the city is in its employee benefits renewal. The committee tabled the matter.

Monthly spending reports

Councilors also took a 2024 motion for monthly spending reports from every department off the table. Lowney said his office would make every effort to keep producing the reports after the retirement of Chief Financial Officer Robert Ekstrom and the departure of a senior member of the auditor's office. Pereira said a basic report, including a printout from the city's MUNIS financial system, would do for now, and Lopes asked Lowney to flag any line item where spending has passed 75% of its annual budget. The committee tabled that matter as well.

What happens next

The committee's recommendation on the staff hire review goes to the full City Council, which makes the final decision; it was not on the agenda for the council's Oct. 22 meeting, the night after the committee met. The council's next regular meeting is Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. in the council chamber, Room 214 at City Hall, 133 William St.; its agenda had not been posted as of Friday. Meetings are streamed live. The City Council Office can be reached at 508-979-1455.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.