Woodstock municipal manager Eric Duffy withdrew his candidacy for two other manager posts last week — one in Montpelier and the other in Winchester, Mass., a suburb eight miles north of Boston. In both instances, Duffy was scheduled for a final round of interviews with municipal leaders and department heads, along with public forums that were also slated to include two other finalists for each of the manager slots.
Duffy has opted instead to continue engaging in ongoing contract renewal discussions with the Woodstock Town Selectboard and Village Trustees. In a press release emailed to the Standard on Monday afternoon following a special joint meeting of the two Woodstock governing bodies that morning, town selectboard chair Ray Bourgeois and village trustees chair Seton McIlroy reported that the boards voted to “update” the current employment contract with Duffy, “reflecting the joint boards’ confidence in his leadership.”
The media statement on Monday elaborated on the governing bodies’ reasoning for pursuing a new contract with the current municipal manager. “Since assuming his role as Municipal Manager in February 2023, Duffy has overseen the acquisition of the Woodstock Aqueduct Company and the Vondell Cobb Reserve, protecting critical infrastructure and resources for the Woodstock community and doubling the town’s land holdings,” Bourgeois and McIlroy said. “He collaborated with the joint boards to successfully advocate for a local options tax, which has generated over $450K since its adoption. In addition, he secured full FEMA reimbursement for flooding damages in 2023. He led a comprehensive update of Woodstock’s personnel policies in 2024, strengthening internal operations, ensuring compliance with best practices, and supporting the recruitment and retention of highly skilled municipal staff.”
The Monday media release reinforced sentiments expressed by Bourgeois and McIlroy in an earlier email to the Standard on Friday, in the immediate wake of Duffy’s withdrawal from consideration for the Montpelier and Winchester manager posts. In that missive, Bourgeois and McIlroy said that town selectboard and Village trustees members were “actively working with the Municipal Manager to secure his continued service in Woodstock. Eric Duffy has had a brief but remarkable tenure and we are committed to supporting him and his staff’s work to move our community forward.”
On Sunday morning, Duffy reacted to the show of support from Woodstock officials in an email message of his own sent in response to inquiries from the Standard. “The Selectboard and the Village Trustees, my staff, and I are committed to continuing the work we’ve been doing in Woodstock. Over the past three years, we’ve made meaningful progress on major infrastructure, financial stability, and long-term planning, and there is still a great deal of important work ahead,” the current Woodstock municipal manager wrote.
Safety of Town Hall staff, boards being discussed
In his emailed comments to the Standard on Sunday, Duffy also noted that he has been engaging in discussions with town officials about personal safety concerns involving himself, Town Hall staff, and Woodstock board members.
“In my discussions with the Selectboard and Village Trustees, the safety of my staff, our boards, and myself has been at the forefront. As we move forward, we will strive to ensure everyone’s safety and enable them to do their jobs in an environment free from fear or intimidation,” Duffy said. The municipal manager’s remarks followed on the heels of a letter that the municipality’s joint governing bodies received last Friday, signed by “Concerned Members of the Town Hall Staff.”
It stated, “We are writing on behalf of a group of Town Hall staff to raise concerns about ongoing intimidating behavior by an individual known to the Boards that is affecting staff well-being. Over the past year, repeated incidents on or near Town Hall property, as well as behavior at meetings, in public, and online, have created a persistent sense of unease among staff.
The letter did not name any particular individual or group whose behavior in recent times may have been perceived as threatening to Woodstock municipal employees, selectboard, or village board of trustees members.
In the letter last Friday, Town Hall staff members also asked Woodstock’s two joint governing bodies to give their concerns “immediate attention and direction, including establishing clear expectations for public comment, reviewing safety and security measures, and providing guidance to staff on how to respond to future incidents. We also request a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss action steps moving forward.”
Contacted by telephone on Monday afternoon, shortly before this week’s edition of the Standard went to press, village trustees chair McIlroy acknowledged the safety concerns voiced by Duffy and Town Hall officials, but declined to tie the alleged threatening behavior to any individual or group.
McIlroy confirmed that village trustees asked that a sheriff’s deputy from the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department be present at meetings of the village governing body last week to help assure public safety and order. “We first asked if a Woodstock Police Department officer could be at our meeting last week,” McIlroy wrote in a text message following Monday afternoon’s phone conversation with the Standard. “They did not have an officer to spare, so we contacted the sheriff. For our joint meeting this week, we had a Woodstock PD officer on site.” McIlroy added that the village trustees hope to have law enforcement presence at meetings, at least into the early part of the new year.
Contacted late Monday, Woodstock Town Selectboard chair Bourgeois confirmed that the town governing board had a sheriff’s deputy present at its last meeting. However, Bourgeois said he was uncertain as to whether the board will opt to have a law enforcement officer present at future meetings while discussions about alleged safety concerns regarding municipal manager Duffy, Town Hall staff, and public officials remain a priority.
For more on this, please see our Dec. 24 edition of the Vermont Standard.
