Interim manager stresses teamwork, empowerment

WINSTED — Themes of positive thinking, goal-driven strategies, teamwork and personal empowerment are all part of Interim Town Manager Wayne Dove’s philosophy, which he shared Tuesday in his Town Hall office, just a few days into the job.

Dove, 58, brings a history of experience in international banking and finance back to his home turf in Winsted, where he went to high school and, nearly two decades ago, served as town manager. Since leaving in the early 1990s, he has managed trillions of dollars and teams of international brokers in Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Wanting to come back “across the pond� to be closer to his two sons, he and his wife, Murni, have decided to sell their home in Amsterdam and live full-time in Colebrook, where they have kept a home for years.

Dove said his first order of business has been to keep the town from going broke, and that effort has required working with Finance Director Henry Centrella, Purchasing Director Mark Douglass, the Board of Education and the state Office of Policy and Management to look for ways to increase the town’s fund balance. In just a week, the balance has been increased from $400,000 to approximately $1.2 million.

Now, it’s on to getting the municipality to run more efficiently.

“I have witnessed an awful lot,� Dove said. “I have to focus on this job, and I have to demand that people reporting to me also focus on their jobs. The only way you can hold employees accountable is to let them run things. I’m not a micromanager.�

At Monday night’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Dove said he is “90-percent confident� that the town will not run out of money by the end of the year and that he needed until Wednesday to be 100-percent certain that a town meeting and referendum to generate tax-anticipation notes will not be required to keep the town afloat.

An item was on the agenda Monday night to cancel the town meeting and referendum, and Dove said he expected that to happen on Wednesday, once he has the numbers finalized.

“I have seen better looking pictures,� Dove told the board. “Most of the departments are spending beyond the budget. We have now met with all the department heads and there is only one message that we are delivering, which is, ‘We will get back within the budgets.’ We are starting with the biggest pieces first.�

Dove said he has had numerous meetings with Centrella and Winchester Police Chief Nicholas Guerriero to discuss overspent line items. Further meetings will be held with members of each department, from the biggest to the smallest budgets.

“I don’t think it’s any surprise that the budgets have been minimized, to say the least,� Dove said. “I’ve seen some budgets that are to the bone. This one is to the bone and in some cases, into the bone.�

One of the manager’s most strongly emphasized themes was that of teamwork and empowering employees.

“We have to empower the appropriate employees of the town,� he told the board. “Some of the more critical employees have not been empowered. That stops now. They now know they are empowered.�

Amplifying that point Tuesday, Dove said he wants all staff members to feel like they are working toward the same goal.

“I firmly believe that this has got to be a team effort, and we have got to allow every worker to contribute.�

The town manager’s job, in turn, will be to keep things simple and communicate with staff members, selectmen and the community while piloting the ship and focusing on delivering a superior product to the customer, in this case residents of Winchester-Winsted.

“The glass is half full,� Dove said. “I view this as a tremendous opportunity. We can now start from the very beginning and build a process. I refer to it as continuous improvement. We’ll always be taking a step forward and setting objectives. We will always give you something for your dollar.�

Work has already begun on the 2010-11 town budget, and Dove said he will involve Centrella more in the process than the finance director has been in previous years.

“I don’t want to do his job,� Dove said. “Henry, with just a few clicks, can tell you exactly where you are. I want him to lead.�

And when the budget makes it through Dove’s office and downstairs to the Board of Selectmen, it will be something produced by a team.

“We have to know the customer is satisfied,� the new manager said. “There’s no way I want to put forward a budget in this town unless I’m confident that there will be public support. Respect is earned, and we’ve got to produce it and market it.�