The Colchester Board of Selectman voted to terminate suspended Finance Director Mary Williamson, effective immediately, following an investigation report that determined she inappropriately added $8,000 worth of vacation time to her own payroll, used insurance benefits she had not paid for, mismanaged town funds, purchased town fire equipment without authorization, and misled subordinates.
“Ms. Williamson’s job performance did not meet the minimum standards for the job including basic financial controls and compliance,” the investigator’s report said. “In a misuse of her authority as finance director, Ms. Williamson paid herself $8,022.69 gross compensation in November 2023. Ms. Williamson surreptitiously entered the payment into the payment system knowing it was not a legitimate payment.”
The board voted to release the investigation report, which was protected by attorney-client privilege, to the public before First Selectman Bernie Dennler read off the litany of findings, one of which included that Williamson was possibly not qualified for the Finance Director role.
According to the report, the IRS also sent notices to the town “regarding underpayment of employee tax deposits” forcing town officials to meet with the IRS in March of 2024 to correct the problem.
Williamson has been on paid leave since late December of 2023 and has refused to participate in any investigation interviews or correspond with town officials. Although she was invited to attend and defend herself, Williamson did not show for the special meeting. The investigator recommended Williamson be terminated.
“At the moment we have somebody who remains on our payroll, and I believe we have extremely serious violations of public trust as well as competence,” Dennler said. Colchester has been employing an interim finance director since Williamson’s suspension.
Williamson was appointed Finance Director in 2023 after serving in an accountant role for the Town of Colchester under former First Selectman Andreas Bisbikos. But her short tenure as director was rife with in-fighting with other staff members, accusations of financial missteps, and Bisbikos’ own investigation into the Colchester Town Clerk regarding possible misuse of funds that resulted in a chaotic Board of Selectmen meeting in September of 2023.
Although some believe the suspension of Williamson in December of 2023 was politically motivated, Dennler said during the meeting that he placed her on suspension pending the investigation when he learned of the alleged financial improprieties. Williamson was suspended the day after Dennler reached an agreement with the local municipal employees union that her Finance Director position was not a union position and she was not entitled to union representation.
Williamson contends that she is part of the union and has filed a complaint with the Board of Labor Relations and, according to Dennler, has cited that pending complaint as her reason for not participating in the investigation.
“She’s repeatedly refused, citing a pending claim at the State Board of Labor relations regarding her status in the town administrators’ union,” Dennler said. “The town is confident in its position on that and at the end of the day, the Town of Colchester and the town administrators’ union, municipal employees’ union, are in agreement that the town finance director position, as currently structured, is exempt from collective bargaining.”
Reached for comment, Williamson disputed the allegations and investigation findings saying discrepancies in the cash balances for the town were “part of the reconciliations not being done when I took over and historically late and incomplete prior to my arrival, as documented in our most recent audit.”
Williamson said that her vacation payout was approved by former First Selectman Bisbikos “long before he left,” and said the disputed purchase of fire equipment was “initiated and approved” by the fire chief. She also contends that she was not aware of the IRS notices and had never seen the letters because “that was being handled by the board of education,” which has its own finance director.
The purchase of fire equipment wouldn’t be the only issue that failed to get official approval. During a Board of Selectmen meeting in March, it was revealed the Colchester Police Department entered into an agreement with Flock Safety – a law enforcement camera monitoring system – without approval by the Board of Selectmen under the previous administration as well.
“We were focused on the 21/22 audit as a priority and keeping the department running as well,” Williamson said. “We had quite a bit to catch up on and I think we did an incredible job.”
“I can’t attend a hearing without union representation, so I was unable to defend myself,” Williamson continued. “I believe the timing of this prior to the scheduled 4/22 hearing in front of the labor board is not coincidental.”
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously for termination.
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There is one important piece missing. Mary Williamson has been employed as full time Chief of Staff with NFI in Vermont since January 2024. Collecting TWO full time salaries. (both 6 figures each)
Why would that matter, Linda? Thanks