Kevin Paicos Out as Town Manager

Kevin Paicos will spend the final 11 months of his contract with the town of Foxboro at home.

In the agreement announced at the Aug. 6 meeting of the Foxboro Board of Selectmen, Paicos will be placed on administrative leave for the remainder of his contract and will no longer hold the position of town manager. He will receive his regular weekly salary through the end of his contract and payment for five weeks of accrued vacation to be paid no earlier than Jan. 1, 2014.

Paicos’ contract with the town ends on June 30, 2014.

His town cell phone and notebook computer will be retained until Sept. 30, 2013, with all other property returned by Aug. 2.

Paicos will only perform work consistent with his former duties as town manager if requested by the selectmen or the acting town manager.

Town Clerk Bob Cutler will continue to serve as the acting town manager until further notice. No timetable has been set for the recruiting and hiring a new town manager.

For his work as acting town manager, Cutler will receive a stipend of the difference in pay between the positions of town clerk and town manager. The amount comes is $1,098 per week. Cutler will also receive a stipend of $6,588 as retroactive pay for the time already served as acting town manager.

The stipend was approved 4-0-1 with selectman Lorraine Brue abstaining, stating a need to address the recruitment process as part of the discussion.

Chairman Mark Sullivan expressed a desire to settle this issue now before getting to the topic of a replacement town manager.

“There will be something to do in the future but at this moment we need to calm the waters a bit,” Sullivan said.

Selectman Jim DeVellis added, “By voting for this does not mean we’re ignoring the fact that we have an acting town manager. We need to move forward realizing that we need a full-time permanent town manager. Tonight we need to get through this step first before we move to the next step.”

The motion to give Cutler retroactive pay was approved 5-0.

The announcement ends over two months of uncertainty over Paicos’ future in Foxboro. In late May, the selectmen and Paicos announced a mutual agreement to not renew his contract beyond June 30, 2014.

In late June, Paicos left Foxboro for military duty and never returned to his job at Town Hall. In his absence, Cutler has served as the acting town manager.

Click here to read the agreement and the joint statement from the selectmen and Paicos.