Michael Mason Ready For New Role With Town

GREENWICH, CT — Last week, First Selectman Fred Camillo announced that Michael Mason, the longtime Board of Estimate and Taxation member, has been hired as the Greenwch's newest labor contract consultant.

Mason was awarded the contract after the Town issued a solicitation of Requests for Proposals for the position, which reports to Camillo.

But while the position is effective beginning July 1, Mason is waiting for his contract to make its way through the Town law department, which is examining potential areas of conflict of interest. Once they are done, the department will issue a "letter of execution" on the start date.

Mason has been a member of the BET for 18 years, and is the current chair. What the law department finds could impact his stay on the board through the end of his term in 2021. Mason, a Republican, has told his party that he does not plan to seek re-election this fall.

Under state statute, Mason said, someone is not allowed to serve on a finance board in a community and be salaried.

"This position was put out to be either an employee or a vendor. I am a subcontractor. I will not be getting town benefits, I will not be getting anything. I'll be a 1099 subcontractor.
The state law doesn't clearly say anything other than salary," said Mason, who will be making $12,500 per month over the course of his two year contract.

But Mason acknowledged there is "an optics" issue. The BET, by state statute, does not approve labor contracts, but the law allows the BET to be at the negotiations for labor contracts that the Board of Education has.

"I don't want to do anything that's optically not right, and I certainly wouldn't do anything that's against state statute. I think it will work out," Mason said.

Leslie Moriarty, the Democratic caucus leader on the BET, said she wished her colleague well in this new position, but also called for the law department to do its review.

"This is an important role with responsibilities including drafting of bargaining proposals, lead negotiator and spokesperson for the Town’s bargaining team and coordinator of the arbitration process. He has indicated that he intends to complete the remainder of his term on the BET, but not run for re-election; however, his service in this new role does raise the consideration of the existence of a conflict with his responsibilities as a member of the BET," Moriarty said in an email to Patch.

"I am not in any way challenging the integrity of any of the individuals involved but rather am concerned about maintaining appropriate separation of duty from an overall Town governance perspective. The BET performs a demanding role and it is important that it preserve transparency and freedom from any potential conflicts or even the perception of such."

Mason, who is from Cos Cob, said he's looking forward to jumping into the new role.

"The Town of Greenwich is a customer service business. We deliver everything from safety to education to infrastructure to all of our town services. I think this is an opportunity to really sort of look at these labor contracts and look at the services we want offer," Mason said, adding that his experience in dealing with town budgets can help him in labor negotiations.

"I think the advantage that I have is that I'm well aware of the town budget, obviously," Mason said. "I'm well aware of what departments do, what services they provide. I have a pretty good understanding of how the town works, and part of this whole COVID educational experience has been looking at how the town might be able to operate differently going forward."

Camillo agred, saying in a news release last week that Mason's experience in town government will serve him well.

"I believe Mike's long-time public service and his involvement with contract negotiations as one of the BET's representatives assigned to the Board of Education labor contracts negotiating team as well as his 36 years of experience in the private aviation sector will provide him with the experience needed to settle fair and equitable labor contracts that protect and serve the best interests of both our taxpayers and our employees," Camillo said.

Mason reflected back on his time with the BET. He said "things have changed, there's new people involved, there's no pressures."

"It's a very decentralized government, and it takes a lot of communication. I was fortunate to have a lot of help from various people. I think a lot of the decisions I've made, I think I've always tried to make decisions on what I thought was best for our community," Mason said.

Mason said with the Fourth of July holiday approaching, he was unsure when the law department would finish its review of his contract.