Fired Falmouth town manager threatens a lawsuit as departure date nears

FALMOUTH — With the recent Select Board vote to fire Julian Suso as town manager, Suso will likely file a lawsuit against the board in the next few weeks, according to his lawyer.

The board is negotiating Suso’s severance and Peter Johnson-Staub will act as town manager until the Select Board finds a replacement for Suso. But the issue is far from over, said Suso's attorney John Clifford.

“It is going to end up in litigation, there’s no question,” he said.

The Select Board hired Suso as town manager in 2011. His contract was extended in late 2021 for three years and scheduled to expire in October 2024. His salary was $197,400. In the event of termination, Suso is to be paid four months of salary.

His duties, according to the contract, were defined by the town charter. As chief executive officer of the town, the town manager "shall be responsible for administering and coordinating all employees, activities and departments placed by General Laws, this Charter or bylaw under the control of the Select Board and the town manager."

The town manager also must carry out goals and policies of the Select Board.

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Suso is currently suspended with pay. His termination is effective July 12.

Falmouth, in the southwest corner of Cape Cod,  reports a year-round population of about 30,000, making it the second-largest town in Barnstable County.

In the last 30 years, Suso has been praised, but also experienced tumult

Suso was the city manager in Mentor, Ohio, for 16 years. He was fired from his position in 2006, for reasons that include a lack of transparency with the city council and hiring a police officer with a “horrible work record,” according an April 29, 2006, MetroWest Daily News account.

He became town manager in Framingham later that year, and stayed on the job for five years. His contract ended in 2011 when the Select Board opted not to renew it.

Although Framingham Select Board members praised Suso’s integrity and management skills, they took issue with his “reactive” leadership style, saying that he lacked pace when completing projects, according to a MetroWest Daily News story on March 23, 2011.

More: Framingham's Suso leadership criticized, integrity praised

A representative of the office of Charlie Sisitsky, who was a Framingham Select Board member at the time and is now mayor of Framingham, declined to comment. The Times requested an interview with Sisitsky on Wednesday, July 6.

Suso was named in at least two lawsuits while holding his job in Framingham.

South Middlesex Opportunity Council filed an anti-discrimination lawsuit against Framingham in 2007. Suso was initially named as a defendant, but was later dropped by Judge Douglas Woodlock, according to the Oct. 1, 2008, MetroWest Daily News account.

The council accused the town of blocking plans for expansion of a drug recovery home and the creation of a shelter for disabled veterans.

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The suit ended in a $1 million settlement paid to the council by the town, according to the MetroWest Daily News.

Former Framingham Director of Human Resources Sandra Charton sued Suso in 2009 after he had fired her,  Charton argued that Suso fired her because she spoke out against Suso’s decision to lay off workers who were protected under anti-discrimination laws, the MetroWest Daily News reported on Feb. 25, 2011.

More: Former Framingham HR director drops lawsuit

Charton dropped charges against Suso in court, opting to take the case to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

However, the complaint was dismissed, according to the commission's website.

In Falmouth, the Select Board praised Suso in two areas, but raised concerns

The Falmouth Select Board's performance evaluation on April 25 commended Suso’s financial proficiency and his management of projects.

However, issues existed with Suso’s performance — town employees had resigned, Suso did not take leadership roles on projects, and the public did not trust Suso, according to the evaluation.

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In an email, former Select Board member Megan English Braga told the Times that Select Board members had to field complaints from the public about Suso, and the number and intensity of the complaints grew over the years.

The performance evaluation states that town initiatives were often "bogged down" because of Suso's poor rapport with the public.

Julian Suso disagrees with the latest evaluation from Falmouth Select Board

Suso disagreed with the evaluation and provided a formal response at a May 9 meeting. The evaluation process was invalid, and the Select Board was retaliating for actions that displeased board members, he said.

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One of these actions, Suso said, was when he called for a public hearing after former Select Board Chair Doug Brown sent him an email in September of 2021 that threatened his job. After calling for the hearing, the Select Board began to treat Suso with hostility, Suso said.

Another action, Suso said, was his decision to hire Maura O'Keefe in January for town counsel rather than Megan English Braga, who was a Select Board member at the time. At the time, Braga had the support of now-Select Board Chair Nancy Taylor, Suso said.

Taylor declined to comment when contacted by the Times.

Braga told the Times in an email that she was thrilled that Suso hired O’ Keefe, and that Suso’s termination has nothing to do with that hiring decision.

“I am very sad that Mr. Suso has chosen to mischaracterize my actions in this way," she said. "I spent six years working side-by-side with him, I supported him when few others did, and I believe in his heart he knows this line of argument is completely false."

A move to terminate Suso begins

On May 12, the Falmouth Select Board voted to initiate termination of Suso, and suspended him with pay.

Suso hired a lawyer and requested a public hearing.

The first hearing was held June 21. Taylor, the Select Board Chair, read reasons each board member wanted Suso fired, citing some of the same reasons in the evaluation report.

Board members said Suso did not take charge of initiatives.

In the performance evaluation, the Select Board said Suso did not support planning to address sewage treatment, the effects of sea-level rise, and the effects of global climate change.

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Suso accomplished all the goals in his contract, and was being retaliated against, Clifford, his lawyer, said, in response.

Clifford also accused Taylor of violating the state open meeting law. Taylor discussed Suso's termination with board members outside of a regularly scheduled meeting, he said.

Clifford requested public records from the town for the June 21 hearing, and received 200 pages of emails between board members regarding Suso, he said.

The final public hearing was June 27, and the Select Board voted to fire Suso effective July 12.

Lack of evidence from the Falmouth Select Board, Suso attorney says

In a phone interview with the Times, Clifford said the June 21 public hearing was “the first time I can remember where one side deliberately put in no evidence.”

Suso increased the town's bond rating and finalized the disposition of the town-owned wind turbines, secured a project manager for the proposed fire station on Sandwich Road, and developed a performance evaluation system for major department heads, Clifford said.

There were only 15 complaints sent to the Select Board about Suso between 2021 and 2022, Clifford said. Nine other complaints about Suso were sent to Braga, he said.

The hearing was "a farce," Clifford said.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Fired Falmouth Town Manager Julian Suso intends to sue the town