Danis announces plan to retire
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - While it remains unclear whether the town will decide to stick with its current format of having a town coordinator help with the municipal operations or opt to change to a town manager, one thing is certain: on July 1, 2009, no matter what the title, there will be a new person in the position.

Henry Danis, who has served Westborough as town coordinator for more than 13 years, announced at the March 11 Board of Selectmen meeting that he plans to retire June 30, 2009.

"I've been thinking about this for a while now and I just decided it's time," Danis said. "I've been doing this for a long time and I just came to the conclusion that I wanted to Continued from front page step away when I could still enjoy my life.

Danis, 66, began serving Westborough as town coordinator in December 1994. For the previous seven years he had held the same position in the town of Leicester. He said he has been involved in municipal government, in some way, since 1972.

"Henry's departure will be a tremendous loss for the town," Selectman Lydia Goldblatt said. "He has provided such great service to the town for so long, and so much of it has been above and beyond his job description. I don't think it's been a conscious thing, if anything I think we've tried to guard against it, but I think, over time, we've begun to take him for granted a little."

It's that very sentiment, according to Board of Selectmen Chair Sue Abladian, that prompted the town to create its Ad Hoc Government Study Committee, which recently presented to the town its findings, conclusions and recommendations, which included the belief that the town should switch from a town coordinator to a town manager.

"The realization that Henry wasn't going to stay forever was a big part of our decision to form the Ad Hoc Government Study Committee," Abladian said. "He does so, so very much for the town, but we needed to know what he does that's part of his job description and what he does just because he enjoys his job and the town and wants to serve it in every way possible.

"Whatever we decide, to stay with town coordinator or go with town manager, we have the model for what we'll be looking for in a replacement," Abladian said. "We've been lucky enough to have that model here in Westborough for the last 14 years."

Danis's retirement surfaced at the March 11 Board of Selectmen meeting because the board voted to renew the contracts of Danis, Police Chief Al Gordon and Fire Chief Walter Perron. The contracts for Gordon and Perron were for three years, while Danis's was for just one year.

Danis said he has been mulling over the prospect of retiring for more than a year and came to the decision to do so recently, after discussing it with his wife. He said he chose to announce his intentions early because he wanted to give the town time to decide whether they wanted to switch from town coordinator to town manager and choose his successor.

"This is a great place to work," Danis said. "It's been a great ride."