Town employee asks select board to unseal nonpublic minutes after abrupt cut to hours

Mitchie Douglas Filiatro, who identified himself as a town employee during public comment, told the New Durham Select Board on July 14 that his position was reduced from full time to part time effective May 25, 2026, and said he received only two days’ notice.

"On Thursday, 05/21/2026, a non public meeting was held ... Will verbally informed me that my hours would be reduced to part time without benefits effective the following Monday, giving me just 2 days notice," Filiatro said, and he asked the board to reverse the decision.

Filiatro told the board his full‑time post had been approved in a December 3, 2024 motion that moved him into a white‑equipment operator role, and he said the position was not newly created or unbudgeted. "The claim that it was unbudgeted is therefore inaccurate," he said, and asked that the minutes of the 05/21/2026 nonpublic session be unsealed so the public — and he as a directly affected employee — can see the rationale.

Board members acknowledged the request during public input and later on the agenda moved to revisit the earlier decision to reduce an operator's hours. One board member made a motion to put the item back on an agenda for reconsideration; the board discussed tabling or seeking additional information from the town administrator and department heads before taking formal action.

The matter was framed as both a personnel and transparency issue: Filiatro said he had worked full time since his December appointment and that colleagues hired later were being paid more, while other residents at public comment raised broader concerns that reductions in full‑time staffing were producing overtime and premium pay costs elsewhere in DPW and the transfer station.

The board did not reverse the staffing change during the meeting; members agreed to add follow‑up on the agenda and to seek documentation and legal/HR guidance where needed. The board also heard requests from residents for clearer public processes and more transparent minutes when personnel matters are discussed in nonpublic sessions.