Rec Department Directors Depart Beebe Resigns, Andersen Fired

HARWICH – Longtime recreation director Eric Beebe, who served in the department for 18 years, resigned the third week of March, and acting director Jen Andersen, who took over 10 days after Beebe left, was terminated on May 14. Two additional recreational staff members have also resigned.
 The town also lost Building Commissioner Eleanor MacKay, Town Administrator Jay McGrail announced last week, and Housing Advocate Brianna Powell is no longer employed by the town. 
Beebe did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment on his departure. McGrail confirmed that Beebe resigned.
Assistant Town Administrator James Mulcahy has been assigned to oversee the recreation department. He said he has been in the recreation department daily and he praised the way parents have stepped up to keep programs going.  
There has been no lapse in programming, McGrail said. The staff is continuing to work on opening the beaches and the summer personnel are in place. 
Select board Chair Donald Howell said labor counsel and the town administrator were involved in Beebe’s departure. Howell said he could not talk about Beebe because there was a mutual separation agreement.
“It wasn’t a capricious decision,” Howell said.
McGrail also declined to comment directly on the reasons for the departure of Beebe and the other staff members.
 “We recognize the community’s interest in this matter,” he wrote in a prepared statement, “and while we are unable to comment on personnel issues out of respect for everyone involved, I want to be clear that we take our responsibility to foster a culture of accountability and fairness very seriously.”
“Our focus remains on delivering municipal services that are professional, consistent and worthy of the trust our residents place in us. We are committed to staying connected with our community and will continue to share what we can, while honoring privacy and legal obligations,” McGrail’s statement read.
Programs, communications and organizational issues in the recreation department were major concerns raised by parents more than two years ago. Howell said there were dozens and dozens of complaints and parents were getting hostile.
“They weren’t setting up schedules and we had a bad reputation in general from other towns,” Howell said of the conditions in the department at that time. 
 “We assessed the situation going on and there were still parent complaints showing up,” said Howell. “The bottom line is, it’s about the services the kids deserve and the parents expect.”
Jen Andersen was hired as a program specialist in the recreation department on March 23. She left the position of recreation and beach director in Truro, where she worked over the previous year. She also served as recreation director in the town of Grafton for eight years. 
 Andersen said she started work four days before Beebe left the director’s position. She had a two-month probationary period, which was due to expire on May 22, but she received a notice of termination on May 14.
“It was shocking, a bummer, as I was in the place I wanted to be,” Andersen said. “The people were amazing.”
Ten days into the job in Harwich, Andersen was appointed the acting recreation director. There was negative feedback from parents over cancellations, but she said that parents were sent notifications. There were two emails from the same person sent to administration and the select board that were directed at her, she said. 
 “There was a backlog,” she said. “There was a steep learning curve and the demand was high. I felt like I walked into quicksand, but got it straightened out in a week or so.”
In the recreation and youth commission meeting on April 28, Town Administrator Jay McGrail praised Andersen’s performance.
“I think we’re in a good spot, we have Jen Andersen right now holding the ship down and doing a good job at that,” said McGrail. “She’s got a lot on her plate between trying to head the program in the right direction here. We’ve had a lot of change over the past month with recreation. Jen’s capable, doing a good job of keeping it going in the right direction. She’s going to need some help from [the recreation and youth commission] to do that.”
“I was shocked to say the least, it was difficult to understand,” Andersen said of receiving the termination notice. The termination letter was vague, she added, but she agreed that she was still in her probationary period and could be terminated. When asked the reason for the termination, she responded that the letter said, in essence, “I was not the right fit.”
Andersen said she has drafted a letter to the town seeking more clarification so she can educate herself by better understanding what she did wrong.
“It has good programs and it’s a good place. I was hoping to make a positive impact in Harwich,” Andersen said.
 A Harwich resident, Andersen serves on the council on aging. She said working in Truro was “a great gig,” but the commute was difficult. She said Truro called and invited her back to help the town through the summer months, but she has yet to respond to the offer.
Since Andersen’s departure on May 14, two part-time administrators in the recreation department, Phyllis Cudmore and Karen Marota, have resigned. McGrail said the resignation letters were related to Andersen’s termination. 
McGrail reported to the select board that former program specialist staffer John Losey has stepped in and will be taking over as acting director. McGrail also said he already has four or five applications for the director position. 
“I’m looking to fill the position as quickly as possible,” McGrail said.
McGrail said Building Commissioner Eleanor MacKay, who was appointed to that position last September, has taken a building commissioner’s position in the town of Bourne. 
“We have an all-star team,” McGrail said. “I’m not in any hurry to fill that position. We’ll take our time.” He was referring to former building commissioner Jack Mee, who retired from the position a year ago, and a retired building commissioner from Sandwich, Brendan Brides, both of whom will be working on a part-time basis, McGrail said.
The reasons for the departure of Brianna Powell from the housing advocate position is less clear. McGrail said she and the town “parted ways.” He said he had no comment on whether she resigned or was terminated.