Thetford Town Manager: Tom Yennerell may return as interim; Brian Story of Johnson a serious candidate

A public records request revealed that Tom Yennerell may be returning to Thetford as its Interim Town Manager. Yennerell served as Thetford’s Town Manager in late 2020 between the tenures of then-manager Guy Scaife and now outgoing manager Bryan Gazda. “I look forward to working with you again. I hope it’s for a short while,” Yennerell wrote in an email to a Town official.

A public farewell gathering for Gazda at Town Hall on Wednesday included an unexpected guest, Brian Story of Johnson, Vermont, who was introduced by Gazda and Selectboard members to those present, including Town employees.

Story, according to an April 6th News & Story article, resigned as Johnson’s  Town Administrator at the end of March, giving 60 days notice. “I’ll be transitioning to a community that’s a little bit larger, my role there would have a little bit more oversight… I want to devote a little bit more time to the parts of the job that are my favorite parts of the job: personnel oversight and working with the human resources side of things.” Story has worked as Johnson’s Town Administrator since 2016.

Meeting minutes show that no action has been taken to date, including following a recent Executive Session, which means the Selectboard has not officially offered an interim or permanent position to anyone (any action of the Selectobard requires a public motion and affirmative vote),

Selectboard Chair Sharon Harkay commented over email, “Neither person has been hired as of this time. We will be discussing the Interim Manager position at this Monday's meeting and possibly moving forward to solidify that. The key word is ‘possibly’. As for the permanent position. We liked two candidates after the interviews. Since Brian Story is here in Vermont and wanted to meet the employees, we invited him to Thetford for a tour and a meet and greet. No contract has been offered to either him or the other candidate at this time.”