‘A lot of stuff got done’: Lafleur garners $9,353 bonus after ‘good’ year
Select Board members and senior staffers filed anonymous assessments and publicly rated her work.
The past 12 months brought town government a high-profile firing, multiple lawsuits, and news of accounting breakdowns.
Select Board members said they’ve seen progress on several fronts and praised Town Manager Kerry Lafleur in her annual performance review for her leadership through the tumult.
“It felt like a really good year, but it was very, very challenging at times,” Lafleur told the board on August 3.
Board members approved a $9,353 performance bonus.
“There was a little bit of a tale of two halves of the year,” Select Board Clerk Cameron McKennitt told Lafleur on August 3. “The second half of the year, I think, got better.”
Lafleur has been town manager since 2022. Select Board members filed anonymous assessments and publicly rated her work on a five-point scale. This year, for the first time, senior town staffers also participated in the review.
Lafleur won kudos for communication initiatives, including a municipal website redesign, and for a budget that met a stringent Finance Committee guideline. Officials also lauded Acton’s new stormwater utility fee rollout.
Select Board members noted challenges related to the firing of Chief Financial Officer Anthony Ansaldi, but have praised Jennifer Barrett, whom Lafleur hired as his replacement.
Members recalled a delayed audit that raised red flags about the risk of errors in the town’s financial records. “Things have stabilized,” one comment said. Another said that “issues have been addressed openly and expeditiously.”
On her individualized job goals, Select Board members gave Lafleur a 3.48 rating out of 5. She got a 3.9 on general leadership, governance, communications, financial, and management skills. Senior staff rated her at 4.42.
Select Board’s town manager ratings
Goals performance
- Organizational resilience: 3.2 out of 5
- Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging: 3.05
- Effective and transparent governance: 4.33
- Financial resiliency: 3.6
- Strategic planning: 3.2
Overall: 3.48
General performance
- Work with Select Board: 4.05 out of 5
- Leadership: 3.87
- Management: 3.95
- Finance: 3.76
- Communications: 3.73
- Personal: 4.04
Overall: 3.90
Source: 2026 town manager performance review summary
Anonymous feedback
One anonymous Select Board member said meeting FinCom’s budget guideline was “evidence that Kerry listens to constituents.”
“Acton has several citizens who can be considered ‘high maintenance,’ and Kerry responds to them professionally and respectfully,” a board member wrote.
Among the criticisms, a member mentioned state tercentenary markers which the town removed “for maintenance” in 2024. “Inability to move forward” on the issue, the comment said, “has created some unwelcome tension.”
A member described “visible dysfunction” and a “tangled web of responsibilities” related to road safety, paving, and traffic calming.
Senior employees praised Lafleur as a supportive person who leads by example but identified staff leadership training and efforts to better unify town departments among opportunities for growth.
‘Another tough year ahead’
Lafleur got a 2% cost-of-living raise on July 1, bringing her salary for the current fiscal year to $254,409.
Her contract allows for an additional merit bonus worth up to 5% of the previous year’s salary. This year’s 3.75% award was higher than last year’s 2.93% payout.
“A lot of stuff got done” over the past year, Select Board chair Wendy Rovelli told The Acton Bridge after an August 17 vote to approve the bonus.
Lafleur thanked the Select Board after its previous discussion on her review, saying, “I hope to be here for a good long time.”
“We have another tough year ahead,” Rovelli said.
