Berlin Extends Administrator’s Contract

BERLIN — The Berlin Mayor and Council voted unanimously Monday to extend Town Administrator Tony Carson’s contract three more years.

“The town has never been more self-sufficient,” said Mayor Gee Williams in justification of the extension.

Carson began working for the town in January of 2009. According to Williams, Carson has been a large part of the effort to help Berlin climb out of the nationwide recession, an effort that Williams believes is succeeding.

The council praised Carson for his delegation of duties style of management. Williams remarked that Carson has helped all aspects of the town improve by giving more authority to department heads, which means tasks are being done faster without always having to float back and forth between the town administration and the actual departments.

“But with added authority also comes added responsibility,” said Williams, referring to both town department heads and Carson himself.

However, Carson was not worried about any increase of responsibility brought on by growth in Berlin.

“When you surround yourself with people who are very knowledgeable, it makes my job that much easier,” Carson said.

Councilman Troy Purnell said that he had noticed the change in the town under Caron’s administration, only adding that he felt a lot of the credit went to Williams as well. Purnell cited an increase in department organization as one of the best things happening to Berlin, saying that the council was receiving reports from employees faster and that those reports are more comprehensive than in the past.

Carson thanked the council for both the extension of his contract and the two years that he’s already served.

“It’s been very rewarding, both professionally and personally for me,” he said.

When asked about his goals for the future, Carson explained that his main goal was to facilitate the wishes of the council, since it was setting priorities for Berlin. However, he did remark that a lot of attention would be given to stormwater issues, since that remains a big concern for every municipality in the area.

Though Williams said that he was impressed with the direction the town was heading, he did ask both Carson and the individual department heads to become more ambitious in the years to come.

“Start thinking in terms of more than one year at a time,” he said. “Let’s assume success.”