Londonderry Town Manager announces resignation

LONDONDERRY — Embattled Town Manager Michael Malaguti is resigning after three years in the position.

According to his contract, Malaguti is required to give a six-month notice, making his last day in office April 24, 2025, unless the council decides on an earlier date.

“While I believe I have enough support on the Town Council to continue my service, I have decided that clinging to a job I love would come at too great a personal cost,” Malaguti wrote in the letter. “This is the right moment for me to move on.”

Malaguti submitted his letter of resignation on Thursday afternoon to the Town Council before emailing and informing the different department heads in town that evening. The rest of the Town Hall employees were made aware Friday morning, according to a spokesperson at Town Hall who agreed to speak on background.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Malaguti said that while his letter speaks for itself, he wanted to thank the town employees and residents who make the community a wonderful place.

He added that he knows those who will continue working in and for Londonderry will continue to do their jobs with dedication.

“Public service is sometimes hard, and messy, and bruising, but it is always worthwhile,” Malaguti said. “I know my colleagues who continue in public service in Londonderry will do so with the same unflappable professionalism they have always displayed.”

Residents called for Malaguti’s resignation after Fire Chief Bo Butler resigned on Oct. 7. Butler, during his resignation speech, did not blame Malaguti, and instead said it was his own moral compass that was driving the decision.

Even so, the calls for Malaguti’s resignation intensified after Firefighters Local 3160 said Malaguti had threatened Butler with repercussions for being over-budget on firefighter overtime spending.

Malaguti published a statement to the town’s website refuting those claims on Oct. 8.

Butler said he resigned because he was asked to cut the on-call shift personnel from 13 firefighters to 11 due to a trend in spending on overtime budgets that would have put the department $200,000 over budget at the end of the first quarter.

While Malaguti did not give a direct reason for his resignation in his letter, he did say it was time to leave the position. He closed the letter by saying he was proud to see how much work he and his colleagues in town have accomplished and how much more there is to do.

“I close by returning to a refrain I have sometimes used over the past three years, and which I continue to believe,” he wrote. “The future of Londonderry is bright, and its best days lie ahead.”