2021 Sign Information

John Elsesser, our Town Manager since 1988 approached the Town Council in 2020 and asked us to enter into a DROP plan (Deferred Retirement Option Plan). John’s proposal would allow him to remain as Town Manager until he retires on July 1, 2023 and to allow his pension payments to begin to accumulate over that time. The Town Council accepted John’s proposal and entered into the agreement earlier this year. So, the next Town Council will be tasked with hiring his replacement.

John Elesser has been an integral part of making Coventry what it is today and he will be very difficult to replace. John has a wonderful reputation throughout Connecticut and is very highly regarded within CCM (Connecticut Conference of Municipalities) and COST (Council of Small Towns) where John has served in various leadership roles and is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable and effective Town Managers in Connecticut.

We recognize that the Town Manager has a big impact on our community and the search for our next Town Manager will be a difficult and important task that the next Town Council will carry out.

It will be up to the next Town Council to choose our next Town Manager who will lead Coventry into the future and we believe that the Republican team is well suited to take on this challenging responsibility.

We will continue to work with John Elsesser until he retires after 35 years as Coventry’s Town Manager.  John is one of, if not the longest serving Town Manager in Connecticut.  We have been very fortunate that John has chosen to serve Coventry all these years.  We will count on John to assist us with the job of finding his replacement.

Please join us in offering our sincere appreciation for John’s long and dedicated service to Coventry.  He has been a devoted and very valuable community servant.