Search for Town Manager Slated to Start Over Again

By Sue Ellen Woodcock

The Town Manager Search Committee will be putting out a second advertisement in January to increase the pool of Town Manager candidates.

The first advertisement for the position drew 11 applicants, with two coming from out of state. One candidate flew in from Minnesota to be interviewed recently. Some candidates asked for confidentiality. The Collins Center at Umass/Boston has been working with town officials to review candidates.

Former Town Council President Tom Reilly, who is serving on the search committee, said when former Town Manager James McKenna was hired there were 25 applicants.

“I’m surprised there aren’t more,” Reilly said.

McKenna, who had been Town Manager for 10 years, resigned in May, and stated that he would not be renewing his contract, which expires in May 2018. He is currently serving as a consultant to the town to finish the reminder of his contract.

Town Council President Russ Sanford, whose term is over in a week, said of the 11 candidates, three made it through the process. Matthew Fulton of Minnesota was interviewed as was Tony Martino, the Interim Town Manager in Hanover. Winthrop’s Assistant Town Manager Joe Domelowicz was also interviewed. Fulton pulled out of consideration after accepting a private-sector job.

“They all interviewed well,” Sanford said.

Reilly said the search committee has met several times. The new Town Council President Ron Vecchia will decide the next Town Manager. The salary range for the position is around $150,000.

If a candidate is selected in the next week to be the new Town manager, Sanford said the right candidate will have to be someone who he and  Vecchia are comfortable with appointing. The Collins Center will continue to work on finding more candidates.

“We want it to be unanimous between myself and Ron,” Sanford said. “Right now we feel we want to expand the potential pool of candidates.”

In the meantime, Police Chief Terence Delehanty continues to be the interim town manager. He was recently granted full town manager powers for 30 days to legally appoint two employees as well as sign for contractual business.

Members of the Town Manager Search Committee include Reilly; Karyn Chaviz, of the Citizens Finance Committee; Interim Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard; Peter Roche; Paul Levy and Brian Anderson.