New Town Manager Begins Work

Austin Faison has already been Winthrop’s new town manager for a week and he’s getting a good picture of what Winthrop has to offer and how it will move along.

“Over the next couple of months what I would like to do is get a better understanding of the financial decisions that have been made in the past few years,” Faison said. “I’d like to revisit the ways some things are set up now. To work through the justifications of previous decisions to see how things have gotten the way that they are. First I want to get a handle on the budget. I’m a budget numbers jockey sort of guy.”

“If you can follow the money you can understand the way the decisions were made,” he added.

The Center Business District, the infrastructure, the sale or use of the old middle school on Pauline Street, at least two legal issues with the police department, the desire to have a new public safety building and a morale boost for town employees, faced Faison the moment he came to town.

Faison will have to find a new assistant town manager since Joe Domelowicz is headed to serve in Hamilton as the town manager. Domelowicz’s last day is Sept. 4.

“Joe is an asset. He has so much institutional knowledge,” Faison said.

Faison said whoever is hired for the assistant town manager position will also have hopefully have a strong planning background and a financial head.

The subject of a town planner has been batted around for at least two years, Faison said the subject also came up during his interviews with the town.

“There’s a real need for a planner to both help the community and realize the vision that we’re going for, but also be able to walk people through the particulars,” Faison said.

He wants to make sure people are being heard and have an opportunity to advocate for how they see things.

In his former position in Brookline, Faison often worked with the planning department. The last project he worked on there was rezoning for the marijuana regulations. While he worked in Somerville he also worked on a zoning overhaul and budgets. He also worked on budgets in Brookline.

“My job now is working with the town council and the council president, and working to advocate for the town department heads,” Faison said. “Ultimately, I just want to make a community a good place to live.”