Commentary by Frank Schroth
The Board of Selectmen will interview 4 candidates for the role of Town Administrator at their session on February 12th. Whom will they pick and why?
Annmarie Fagan is the the current interim Town Administrator. She is well known to the selectmen and knows town hall. The search committee noted that Ms. Fagan did not have a bachelor’s degree, but felt her service to the town as interim town administrator on 3 separate occasions warranted her inclusion.
Richard Lafond of Bridgewater is the Town Administrator in Carver. He has a BA from Stonehill College and a Masters in Public Administration from Suffolk University.
Grady Miller was the town administrator in Naragansett, RI. Last April the Board of Selectmen in that town voted 3-2 to investigate whether Mr. Miller violated town budget regulations. At issue was $3,000 that was “shifted” from one portion of the budget to another. (View story here.) By June the relationship with the town council had deteriorated and he was dismissed by a vote of 4-1 though one of the council members voted out of “duress”. The account of the session reports that all but one member of the public spoke in support of Mr. Miller staying on the job. (View story here.)
William O’Donnell was the Town Administrator in Great Barrington, MA, until last September when the Board of Selectmen voted 4-1 not renew his contract despite the clear opposition of some town residents according to a report of the session. (View the full story here.)
These situations may sound familiar. Our Board of Selectmen elected not to renew our Town Administrator’s contract by a vote of 2-1. As with the dismissals in Naragansett and Great Barrington, a good number of residents spoke in favor of retaining Kevin Mearn, the TA (see related post here).
A question one might ask is whether the issue is with the individual town administrators or with the towns and their respective boards of selectmen. Two of the candidates we are looking at are administrators other towns elected not to keep. What does that tell us? Not much. The Town Administrator search committee reviewed ~40 applications for the vacancy and these 2 made the final cut of 4. Clearly the committee believes the qualifications and knowledge these men possess outweigh any concerns stemming from their being dismissed from their previous posts.
How well their knowledge and experience plugs the deficits our BoS saw in Mr. Mearn is not clear. Aside from Mr. Sweeney citing difficulty in developing a working relationship with Mearn, specific reasons for Mearn’s dismissal were not given. Not knowing that makes it a little difficult to know what they specifically might be looking for. The desire to change, shake things up, or chart a new direction is not uncommon. But what should the change bring? What new direction should we go in?
An article in today’s Ledger cites several towns that have dismissed their town administrators. They include Cohasset, Kingston, and Plymouth. The town administrator of Pembroke, Edwin Thorne, reportedly said that the high turnover in town administrators in recent years is more a statement about the town than it is about the official’s ability to perform their job. “Some towns and cities are tough places to work, regardless of who the town administrator or town manager is,” Thorne notes. (Find the full story here.) Is that the case here in Milton? Will the choice the selectmen make be based on their desire to have someone do their bidding or will it be someone who will provide advice they believe is in the best interests of the town whether the BoS wants to hear it or not?
John Carroll, a Milton resident, is the long serving general manager of Norwood (since 1978). He was also a member of the Town Administrator search committee. However, he resigned from the committee in December. This was not announced, and he was not replaced. According to Mary McNamara, chair of the committee, he stepped off for personal reasons. It’s unfortunate, as we suspect the committee and the search process would have benefited quite a bit from his unique experience in municipal governance.
What’s done is done. In closing, here are questions we would ask the candidates if we were asking the candidates questions:
- What in your opinion are the three most important responsibilities of a Town Administrator and how does your knowledge and experience qualify you to meet them?
- What in your past experience do you view as your greatest achievement or contribution to a town where you have served? Alternatively, what do you regret or what would you do differently if given the opportunity?
- What key qualities are required to manage successful relationships with the schools, the Board of Selectmen and other department heads?
- Looking ahead, what trends, strategies, or developments should the town consider in terms of more efficient municipal management?
- What is it that attracts you to Milton and what questions do you have about the town?