Date of Meeting: Thursday, April 5, 2012
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 4:30 PM – 7:28 PM
Members Present: Chairman Kenneth Sydow, Members Roger Deal and James Wood ; Lori Esposito, Interim Town Administrator; Rose Bardsley, Clerk; Others as listed on the attached sheet.
Ken Sydow called the meeting to order at 4:30 PM.
The Board convened for the purpose of interviewing the three finalists for the position of Town Administrator which were presented to the Board by the Search Committee. The Board had six core questions (attached), as well as optional questions for each candidate. Lori said that each candidate has to be asked each of the six questions.
There was a general discussion concerning the questions to be asked. It was agreed among the Board members that they would not appoint a candidate at the close of interviews, although they might designate one to whom they would like to make an offer, pending the outcome of background checks, etc.
Mike Healy, a member of the Search Committee, who is authorized to do CORI checks and has previously done them on a consulting basis elsewhere, had previously volunteered to do background checks. The Police Chief has already volunteered to do whatever is needed.
Jim Wood made a motion to designate Mike Healy as the Town’s representative for the purpose of conducting background checks. The motion was seconded by Roger Deal and voted all in favor.
It was agreed that all copies of resumes would be shredded with only the original resumes being kept on file at Town Hall.
5:00 Candidate Andrew Sheehan, present Town Administrator inTownsend, MA
Mr. Sheehan said the position interests him as it is a combination of planning and management. He indicated he had known Nancy Puff for about ten years and stayed in touch with her while she was TA in Boylston. He said he was not actively seeking to leave Townsend, but Townsend is a little off the beaten path with few economic development opportunities. He is anxious to get back to his roots. Boylston offers that. Boylston fits in well with his professional objectives as he would like to do some economic development work. He does not have a plan laid out of moving every two years to another town. He said he does not view Boylston as a stepping stone to something larger.
He was involved in a real hands-on way with the $300M budget of the City of Lowell being responsible for three quarters of the budget. With regard to Townsend’s school budget, which is 55% of the total budget, he said they are part of the regional system and there is not an intricate role for the TA to play in that. The Town’s Board was a fairly hands-off one. They allowed him to run with the budget.
He has full range of MicroSoft knowledge, and had a little experience with GIS in Chelmsford. Asked what he thought the benefits of the GIS system were, he said certainly there is a benefit to residents but, like any software, you need to know the ins and outs to get benefit from it.
Roger asked for a further explanation of what Mr. Sheehan meant by “economic opportunities.” Mr. Sheehan said he understood there are some sites for development in Boylston, although he does not know what sites they are but sites like that are an opportunity for growing your economic tax base He cannot say what Boylston should have as he is not familiar with the Town. The Planning Board, hopefully, has a sense of what is appropriate. Development is always controversial, but the main routes are where development would take place. Mr. Sheehan said it is hard for the layman to understand that their property value has dropped—as values go down, rates go up. It is hard to provide relief to property owners.
Regarding his management style, he is a strong believer in using teams to solve problems. The more people you can bring into a meeting, the better off you are. Let people know that, as TA, you are not bigger than the Town.
His biggest weakness is a willingness to take on too many projects and try to get too much done. His strength is his work ethic; you would see him in the office in the evenings and on weekends. His other strength is his environmental background – planning and economic development – land use – He has had management experience for the last couple of years. He is also able to network. He has colleagues he can rely on in every area: finance, human resources, procurement. He has no shortage of people he can rely on when he doesn’t have the answer.
With regard to collective bargaining, there are only three unions in Townsend and he is the prime negotiator with them. He has a fairly strong collective bargaining background.
Roger noted that Mr. Sheehan said he takes on too many projects; that is not consistent with his concept of team management. Mr. Sheehan agreed it is an anomaly. He will initiate projects fairly quickly that relate to goals set by the Board or himself; he will then use the teams around him to pursue those goals.
He did a fair amount of grant writing when he was in Chelmsford, mostly open-space related.
With regard to motivating elected and appointed personnel he said he would establish a good working relationship with personnel and especially with elected boards and committees. “If they think you’re a partner, and not out for their turf, and just trying to move things forward for the benefit of the Town, the Town Administrator is less of a threat.” He has seen it work well and not work well. “Ultimately, it’s all personal.”
The Board thanked Mr. Sheehan and concluded the interview.
5:55 PM Martin McNamara, Director of Human Resources, Stoughton, MA
Mr. McNamara said he likes municipal management. He worked in human resources at Weetabix and Wonder Bread. He knows Boylston is interested in getting commercial development. He said he would knock on realtors’ doors and feels you have to be out in the community to get a feel for what is happening. He is not interested in going to a larger community and would carry out the wishes of the Board of Selectmen. He is a “small town kind of guy.”
Regarding working with budgets, in Stoughton, this year he and the Town Accountant sat with everyone and went through all budgets. He did budgets at Weetabix for the Human Resources Dept. In Stoughton he was in touch with the State Rep to see what State aid was coming in. They made sure all vehicles registered in Stoughton were being taxed. Sales of tax title property brought in $200K.
When asked if he is familiar with Boylston’s ratio of residence to business he said he thinks 140 would be a great place to have a nice strip mall. He suggested a hotel near the Dragon 88; thinks there might be a hotel company interested in locating near highways. Roger asked if he were aware of the problems in Boylston and he said one of his strengths is to get people together and get things done.
He said his management style is “laid back.” He does not say “this is how we’re going to do it.” Employees need to know they are wanted, needed and appreciated. Employees are one of the most important things in town government. He has dealt with everything. He has had to terminate people as well as speak with some about personal hygiene, relative to Human Resources.
One weakness is that he wants to get things done right away and becomes frustrated when there are hindrances or roadblocks. His strengths are building a consensus; getting people together; ability to form relationships; going above what is expected of him. He has a history of exceeding expectations.
Asked about his most significant development project, he said he has not done much as there is little development in Stoughton. In Clinton, as a Selectman, he worked with a developer and got a project built that had sewerage problems with the State.
He has had GIS training in Stoughton and knows how it works. He said GIS helps in all areas and across all departments.
With regard to collective bargaining experience, he said there are seven unions in Stoughton and they just prepared a Memorandum of Agreement to all unions regarding the healthcare. Going to GIC was not an option. Their healthcare was ancient and they revamped the insurance and changed the allocation to 70/30; the town has a $7M healthcare budget.
The only grant he has written was a grant at Weetabix for $50K.
Ken Sydow asked him what he thought the role of a TA is in relating to citizens of the Town. He feels people should be able to come to the Town Administrator at any time. The TA needs to be out in the community to find out what issues and concerns the people have. He would communicate in person by going to Town board and committee meetings, etc. and by email.
Roger asked how he would address our residents’ concern about taxes, etc., due to the regional school building project. He said he would want to meet with the new school superintendent. He would try to explain to citizens that we support a good educational system and this is the price we have to pay to provide that.
Mr. McNamara took the three-day procurement course at the Attorney General’s office in Boston. He also said he was instrumental, through his political contacts, in getting a death benefit bill passed for volunteer firemen. Dennis Pojani, in the audience, mentioned that Mr. McNamara had brought up, in his preliminary interview, his many contacts with political figures.
Ken Sydow thanked Mr. McNamara and concluded the interview at 6:37 PM.
6:42 PM Anita Scheipers, presently Assistant Town Administrator, Lincoln, MA
Ms. Scheipers, a former Town Administrator for Boylston, said being a Town Administrator is the most rewarding and challenging job she has had. Boylston was so “hands-on….a learning opportunity.” The Town of Ayer is a much more professional organization with a larger staff and not the same hands-on experience. Lincoln is larger and is deeply professional.
She has experience in budgeting and has been very involved with it everywhere although in Lincoln she has had a lesser responsibility for the budget. She has always used Excel for working on budgets.
With regard to understanding the tax process, she said once the budget is set and accepted by the Town Meeting, the tax rate would be set.
She described her management style as using a collaborative approach – consensus building; team building; making sure you have the best teams possible. Get people in the room and brainstorm. This brings about a resolution to a problem because people participate.
Her best strength is her facilitation skills. She has a good success rate at helping committees find resolution to issues. She has the ability to develop respect and a sense of trust among co-workers. She has had success in the union area and has seen some colleagues struggle. She is fairly organized. She brought samples of paperwork she uses to stay organized. Her weakness is that sometimes when people come with a problem they are not always looking for an answer, just for someone to listen. She needs not to jump to solve their problems.
She worked in Ayer on the economic development at Fort Devens. When Devens was closing she had many discussions with the towns of Shirley and Harvard on the appropriate mix of development. It was not totally resolved when she left Ayer.
Roger asked her to elaborate on planning, zoning and land use. She said in Ayer she looked at the best mix of commercial development. She facilitated getting the necessary information to the boards of Selectmen, the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals to make the right decision for the Town of Ayer.
Ayer was just developing the GIS system. She has not used it but it could be an extremely useful tool.
She said she had a lot of experience in writing grants. She mentioned three grants she had obtained although the dollar amounts were small. Regarding collective bargaining experience, she negotiated with the police and dispatchers’ unions. In Ayer, with the police, fire and dispatchers’ unions and the same in Lincoln, working with the Town Administrator.
Roger asked how she would communicate with appointed and elected personnel. She said it is very important to have constant communication with everyone, both elected and appointed and regular staff. By holding staff meetings on a fairly regular basis and having individual discussions with staff. Email is great.
She asked the Board if they could have a brief discussion of the highest priority issues in Town. Ken said this is the most challenging time, with budgeting and the high school going up. Some citizens are concerned about the tax rate and how do we go about explaining increases to the tax rate. Herb Cronin, in the audience, said commercial development is a huge thing for us. Our Town buildings and roads are deteriorating. We own 282 acres at Hillside but not all is suitable for development. We have to see if (a) it should be developed and (b) how it should be developed. There was a brief discussion of capital planning.
Ken thanked Ms. Scheipers and concluded the interview at 7:23 PM.
A brief discussion was held regarding when the Board would deliberate. Roger preferred to wait to do it; the Board agreed.
At 7:28 PM Roger Deal made a motion to adjourn and to meet again on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 7:00 PM to deliberate and take necessary steps. Jim Wood seconded and the motion was voted all in favor.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:28 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rose Bardsley, Clerk
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