Minutes of Meeting – August 3, 2013; meeting called to order at 8:30am. Present: Ken Fowler; Ed Lane; Channing Gibson; Dave Roche; John McNinch.
The Board met to interview the final three candidates for the town manager position. DR explained the process that would be followed, and asked that no question be re-asked. The first individual interviewed was Barry Dykhuizen from Iowa. CG asked Mr. Dykhuizen to speak to the similarities between Guttenberg, Iowa and Lenox, MA. Mr. Dykhuizen stated that he likes to have an open door policy, and is aware that the Board is his boss and that communication is very important. He sees Lenox as a new challenge in that it is a larger community. He feels that if everything is going well, there is no need to fix it. He would want to get up to speed quickly and would hold a staff meeting and view the longer-term projects for the Town.
The next candidate interviewed was Steve Bartha from Avon, CT. He explained that he is originally from Michigan but moved to CT to be closer to his wife’s family. He went on to say that he enjoys small town government and is not interested in using Lenox as a stepping stone to bigger things. He feels that becoming part of the community and being accessible is very important.
The final candidate was Jonathan Sistare from New Hampshire. He is currently an attorney, but served as town manager in both Jaffrey and Salem, NH, as well as serving in the military. He stated that he enjoys the contact with the residents and staff, and enjoys helping out.
Upon the completion of the interviews, DR stated that the Board would take some time over the new few days to digest what they had heard, and would perhaps make a decision at their August 7 Selectmen’s meeting. Don Jutton from Municipal Resources, Inc. stated that he would be putting together a confidential memorandum of the past day’s events for their review. He asked that any follow-up questions run through him rather than the Board members contacting the applicants directly. In addition, it was agreed that all questions and answers would be shared with all Board members.
Meeting adjourned at 11:00am.
Minutes Taken By: ______________________ Minutes Accepted By: ______________________
Mary Ellen Deming Clerk
Interim Town Manager Board of Selectmen
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