Interest grows in Marblehead health director post

MARBLEHEAD – Marblehead has received 23 applicants for the position of director of public health – including seven who applied since Friday.Reminded of the last-minute rush, Health Director Search Committee Chairman Carl Goodman quipped, “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?”The search committee was scheduled to meet tonight to discuss the applications in executive session and select semi-finalists for interviews. Committee Chairman Carl Goodman said he received an opinion from town counsel authorizing the closed-door meeting.Goodman previously suggested that committee members read over the applications and resumes as they came in and rank the applicants.Committee members planned to schedule first-round interviews for next Thursday, then Tuesday, Nov. 1 and Thursday, Nov. 3 and recommend finalists for public interviews by the Board of Health later in November.The posting asked for applicants with an associate?s degree in the health field and 8-12 years experience. The director is responsible for the town?s solid waste program and health programs. The posted salary was Step 1 on the administrator scale, or $64,300 a year. Step 1 does require a performance review after six months, so the salary could be negotiated upward.The health director supervises a public health nurse, a health inspector and two part-time clerks at the health office and a foreman, two heavy equipment operators and a full-time clerk at the solid waste transfer station.