Eleven apply for top job at Marblehead Municipal Light

MARBLEHEAD – There are 11 applicants so far for one of the town?s highest-paid positions, general manager of the Municipal Light Department.Robert Jolly, who started working at the department when he was 20, plans to retire next March at 54. Jolly has served as general manager of the department for 16 years and earns in excess of $153,000.At Thursday?s Municipal Light Commission meeting, Chairman Philip Sweeney said he and Commissioner Charles Phillips are acting as the screening committee for applications, with Jolly as a resource on engineering and technical questions.Sweeney said the vacancy was posted Nov. 1 on three professional websites.So far the commission has received 11 e-mail applications and has set a Dec. 1 cutoff date.?Three or four of the applicants are from this area and the rest are from different parts of the country,” Sweeney said Thursday, noting that one applicant was from Alaska.Sweeney said he and Phillips plan to look over the applications next week to get a start on their recommendations to the commission.He said no specific salary was mentioned in the postings, but applicants were asked to list their salary requirements. “It could be in the $90,000-$130,000 range,” he said.Jolly has created a five-year budget and work plan so a new manager can follow his lead.