Selection committee narrowing down Saugus town manager candidates

SAUGUS – The town is making progress in its search for a new town manager since the Board of Selectmen fired Scott Crabtree Oct. 29.Thursday afternoon, the selection committee interviewed four candidates at the Veterans Memorial School in private sessions that lasted a half-hour each.Saugus resident Joshua Dellheim, a member of the three-man committee, said the interviews convened on schedule.?More than 20 applicants” were interested, said committee chairman Peter Rossetti. He, Dellheim and committee secretary Robert Cox have interviewed 10 or 12 prospective town managers in all, Cox said.?We can?t give the specifics at this point, but we can say we had a good number of applicants,” Rossetti said. “Until they are final applicants, everything has to be confidential, as they may not want their employers to know, could still be undecided or for various other reasons.”Dellheim said everyone interviewed is a strong candidate who has come from a wide range of backgrounds.Dellheim is originally from Peabody, but he said “an outsider?s perspective could be a fresh breath of air” in an Item interview last month.?This is my first experience in public works as a volunteer,” Dellheim said. “It is a great way to lend a helping hand so the town can move forward.”As for the time frame on choosing final candidates, Dellheim said, “We?re getting really close to be able to present it the board of selectmen. Being diligent, we?re going to present it to them right away so they can move forward.”Dellheim said once the interview stage has passed, the committee will reconvene and present its final assessments to the board.?Today, we?re getting a better idea of candidates face-to-face,” Rossetti said. “We?ve already gone through applicants and reduced the list by more than half.”Robert Palleschi, 30-year finance committee chairman, is serving as temporary town manager. Michael Murphy served as acting town manager for three months after Crabtree was terminated.?Neither expressed a desire for the permanent town manager position, at least at the time they applied,” Rossetti said.Richard MacDonald of Saugus, a consultant to the committee, is a planning board member and former Duxbury town manager. He said there may be second interviews with the candidates with whom the committee spoke Thursday.?I am the consultant to the committee and do not vote on any candidate but will offer my opinion on those that I am involved in the interview process,” MacDonald said. “There were 30 applicants, and the committee reduced that number after review of all applicant resumes.”After the meeting, Cox said he was pleased with the candidates who were interviewed.?I?m optimistic that we?ll return a good selection of qualified candidates to the committee by next week, if we?re fortunate,” Cox said.