In Nahant, Antonio Barletta is assessing the town’s strategy in the wake of a Town Meeting vote allowing an eminent domain taking to stop Northeastern University’s expansion.
In Saugus and Lynnfield, Scott Crabtree and Robert Dolan are tackling the biggest public school projects their respective towns have seen in years.
In Swampscott, Sean Fitzgerald is juggling another big school project and the town’s police and fire department’s departures from the civil service hiring system and, in Marblehead, Jason Silva, is shouldering public works spending decisions.
Whether manager or administrator, Barletta, Crabtree, Dolan, Fitzgerald and Silva share the common responsibility and accompanying headaches that come with making significant municipal spending decisions as the economy begins to recover from COVID-19’s 15-month reign.
Their challenges are daunting, but the five managers are reportedly secure in their positions and assured the trust and support of elected officials and residents in their communities.
That stability stands in contrast, according to a State House News Service report, to municipal leadership in other Massachusetts small towns struggling to hire top executives, whether because of too few qualified applicants or finalists who opt for more attractive positions elsewhere.
Bernard Lynch, principal of consulting firm Community Paradigm Associates, LLC and a former Lowell city manager, estimates that roughly 60 percent of town and city management positions in the state have turned over within the past four to five years — and he said much of that is a generational shift as veteran managers begin to retire.
“Because, you know, that’s the reality of these types of positions, is that there’s no place for you to move up in your career other than to move out of whatever town you’re in into a larger community,” Lynch said.
The five area town managers have forged strong bonds in their communities: Barletta benefits from former town administrator and now-Board of Selectmen Chair Mark Cullinan’s vast experience, Crabtree had a public safety career in Saugus before becoming manager, Dolan was the mayor in Melrose before opting for his Lynnfield job, and Fitzgerald and Silva have demonstrated municipal finance stewardship that has won the confidence of their respective Select Boards.
Former Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash, who left that role to become Gov. Charlie Baker’s first economic development secretary in 2015, said small-town administrators have a tough job balancing small budgets with often-complicated problems.
The News Service quoted Ash and other officials in noting that a limited hiring pool has likely contributed to a lack of diversity among municipal leaders and employees.
“There’s a real problem getting candidates of color through the pipeline and into a position where they’re ready to apply to be the manager or administrator,” Ash told the News Service.
Area small towns are benefiting from sound management, but it isn’t too early to start the search for the next generation of managers.
