SWAMPSCOTT — During the Select Board meeting on Wednesday evening, the board discussed updates in the search for a new town administrator.
Vice Chair Katie Phelan read the document that covered the Town Administrator Screening Committee’s latest updates for the town, which was provided by Heather Roman, chair of the committee.
“The Screening Committee has reviewed proposals to hire a search firm to assist in the town administrator hiring process,” Phelan said. “We interviewed two firms last week, the Collins Center and Groux-White Consulting, and our vote on Wednesday evening will be on which firm to move forward with.”
Both the Collins Center and Groux-White are active within the Massachusetts markets.
Phelan continued to read, “Once we have contracted with the selected search firm, within 12 weeks we anticipate bringing candidates forward to the Select Board for interviews.”
The chosen consultant will be well-versed in the position and the general role town administrators play, according to the document.
Also, the chosen consultant will be available to meet with the Select Board, in order to discuss the Swampscott-specific needs and requirements.
The point was raised during the meeting that, initially, six companies applied before the committee had narrowed down the options to the two firms.
“When the Select Board took on the topic of the town administrator search, we wanted some public engagement… While I don’t see that here (in the document), I’m hopeful that the committee will be doing some sort of public engagement for what they feel like they would like to see in a town administrator also,” Phelan said.
Board member Danielle Leonard suggested having Roman attend the next Select Board meeting in order to go over questions or possible changes: “I would like to know how they got from six to two and what that criteria was.”
Select Board Chair MaryEllen Fletcher floated the idea of giving information to the Town Administrator Screening Committee, regarding what possible public outreach the board would like to see.
“I felt like a survey, or some sort of public engagement would be appropriate, but I’d also like to hear what the consultants say,” Phelan said. “That’s what we’re hiring them for, their expertise — and they likely hired town administrators in Massachusetts recently, so they’ve been through this process more recently than we have, so I’m open to what their suggestion is… But I think we all commented that this should be a partially-public process.”
Phelan continued, “12 weeks is great to bring candidates forward, so long as we’re meeting those thoughts that we started with, which was that we were going to have a fully robust process.”
“I think it’s important to communicate that we want to have a transparent, public process, and we want residents to get involved,” Leonard said.
Fletcher expanded on her thoughts on the recent developments.
“The company they picked was the best, and I appreciate all the hard work by volunteers,” Fletcher said. “But I’m concerned with how the process has taken a long time, and making sure the community has a chance to voice what they’re looking for in a town administrator.”
Fletcher said the Select Board will continue to give updates to the town as the process continues.
