NAHANT — Alison Nieto now juggles the responsibilities of two roles when she steps into work at Town Hall each morning — Finance Director, and now, Acting Town Administrator.
Nieto sat down to speak with The Item early Monday morning, where she spoke about stepping into the role of Town Administrator until the search committee for the position can find the successor to Tony Barletta, who left to assume the role of Town Administrator for Manchester-by-the-Sea.
Her first official day in the role begins July 1. Nieto has served as the town’s finance director for four and a half years. Before that, she held the same title in Marblehead for four and a half years.
“I’ve been sitting in on meetings with Tony (Barletta) over the past month, and he’s brought me into meetings to ‘cross-train’ me,” Nieto said on getting caught up to speed. “Although, as Finance Director, Tony’s been really good at having me sit in on some of those meetings anyway. … So, I’ll really be wearing two hats here.”
She explained how she’s already been busy at work, dealing with capital projects in town
“For the Short Beach Dune project, we just had a call with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) last week about that — and it’s going well, they’re going to start in the winter,” she said. “And we’ve been given the permission to move forward with that portion, and we’ll build out the dunes there.
“And then, once we get the design ready for the other half, the eastern half, they’ll start to do that project too. So, it’s moving along. … Technically, the funds are supposed to be spent by next spring, but we’ve put in a request for an extension,” she said. “We’re hoping that by seeing this first part of the project done, that FEMA will realize we’re serious, and grant the extension for the rest.”
She added to her point, saying that the project entails building up the dunes within the nearby area, adding grass and rebuilding the entrances to Short Beach.
Nieto continued, where she elaborated on how her experience managing the town’s finances have helped prepare her for the role.
“Finances play a huge role in the Finance Director position, and in the Town Administrator position,” she said. “All decisions are made on the basis of, ‘Can we afford to do this? Or do we need to look for external sources of funding?’ We just had Town Meeting in May, and new budgets for the fiscal year begins July 1 — so I think it plays a major role in everything.”
She said that the Town Administrator Search Committee has met several times and gotten input from residents — with the job application being listed, with the deadline for applications being the end of the month.
“It’s a busy time of year for a Finance Director, being that close to the end of one fiscal year to the start of another. … I’ve been kind of balancing both, but having a background in finance is definitely beneficial,” she said.
